The First Wave
The pay what you like and crowd-funded
movements are two of the most obvious new ways of paying for content, but it's
likely that they're just the tip of the iceberg. We already pay for so-called
free content online by sacrificing some of our privacy, letting sites like
Google share our profiles in order to use their services.
One thing the internet isn't afraid of is
experimentation, finding newer and more diverse ways to part consumers from
their cash. KickStarter and its ilk are part of a new wave of exciting
commercial change.
You
may pay online by check or with any major credit card
One thing crowd funding does better than
any other style at the moment, though, is foster a connection between purchaser
and creator, in a way that we've never really seen before. You're no longer
just paying for a product, you're directly funding the creation of it.
This isn't just a financial investment;
it's an emotional one as well. By choosing to pledge some money, you're making
a statement about the sort of person you are, about the products you like, and
how you want to be viewed by the rest of the world. It's adding a social aspect
to commerce, making you feel like you're part of something from the ground up,
rather than the final cog in a dour machine.
You only have to look at the personalised
videos that accompany pitches on most crowd funding websites to realise that
personality and character are just as important to success as an interesting
and desirable product. Would Double Fine have raised as much money if Schafer
wasn't such a charismatic, funny presence? Probably not, but it's all part of
the same game. If a pitch is going to succeed, it needs to grab the attention
of its potential pitchers. In a way, you're marketing a product that doesn't
even exist yet, in order to raise the money to create it.
One thing that could hold back the march of
crowd-funded content is the risk that's inherent in its purchase. In other
words, you're throwing money at a project that might never see the light of
day. Of course, there are safeguards in place to ensure that a pitch only receives
its money if it makes enough to get made, but changes in the market, an
unstable economy, and any number of personal factors, could well mean that your
cash ends up wasted. There are pitfalls and traps littering every journey from
nice idea to finished product, and while there hasn't been a KickStarter
backlash yet, there will always be that danger in a system that asks for cash
first.
Cash Before Delivery
In the end, it's unlikely that crowd
funding is going to become the dominant commercial paradigm online. It's
offering a lot of new, exciting opportunities, but the model is a little too
narrow for it to work on a regular basis. The good thing is, the internet will
keep on creating these new initiatives and surges forward, ruffling the
feathers of the publishers, while placing more and more power in the hands of
the consumer.
We live in a time of constant change and
reinvention, where the free exchange of ideas is open to most, and the
commercial landscape is changing beyond all recognition. At the moment, we're
in control of that change, because we're the ones who have all the untapped
income. It's going to be interesting to watch how the internet develops, and to
see what new commercial avenues are created in the not too distant future.
Right now, one thing's for sure. While
KickStarter isn't going to bring about an unfettered revolution, it's laying
the foundations for one, creating a market where choice and popularity are as
important as a publisher's say so, and where products that wouldn't have seen
the light of day a few years ago are finding an excited audience willing to pay
for them to happen.
Like they always say, 'If you build it,
they will come', but how many will turn up, and how much money they're willing
to spend, still remains to be seen. KickStarter has got things up and running,
but it may well be up to someone else to push them on.
