Songs vs. Novels; a 99 Cent Debate - Page 2
But what about the time it takes to create said product?
Let’s use round numbers here. A band, or individual performer, takes on average a year between albums. So, that’s 12 months and the typical CD has 12 songs. So, a song a month.
The average novelist? That’s a tough one. Some novelists are highly prolific, and can crank out a book in a month or two. Others take six years. But I think a safe comparison is to say it takes the average writer about a year to write, edit, and ultimately publish a novel.
So, a year for a novel, a month for a song.
That would seem to justify a higher price for a novel, compared to a song.
But the real issue, of course, is quality. A song that sells for 99 cents that just happens to be a masterpiece of beauty, timelessness and meaning and can change a person’s life, is much more valuable than a $2.99 novel that the minute it’s downloaded immediately causes your Kindle to smell like a rest stop toilet.
It reminds me of this true story: I have an advertising copywriter friend who was brought in as a freelancer at the last hour to help solve a marketing problem for an ad agency. The agency had promised their client a great campaign and it was due, literally, in less than an hour. The agency had failed miserably, had not a single good idea, and so they called my friend.
He listened to the problem, thought about it, realized there were very few options, and within a half hour, had solved the problem with an incredibly simple, elegant theme-line and corresponding campaign.
For this, he was paid $25,000.
When I asked him if he felt being paid $25,000 for a half hour of work was fair, he made a point I have never forgotten. He said he wasn’t being paid $25,000 for the half hour of work. He said he was being paid for the twenty years of experience and learning that allowed him to solve the problem in a half hour.
Songs vs. novels. Is it fair to price them as similar content? What do you think?
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