Hacker News Reader

Comment by earbitscom | Hacker News Reader

Ask Stephen King what he thinks of the "parasitic publishing industry". You forget that they used to be, and in many cases still are, a good creator's path to fame and wealth. For that they take a portion of the revenue. Same as VCs, same as a lot of things.

If, in 5 years, there are no big publishers, labels or production houses to help artists bring products to market, it will be similar to when there is no VC funding available. Creativity and innovation will be stifled. You will get only the content made by people who also have the wherewithal to distribute it and do a phenomenal job marketing it themselves, who do not need a real budget to do so. There are a lot of good artists who do not fit that description. Try not to wish away their means to an end.

View on HN

The majority of creation in many fields happen without a promise of getting paid.

Only a tiny minority of authors ever manage to sell their novels. Even a lot of successful published novels only gets out there because of the sheer persistence of the author in question in getting past rejection, not because of writing quality (a favorite anecdote of mine is how John Irving attempted repeatedly to get one of the short stories attributed to the fictional Garp published, only to get rejected over an over; in The World According to Garp, the short story in question was rejected, and John Irving had written a rejection letter for it. In the end he substituted one of the actual rejection letters for it. The short story went on to win a price in its own right)

Only a tiny minority of musicians ever get a record deal.

If anything, the current system is so focused on promoting the "big ones" that a lot of great creative works goes unknown because the big money goes towards building a culture focused on the top few.

It might not be the case in all fields (I happen to like a lot of the expensive effect-laden Hollywood movies, for example, and I have a harder time figuring out how the economics would work for that), but it is most decidedly not a given that creativity and innovation would be stifled in every fields. Some are likely to flourish.

Sure, but the same as your thoughts on expensive movies can be said for many a great album. I know some of my favorites would not be what they are if they had to be self-financed.

You're refuting a point he didn't make. He never wished anything away. He wished that a different means to an end was more common.

Then those organizations (riaa/mpaa) will have to be useful or die.

Those organizations are lobbying groups representing a clientele. They were never intended to be useful to anyone else. That being said, fair enough on your comments. Let's all hope that financing is still available for bands who want it, and it comes in a form that allows them more control and profit.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com