I’m an avid reader of Billboard Magazine. I find the reporting well informed and the writing lively, on top of the fact that the subject matter – the music industry – fascinates me. So it was with some concern that I read a recent Billboard article claiming that my recent study with Luis Aguiar, “Streaming …
Is Kindle Unlimited Distorting Amazon Sales Ranks?
The integrity of sales rankings matters. It’s pretty well documented that bestseller rankings have direct effects on sales. In a world awash in titles, it’s hard to figure out what to read, so rationally lazy people rely on bestseller lists to learn what to read. Until recently, the Amazon top 100 was a meaningful ranking …
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Piracy Undermining Content Creation: Loch Ness Monster or Black Swan?
Theory and common sense dictate that piracy should threaten new product creation. If it costs money to bring new works to market, then a reduction in revenue – all else constant - should render some projects uneconomic. So compelling is this theory that the content industries share it with lawmakers at every opportunity. Robert Solow …
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Credit Where Credit’s Due
Most of the year I work on digital topics. But I spend some time each year around the holidays – including this post - thinking about the economics of gift giving. For folks who traffic in ideas, it’s good to be known for something. So I guess I shouldn’t complain about the attention I get …
I Get My Wish!
Last summer I expressed an interest in meeting musician David Lowery to discuss the evolution of the music industry. Long story short: we’re getting together at the University of Minnesota next Friday, April 19 for an event entitled “Resolved: Napster is the Best/Worst Thing That's Ever Happened to Music.” The event title is a bit …
Am I the Only One Ambivalent about Amazon’s Acquisition of Goodreads?
The New York Times reported recently that Amazon’s buying Goodreads, the largest book review site online. It’s easy to see the appeal of Goodreads to Amazon. Goodreads apparently has 10 million ratings and reviews of over 700,000 titles. This trove will bolster the already-copious product information that supports book discovery at Amazon.com. Moreover, Goodreads is a …
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Goin’ Cracker(s)
A few weeks ago NPR staffer Emily White blogged unapologetically that, like many members of generation, she had never paid for music. This prompted a firestorm of response and attention, including a few New York Times pieces ( here, here, and here). Musician David Lowery responded eloquently and forcefully, piquing my curiosity about him. It …
The Marquee Result of the "Reel Piracy" Study
Brett Danaher of Wellesley College and I have a new working paper (Reel Piracy: The Effect of Online Piracy on International Box Office Sales) attempting to find evidence on whether piracy, in particular movie downloading via BitTorrent, depressed international movie box office revenue. Our approach is based on the following two insights. First, Hollywood movies …
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Subways Fares, File Sharing, and Larceny
On December 13, the New York Times reported that selling MetroCard swipes isn’t larceny, “and it overturned the 2009 conviction of a New Jersey man who, having served a day in jail for the crime, had fought his case all the way to the State Court of Appeals.” Subway officials had long treated the sale …
Is the Sky Falling? The Quality of New Recorded Music since Napster
This essay first appeared at Vox EU on Nov 14, 2011. Since the appearance of Napster a dozen years ago, intellectual property rights have effectively been substantially weakened. Unfettered stealing has caused revenues to the recorded music industry to tumble by roughly a third. While this reversal has prompted academic chin-scratching over its cause, most …
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Digitopoly 