Making Information Pay

The following is a reminder from the Book Industry Study Group about the upcoming Making Information Pay conference.


Making Information Pay Conference 2008: Experimentation and Innovation in the Digital Age is just weeks away. As an added value to this year’s conference we’ve put together 10 in-depth case studies based on recent publishing experiments in sales, marketing, and digital publishing.

Attendees of Making Information Pay 2008 will receive a free printed copy of the complete set of case studies and hear many of the experimenters discuss what they’ve learned and answer questions about how it affects your business.

To reserve your copy, register now at: http://www.bisg.org/conferences/mip5.html

Michael Healy
Executive Director
Book Industry Study Group


FROM: Hachette Book Group’s “Light DRM” on Audiobooks

Based on an interview with Neil DeYoung, Director of Digital Media, and David Stack,
Senior Manager, Digital Media, Hachette Book Group USA

Neil DeYoung and David Stack face a complex strategic challenge. Like other publishers with extensive audiobook lists, Hachette sees a distribution supply chain limited to two retailers (iTunes and Audible) that support the consumer-favorite iPod device with copy-protection digital rights management (DRM). There is real incentive to figure out how to diversify the distribution channels and give the consumers what they want.

Distributing digital audiobooks in MP3 format without copy-protection DRM would allow consumers to play audiobooks on the iPod and any other device, and open the door for additional distribution channels, but it carries the risk of piracy or rampant unpaid re-use. Hachette’s senior management is very concerned about piracy and felt it necessary to evaluate the risks of distribution without copy protection. HBGUSA is conducting a test, which hasn’t been simple and isn’t cheap. But the results so far have been encouraging and although they are not definitive, they support the idea that distribution without copy protection might not lead to widespread piracy of audiobooks.

For the full text of this and 9 other case studies of recent publishing experiments, register for Making Information Pay 2008 today!