The Art That Forgot About the Internet?
Between Google, fliers I picked up at DragonCon, and links from a knowledgeable friend, I've been looking around at the "audio theater" offerings of the interwebs.
"Audio theater" being scripted, multitrack recordings of audio without visuals, or at least without exact visuals (like on YouTube it might have a filler picture on screen, but its mostly about what you're listening to). For the sake of this argument only, not counting audio books.
More *looking* than *listening* because a) I'm at work in a library, and when I'm not I'm writing my own stuff; and b) a surprising amount of it is only offered on CD rather than mp3, or mp3s without more than a sample to stream.
This has me thinking about how some forms of media are produced, bought, and consumed. And there are interesting trends and discrepancies. This is a list of what I've noticed, feel free to correct me on things that I've missed b/c I don't actually work in these industries directly.
Short stories and novels, prose writing:
-Writers write, edit, & submit story until it is accepted by a publisher. Or until its ready for self-epublishing.
-Publisher produces a book which the customer must buy to consume. And/or a digital book which must be payed for before downloading. Publisher/writer makes $$ from selling products.
-Sometimes the publishers/writers will put free samples of published writing on the internet.
Old timey radio theater/fiction:
-Writers write & edit, actors act, directors direct, mixers mix, until the finished piece is ready to be broadcast on the radio.
-Customers buy a radio, probably not directly from the broadcast company, and listen to the broadcast for no additional charge.
-Broadcaster sells advertising space on its channel, around and between its own products, to make $$.
-Did old radio stations sell promotional products (mugs, tshirts, tie pins, tote bags, etc) back in the day for more $$?
-Some shows probably got pressed onto records or cassette tapes to sell as physical products for $$ (for broadcaster, creators, or all of the above?)
21st Century radio theater on the interwebs:
-Writers write & edit, actors act, directors direct, mixers mix, until the piece is finished.
-Piece is either made into an mp3 or pressed onto CD, or both.
-Customers must buy the mp3 or CD to enjoy the product, hopefully all of the above make $$.
-Sometimes the $$ maker puts free samples of the product online for customers.
Webcomics:
-Writers/artists make comics and put them online, on websites.
-Customers buy computers, not from the comic-makers, and look at the comic website.
-Some comics are totally free to view, some charge fees for older comics with some free samples on the websites.
-Comic makers sell add space on their websites, next to comics, for $$
-Comic makers sell promotional items (shirts, mugs, etc) for $$
-Comic makers sell non-digital print volumes of their comics for $$
Why do the present day descendants of old timey radio theater shape their business models more like the book/fiction publishing industry than the old radio industry? Why are webcomics more like old radio stations than those who put out audio theater?
Not to say that the producers of modern audio theater should not get paid directly for their work, but the standard seems very stagnant. To produce a piece and then just let it sit on the website, no samples, or even only on CD so a person has to wait for delivery instead of paying to download it immediately. And online branding can make selling promotional products on the side easy (tho not always, I'm sure).
Is this because the most widely consumed aspect of 'audio theater' today is audio books? Rather than pieces that start out as audio? And the writers just copy the print-publishing business model?
Its definitely putting the cart before the horse, and this may change if my view of my own audio theater project takes a different route. But I would rather produce my project more like a webcomic than a novel.
EDIT: I also just realized that a lot of audio drama pays a lot of people to put it together professionally, so charging to listen = good. However, so does most music, and both can use Itunes, or better yet BandCamp. Immediately purchased downloads = love! And I wonder if its feasible to have a free audio stream of it for one day/evening/etc, and then sell afterwards? Like having the initial free broadcast and then selling the record.
Feel free to point me in the direction of online content that already does this. Its a tough thing to Google so far.
<3 Chrysilla
"Audio theater" being scripted, multitrack recordings of audio without visuals, or at least without exact visuals (like on YouTube it might have a filler picture on screen, but its mostly about what you're listening to). For the sake of this argument only, not counting audio books.
More *looking* than *listening* because a) I'm at work in a library, and when I'm not I'm writing my own stuff; and b) a surprising amount of it is only offered on CD rather than mp3, or mp3s without more than a sample to stream.
This has me thinking about how some forms of media are produced, bought, and consumed. And there are interesting trends and discrepancies. This is a list of what I've noticed, feel free to correct me on things that I've missed b/c I don't actually work in these industries directly.
Short stories and novels, prose writing:
-Writers write, edit, & submit story until it is accepted by a publisher. Or until its ready for self-epublishing.
-Publisher produces a book which the customer must buy to consume. And/or a digital book which must be payed for before downloading. Publisher/writer makes $$ from selling products.
-Sometimes the publishers/writers will put free samples of published writing on the internet.
Old timey radio theater/fiction:
-Writers write & edit, actors act, directors direct, mixers mix, until the finished piece is ready to be broadcast on the radio.
-Customers buy a radio, probably not directly from the broadcast company, and listen to the broadcast for no additional charge.
-Broadcaster sells advertising space on its channel, around and between its own products, to make $$.
-Did old radio stations sell promotional products (mugs, tshirts, tie pins, tote bags, etc) back in the day for more $$?
-Some shows probably got pressed onto records or cassette tapes to sell as physical products for $$ (for broadcaster, creators, or all of the above?)
21st Century radio theater on the interwebs:
-Writers write & edit, actors act, directors direct, mixers mix, until the piece is finished.
-Piece is either made into an mp3 or pressed onto CD, or both.
-Customers must buy the mp3 or CD to enjoy the product, hopefully all of the above make $$.
-Sometimes the $$ maker puts free samples of the product online for customers.
Webcomics:
-Writers/artists make comics and put them online, on websites.
-Customers buy computers, not from the comic-makers, and look at the comic website.
-Some comics are totally free to view, some charge fees for older comics with some free samples on the websites.
-Comic makers sell add space on their websites, next to comics, for $$
-Comic makers sell promotional items (shirts, mugs, etc) for $$
-Comic makers sell non-digital print volumes of their comics for $$
Why do the present day descendants of old timey radio theater shape their business models more like the book/fiction publishing industry than the old radio industry? Why are webcomics more like old radio stations than those who put out audio theater?
Not to say that the producers of modern audio theater should not get paid directly for their work, but the standard seems very stagnant. To produce a piece and then just let it sit on the website, no samples, or even only on CD so a person has to wait for delivery instead of paying to download it immediately. And online branding can make selling promotional products on the side easy (tho not always, I'm sure).
Is this because the most widely consumed aspect of 'audio theater' today is audio books? Rather than pieces that start out as audio? And the writers just copy the print-publishing business model?
Its definitely putting the cart before the horse, and this may change if my view of my own audio theater project takes a different route. But I would rather produce my project more like a webcomic than a novel.
EDIT: I also just realized that a lot of audio drama pays a lot of people to put it together professionally, so charging to listen = good. However, so does most music, and both can use Itunes, or better yet BandCamp. Immediately purchased downloads = love! And I wonder if its feasible to have a free audio stream of it for one day/evening/etc, and then sell afterwards? Like having the initial free broadcast and then selling the record.
Feel free to point me in the direction of online content that already does this. Its a tough thing to Google so far.
<3 Chrysilla