Last week, marketing guru Seth Godin announced that he would be bypassing the traditional publisher for his next book and would instead be publishing himself online. This announcement no doubt came as a blow and perhaps an eerie foreshadowing to the traditional publishing industry. Godin, whose blog has more than enough followers to get his name out, simply found it less costly to self-publish. Of course, the benefit to an artist of surrendering the bulk of his earnings to his distribution channels is that more people are going to know about his work. But, with the advent of the Internet, the gap between the artist and those who admire his work is getting smaller and smaller.
Just look at Youtube. Many actors, actresses, filmmakers, and movie producers would love to make it big in Hollywood but the distribution costs are far too high for most. What are the odds of an aspiring actor of getting a role in the next box office hit? Very slim. But what are the odds of making a smash hit on Youtube? Probably still slim, but much less costly. Rather than tirelessly working through 'gigs' and bolstering a lacking resume, it's simple matter of clicking, 'upload.' Many movie makers today make six digits a year off of a Youtube channel that costs them nothing to have.
And what about iTunes? Probably the distribution channel that has been treated with the most scorn over the years is that of the music industry. When you buy a CD, are you supporting your favorite band? No, not really. You are supporting its record label--its distribution channel. Now, with avenues like iTunes available for self-promotion, musicians are able to 'stick it to the man' and scream 'I am rock and rock' directly to their fans. A friend of mine from high school went this route and, while there are no CDs from Alert New London on the shelf at Target, the digital inventory on iTunes is endless.
Of course, for any artist or entertainer wishing to distribute his or her content directly to fans who value such content, social networks like Facebook, Myspace, and Twitter make it even easier. Essentially, the much needed middle-man is losing his job to simpler self-publishing formats like Amazon Kindle, Youtube, and iTunes in additional the the promotion given by ad-supported social networks. Today, the only thing keeping artists from 'making it big' is the fact that there are only so many fans to go around and other aspiring artists have access to the same Internet technology. Those who will really be successful are those who take advantage of it most.
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