For this blog post I tried to think of a way to approach just the topic of "free" and revenue streams on its own, but I found it almost impossible since the ideas of revenue and copyright are so intrinsically linked in my head. These days, it seems that the only point of copyright is to protect a content owner's right to derive revenue from their content. Since I'm in the Wednesday night section of this class, where we've gone over revenue models and have copyright coming up in the next class, posting on Monday is a perfect way to bridge the gap and a great excuse to discuss both topics. (Fair warning now: this blog post is a time investment. I've embedded a lot of media that I think is particularly relevant to these topics and I discuss them in the context of the readings.)

Is this man a Snuggie?




Katy Perry's Perfect Year


You've probably heard of Katy Perry. She's a big pop star, signed to EMI, with a bunch of No. 1 hits last year. In 2010, she made $44 million. You probably haven't heard of Jonathan Coulton. He's an indie sing-songwriter, self publishes all his music, and doesn't get any radio play. In 2010, he made almost $500,000. That's a huge difference, but twenty years ago the Jonathan Coulton model was impossible, while the Katy Perry model was thriving.

A comparison of the two artists and the systems they are established under is a direct illustration of a point in the Anderson reading, that "moving online...is a better way to make money. It allows the makers to shift from a hit-or-miss 'point of sale' revenue model to one based on an ongoing relationship with the player." Anderson was talking about video games, but the idea still stands. Coulton is able to make $500,000 without label support and promotion, because he can connect with his audience and his success isn't tied to making the one hit song that can appeal to people from all kinds of demographics. I first heard about him in a 2007 New York Times Magazine profile, which discussed his "Thing A Week" experiment. Coulton released a free song every week for a year.