Selling What Can't be Copied
"When copies are free," writes Kevin Kelly at Edge.org, "you need to sell things which can not be copied." Like what, you ask? Kelly has a few ideas. Eight in fact. Here they are:
1. Immediacy. "Sooner or later you can find a free copy of whatever you want," says Kelly, "but getting a copy delivered to your inbox the moment it is released — or even better, produced — by its creators is a generative asset." Another example is a hardback versus a paperback book. Hardbacks cost more. If you want to read the latest Sue Grafton novel, you have to pay for hardback. If you can wait, you can get the paperback for less. In each case, you are buying the same story.
2. Personalization. Kelly notes that a "generic version of a concert recording may be free, but if you want a copy that has been tweaked to sound perfect in your particular living room — as if it were preformed in your room — you may be willing to pay a lot."
3. Interpretation. Kelly's most interesting example is genetic data. "Right now getting your copy of your DNA is very expensive," says Kelly, "but soon it won't be. In fact, soon pharmaceutical companies will PAY you to get your genes sequence. So the copy of your sequence will be free, but the interpretation of what it means, what you can do about it, and how to use it — the manual for your genes so to speak — will be expensive."
4. Authenticity. "You might be able to grab a key software application for free, but even if you don't need a manual, you might like to be sure it is bug free, reliable, and warranted. You'll pay for authenticity." This idea is worthy of a book. In fact, it's already been written: Authenticity: What Consumers Really Want. It's a pretty good read and has lots of case studies about authentic companies like REI and Starbucks.
5. Accessibility. "We'll pay Acme Digital Warehouse to serve us any musical tune in the world, when and where we want it, as well as any movie, photo (ours or other photographers). Ditto for books and blogs. Acme backs everything up, pays the creators, and delivers us our desires." I'm in.
6. Embodiment. I'm with Kelly here: "sometimes it is delicious to have the same words printed on bright white cottony paper, bound in leather. Feels so good." Another example: there's lots of poetry on the web that you can read absolutely free. But many people, myself included, still buy nicely bound volumes of, say, Milton. Embodiment matters.
7. Patronage. In other words, tipping. "Radiohead's recent high-profile experiment in letting fans pay them whatever they wished for a free copy is an excellent illustration of the power of patronage. The elusive, intangible connection that flows between appreciative fans and the artist is worth something."
8. Findability. "A zero price," says Kelly, "does not help direct attention to a work, and in fact may sometimes hinder it. But no matter what its price, a work has no value unless it is seen; unfound masterpieces are worthless. When there are millions of books, millions of songs, millions of films, millions of applications, millions of everything requesting our attention — and most of it free — being found is valuable."
