I have posted before about the paradox for today's artists, writers, and producers. The paradox is that today's technology permits a garage band to produce an album that competes with the record companies. Writers can sit at their laptops and bang away at the keyboard, producing a personal masterpiece in their spare time, again powered through technology.
Even more revolutionary is distribution through the internet. You don't need to work with distributors, or agents, or any middle-men. With a little bit of work, you can create your own website that can sell your product directly to the consumer. But they don't come. You have created a terrific product, but you cannot sell it.
Why Indie Directors Give Away Movies Online explains that hungry, independent movie producers have determined the only way to get the consumer's attention is to give away the product. So many producers have begun distributing their product on social networking sites. Perhaps today's consumer is not as adventurous as ten years ago, so stand-alone websites are not the preferred marketing venue - it needs to be where everyone is visiting - the social networking sites.
One of the biggest surprises is that unless they break through to the top of the charts, they are still unlikely to make money from the product itself. But they make money on T-shirts, coffee cups, and other merchandise. Today's consumer is a strange animal.
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