Scott Karp on content businesses
by Joey Manley
[C]ontent distribution businesses, or more accurately in digital network terms, content platform and content aggregation businesses (think Google, YouTube, MySpace, Facebook, Digg) are the only real media businesses left.
That’s the underlying assumption that informs my strategy for WCN generally, and for WCN 2.0 (coming soon) specifically, and it’s why I’m rapidly moving away from the “publisher” label (which was never very accurate for some guy who happens to own some websites, anyway). Publishers are things of the past. Service providers, network aggregators, technology vendors, are the way of the future.
Not too long ago (about a year now, I guess) I was in conversations with a potential investor/buyer who wanted to see the content distribution/service provider aspect of my business wither away, and the publisher aspect grow stronger — even to the point of owning the intellectual property rights of the comics on my websites. I rejected this offer after thinking it through seriously. On some level, in the comics world, it would be easy to paint my decision as an ethical one (signing away the intellectual property rights to their work has traditionally not been a good thing for many, many cartoonists), and there was an element of that, definitely. But even more compelling was my fundamental belief that that model just won’t work anymore — not even for the publisher. I predict failure. And not for moral reasons, or due to ethical concerns. Just for simple business reasons. Karp’s essay lays it all out pretty well, better than I could.
So, yeah, that’s my big secret plan. Don’t let the current incarnation of WCN fool you. WCN 2.0 will be more than just some website with some comics. It will be a serious platform for publishing and (optionally) monetizing digital comics — on multiple websites, to multiple devices, in multiple formats. If I do my job right, anyway. And I hope I do! I plan to!
Link.
