PREFACE
1 www.theage.com.au/news/web/steal-music-nails-frontman-tells-fans/2007/09/18/1189881482912.xhtml
2 For more on Reznor’s background, read Jonathan Gold’s Rolling Stone interview from 1994. www.rollingstone.com/music/news/love-it-to-death-19940908
3 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trent_Reznor
4 www.nndb.com/people/534/000025459/
5 www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20105007,00.xhtml
6 http://trent-reznor.narod.ru/1994_article19-original.xhtml; original by Jonathan Fine, in Option Magazine, July/August 1994.
7 www.allmusic.com/artist/nine-inch-nails-p5033/biography
8 www.music2dot0.com/archives/36
9 http://leisureblogs.chicagotribune.com/turn_it_up/2008/03/reznors-one-wee.xhtml
1. THE CURVE
1 http://money.cnn.com/2010/02/02/news/companies/napster_music_industry/
2 Henry Ford, My Life and Work (NuVision, 2007), p. 35; http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=bUbdMRx43JgC
3 James Gilmore and Joseph Pine, Authenticity (Harvard Business School Press, 2007), pp. 5-6.
4 www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20532978_2,00.xhtml
5 www.viragobooks.net/bookclub/josephine-harts-introduction-to-damage/
6 www.independent.ie/lifestyle/the-life-and-death-of-josephine-hart-2672754.xhtml
7 www.guardian.co.uk/media/2007/mar/11/pressandpublishing.books
8 www.absolutewrite.com/novels/alexandra_cooper.htm
9 www.guardian.co.uk/books/2012/jan/12/amanda-hocking-self-publishing
10 http://slushpilehell.tumblr.com/post/13513202171
11 www.amazon.com/Last-Man-Who-Knew-Everything/dp/0452288053
12 http://youtube-global.blogspot.co.uk/2013/05/heres-to-eight-great-years.xhtml
13 www.nytimes.com/2013/02/28/business/smallbusiness/increasing-sales-by-answering-customers-questions.xhtml?pagewanted=all&_r=0
2. SCARCITY AND ABUNDANCE
1 https://twitter.com/ladygaga/status/266036323394142209
2 https://twitter.com/ladygaga/status/266197568667676672
3 www.readwriteweb.com/archives/top_10_youtube_videos_of_all_time.php
4 www.techdirt.com/articles/20100524/0032549541.shtml
5 www.ifpi.org/content/section_resources/dmr2011.xhtml
6 www.ifpi.org/content/library/DMR2012.pdf; www.ifpi.org/content/library/dmr2010.pdf; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_best-selling_singles
7 www.forbes.com/sites/zackomalleygreenburg/2011/01/12/why-lady-gaga-will-earn-100-million-in-2011/
8 Advertising is generally sold on a CPM basis. CPM (bizarrely, it stands for cost per thousand) is an advertising metric for how much an advertiser will pay or a media owner will charge for 1,000 impressions of an advertisement. The CPM can vary from over $100 for a highly targeted website or publication to only a few cents for those annoying ads for teeth whitening or suspicious-looking security products; http://techcrunch.com/2012/08/15/online-video-ads-all-up-in-your-grill/
9 http://torrentfreak.com/lady-gaga-earns-slightly-more-from-spotify-than-piracy-091121/. The figure of $167 was originally publicized by Swedish newspaper Espressen and reported on TorrentFreak. Spotify hit back at these accusations, arguing that this figure was misleadingly low for many reasons, such as that it was in the early days of Spotify, when the rates paid to artists were still being determined, that it was related to only some of the income Lady Gaga received from Spotify and was for a single territory (Sweden) for a short period of time. www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/7590782/Spotify-rejects-claims-that-it-rips-off-artists.xhtml
10 www.smh.com.au/technology/technology-news/from-lady-gaga-to-the-future-of-social-media-20121105-28sv7.xhtml
11 www.forbes.com/sites/victoriabarret/2012/11/13/dropbox-hits-100-million-users-says-drew-houston/
12 http://assets.panda.org/downloads/bottled_water.pdf; www.bottledwater.org/content/us-consumption-bottled-water-shows-significant-growth-increasing-41-percent-2011
13 Gunnar Knapp, Cathy A. Roheim and James L. Anderson, The Great Salmon Run: Competition Between Wild and Farmed Salmon (TRAFFIC North America/World Wildlife Fund, 2007); www.traffic.org/species-reports/traffic_species_fish25.pdf
14 Chris Anderson, Free (Random House Business Books, 2009), p. 50.
15 Ibid., p. 46.
16 Ibid., p. 180.
3. COMPETITION, ECONOMICS AND A MAN CALLED BERTRAND
1 www.youtube.com/watch?v=ftf4riVJyqw
2 http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:IPhone_sales_per_quarter.svg#Data_and_references
3 www.slideshare.net/kleinerperkins/2012-kpcb-internet-trends-yearend-update
4 http://cnettv.cnet.com/jobs-unveils-iphone-app-store/9742-1_53-32454.xhtml
5 http://finance.yahoo.com/news/LIVE-APPLE-EARNINGS-siliconalley-917229125.xhtml?x=0
6 Anderson, Free, p. 172.
7 http://uk.ign.com/articles/2012/07/18/the-ridiculous-launch-of-the-iphone-app-store
8 Ibid.
9 Ibid.
10 www.appchatter.com/2010/12/over-70-ea-games-on-sale-for-0-99/
11 http://authormichaelhicks.com/free-novel/
12 www.forbes.com/sites/karstenstrauss/2013/04/18/the-2-4-million-per-day-company-supercell/
4. EVERYTHING, JUST FOR YOU
1 www.ingentaconnect.com/content/maney/aaa/2008/00000005/00000002/art00003
2 http://depts.washington.edu/chinaciv/miltech/crossbow.htm
3 This and subsequent quotes are from Ford, My Life and Work, pp. 52-3.
4 www.wiley.com/legacy/products/subject/business/forbes/ford.xhtml
5 http://people.duke.edu/~mccann/cpg/cg-chg.htm
6 http://media.ford.com/article_display.cfm?article_id=28558
7 www.starbucks.co.uk/menu/beverage-list/espresso-beverages
8 Sheena Iyengar, The Art of Choosing (Abacus, 2011), pp. 183-7.
9 Ibid., pp. 210-11.
10 http://iam.peteashton.com/keep-calm-rape-tshirt-amazon/
11 www.solidgoldbomb.com/pages/our-apology
12 www.kk.org/thetechnium/archives/2008/03/1000_true_fans.php
13 www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/dec/20/christmas-show-one-nation-television?INTCMP=SRCH. The ratings figure is now disputed. ITV claims that it was 21 million while the Guinness Book of Records quotes 28 million.
14 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/100_Greatest_British_Television_Programmes
15 www.guardian.co.uk/media/2012/dec/12/most-viewed-tv-programmes-in-2012
16 Roger Lloyd, ‘Is TV the New Rock?’, Los Angeles Times, 30 December 2012.
17 www.techradar.com/news/mobile-computing/tablets/more-people-are-now-watching-iplayer-on-tablets-than-phones-1145613
18 http://jadensocial.com/gangnam-style-the-social-media-impact-of-a-viral-video/
19 www.guardian.co.uk/music/2012/nov/18/gangnam-style-psy?INTCMP=ILCNETTXT3487; interview with Jonathan Ross: www.youtube.com/watch?v=LPMG-Qvl-7E
20 http://ir.take2games.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=86428&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=1141120&highlight=
21 http://investor.activision.com/releasedetail.cfm?ReleaseID=425018
22 http://investor.activision.com/releasedetail.cfm?ReleaseID=531581
23 http://investor.activision.com/releasedetail.cfm?ReleaseID=624766
24 www.gamesbrief.com/2010/11/media-conglomerates-turn-their-backs-on-consoles/
25 Not all the stores were shut. A buyer was found for the rump of the business, which still operates: www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-17512143
26 http://articles.latimes.com/2009/mar/05/business/fi-cotown-thq5
27 www.latimes.com/entertainment/envelope/cotown/la-et-ct-thq-bankrupt cy-20121219,0,156382.story
28 www.gamasutra.com/view/news/181343/Even_November_cant_save_US_game_retail_now.php
5. THE TYRANNY OF THE PHYSICAL
1 Nassim Nicholas Taleb, The Black Swan (Penguin, 2008), p. 231.
2 www.ons.gov.uk/ons/dcp171776_303450.pdf
3 www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/9233605/Sunday-Times-Rich-List-2012-Wealth-of-richest-grows-to-record-levels.xhtml
4 www.census.gov/people/wealth/files/Wealth%20Highlights%202011.pdf
5 Bigpoint’s most recent reported revenues were £200 million ($280 million) in 2010, but I don’t have the detailed breakdown of their profitability before then. www.gamesbrief.com/2011/06/bigpoints-revenue-growth/
6 http://articles.latimes.com/2009/nov/18/business/fi-ct-duty18
7 http://blogs.independent.co.uk/2011/12/20/an-unsigned-act-for-the-christmas-number-1/
8 Interview with Alex Day, January 2013.
9 www.musicweek.com/news/read/chart-analysis-weekly-digital-album-sales-finally-break-million-mark/047677
10 www.officialcharts.com/chart-news/the-full-festive-2011-albums-and-singles-round-up/
11 www.nielsenbookscan.co.uk/uploads/press/NielsenBook_BookProductionFigures3_Jan2010.pdf
12 www.bowker.com/assets/downloads/products/isbn_output_2002-2011.pdf
13 www.bowker.com/en-US/aboutus/press_room/2012/pr_10242012.shtml
14 www.examiner.com/article/30-famous-authors-whose-works-were-rejected-repeatedly-and-sometimes-rudely-by-publishers
15 www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2010/aug/16/tony-blair-royal-british-legion
16 http://hypebot.com/hypebot/2012/11/offering-fans-a-consumer-experience-why-artists-should-sell-to-fans-and-let-labels-sell-to-consumers.xhtml (A highly recommended read.)
17 www.nme.com/news/radiohead/66647
6. WHAT’S IT WORTH?
1 www.wired.com/gamelife/2012/11/meet-the-whales/all/
2 www.liverpoolfc.com/news/announcements/fa-cup-final-ticket-news
3 www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2139428/FA-Cup-final-tickets-sold-black-market-10k.xhtml
4 www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/04/AR2007040401721.xhtml?hpid=topnews
5 One busker blogged that perhaps Bell’s problem is that he is a stage performer, not a busker. ‘A busker is someone who can turn any place into a stage…As a busker one needs to interact with those around, break walls of personal space, and lure people into a collective and spontaneous group experience on the street, in the moment, with you.’ That is valid, but doesn’t alter the way in which the context matters. (www.subwaymusicblog.com/busking/is-joshua-bell-a-good-busker/)
6 Dan Ariely, Predictably Irrational (HarperCollins, 2009), p. 24.
7 Ibid., pp. 31-6.
8 www.guardian.co.uk/music/2008/oct/16/radiohead-album-sales
9 http://paidcontent.org/2007/11/06/419-data-on-radiohead-experiment-38-percent-of-downloaders-choose-to-pay/
10 http://news.cnet.com/8301-10784_3-9814155-7.xhtml; www.wired.com/listening_post/2007/12/thom-yorke-disc/
11 www.humblebundle.com/#contribute
12 www.gourmet.com/magazine/2000s/2004/08/shattered_myths
13 www.riedel.com/fileadmin/page_content/flip/sguide_en/files/assets/basic-html/page13.xhtml
14 http://scienceblogs.com/cortex/2007/11/02/the-subjectivity-of-wine/
15 www.gamesbrief.com/2011/11/bigpoint-sells-2000-spaceship-drones-for-1000-euros-each-in-just-four-days/
7. FREELOADERS
1 www.pocketgamer.biz/r/PG.Biz/PapayaMobile+news/news.asp?c=42792
2 www.avc.com/a_vc/2006/03/my_favorite_bus.xhtml
3 www.forbes.com/sites/jeffbercovici/2013/01/02/tumblr-david-karps-800-million-art-project/
4 Ariely, Predictably Irrational, pp. 51-4.
5 http://appcubby.com/blog/the-sparrow-opportunity/
8. GAWKERS
1 www.guardian.co.uk/books/2009/aug/08/spent-geoffrey-miller-book-review
2 http://guynameddave.com/about-the-100-thing-challenge/
3 www.cjr.org/cover_story/steams_of_consciousness.php
4 Nick Wingfield, ‘Virtual Products, Real Profits’, Wall Street Journal, 9 September 2011.
5 www.nytimes.com/2010/09/07/business/media/07adco.xhtml?_r=2&
6 www.nytimes.com/2009/11/07/technology/internet/07virtual.xhtml?_r=1&
7 www.insidesocialgames.com/2010/12/24/cityville-passes-farmville-and-farmville-gets-a-chinese-language-version/
8 www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-20905931
9 I suspect that the figure is lower, since the 1 billion user statistic is for the number of users who logged into Facebook in the previous month, while the number of friend connections is a lifetime figure.
10 http://thesocietypages.org/cyborgology/2011/02/24/digital-dualism-versus-augmented-reality/
11 Jurgenson calls this ‘mild augmented reality’: http://thesocietypages.org/cyborgology/2012/10/29/strong-and-mild-digital-dualism/
12 www.businessweek.com/stories/2005-06-22/dude-wheres-my-digital-car
13 Asahi Shimbun, ‘Nettojou no bunshinkyara “abataa”: kisekaesakan’, ‘Dressing up: “avatar” online alter-egos’, 23 February 2006, accessed via http://blog.hangame.co.jp/tapo/article/3441351/
9. SUPERFANS
1 http://blog.priceonomics.com/post/48216173465/the-business-of-phish
2 www.pollstarpro.com/files/charts2012/2012YearEndTop200NorthAmericanTours.pdf
3 http://fallenlondon.storynexus.com/
4 www.kk.org/thetechnium/archives/2008/03/1000_true_fans.php
5 www.utsandiego.com/news/2011/sep/25/no-app-for-gratitude-ipads-will-have-to-do/
6 www.pocketgamer.biz/r/PG.Biz/NimbleBit+news/news.asp?c=37414
7 www.pocketgamer.biz/r/PG.Biz/NimbleBit+news/news.asp?c=23448
8 www.pocketgamer.biz/r/PG.Biz/NimbleBit+news/news.asp?c=26369
9 http://148apps.biz/app-store-metrics/?mpage=appcount
10 www.gamesbrief.com/2010/09/whales-infest-the-iphone-pocket-frog-proves-that-29-99-works/
11 www.tuaw.com/2010/09/20/NimbleBit-over-half-a-million-playing-pocket-frogs-3-4-buyi/
12 I estimated that Tiny Tower was on track to make $3 million in the first year. The company has told me that this is a conservative estimate. www.gamesbrief.com/2011/07/ios-tiny-tower-on-track-to-make-3-million-in-its-first-year/
13 www.abc.net.au/lateline/content/2012/s3592166.htm
1 www.doublefine.com/news/comments/twenty_years_only_a_few_tears/
2 www.scummbar.com/resources/articles/index.php?newssniffer=readarticle&article=1033
3 Ibid.
4 www.videogamesblogger.com/2007/11/06/grim-fandango-2-and-other-sequels-tim-schafer-would-love-to-make-but-he-prefers-to-create-new-games-like-brutal-legend.htm
5 www.kickstarter.com/projects/doublefine/double-fine-adventure
6 The Double Fine Kickstarter page can be found at www.kickstarter.com/projects/doublefine/double-fine-adventure
7 The number of pledges and revenue generated per tier in Figures 3 and 4 are lower than those reported as the total number of backers and amount raised by Kickstarter. There are two reasons: firstly, some backers choose to back a campaign but don’t opt for any reward, which means they don’t show up in any of the pledge tiers; secondly, backers can pledge any amount and opt for a reward tier that is below that amount – so, for example, someone could pledge $200 but select the $100 reward.
8 www.indiegogo.com/blog/2012/07/indiegogo-insight-perk-pricing-practices.xhtml
9 http://investors.wmg.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=182480&p=irol-newsArticle_pf&ID=942828&highlight=
10 www.indiegogo.com/projects/ashens-and-the-quest-for-the-game-child
11 www.kickstarter.com/projects/freddiew/video-game-high-school
12 www.kickstarter.com/projects/freddiew/video-game-high-school-season-two
13 www.guardian.co.uk/music/appsblog/2013/feb/08/bjork-cancels-biophilia-kickstarter
11. MAKE-IT-YOURSELF
1 http://blog.jaggeree.com/post/42862389672/joining-the-dots-to-here-button-badges-from-my-youth
2 www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/3995627/Boffins-spot-God-particle.xhtml
3 www.forbes.com/sites/andygreenberg/2013/05/08/3d-printed-guns-blueprints-downloaded-100000-times-in-two-days-with-some-help-from-kim-dotcom/
4 Disclosure: I am an advisor to and have a small equity stake in Makielab.
5 www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZVUoMfTnZ8Y
6 www.tci-network.org/media/asset_publics/resources/000/000/980/original/PLE_1_Enright.pdf
7 http://designbeyondtime.wordpress.com/design-icons/
8 http://sb.mybigcommerce.com/products/Juicy-Salif-Gold-Limited-Edition.xhtml
12. WE’RE ALL RETAILERS NOW
1 http://fwmedia.co.uk/about/
2 www.jameswoollam.com/vertical-publishing-and-the-search-for-the-holy-grail/
3 http://harpers.org/blog/2013/01/googles-media-barons/
4 www.thebookseller.com/blogs/tangible-assets.xhtml
5 www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/booknews/9584404/JK-Rowling-Casual-Vacancy-tops-fiction-charts.xhtml
6 http://blogs.wsj.com/speakeasy/2012/10/19/after-strong-start-j-k-rowlings-the-casual-vacancy-falls-on-charts/
7 http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php?t=4201265
8 www.forbes.com/sites/jeffbercovici/2012/09/27/critics-not-charmed-by-j-k-rowlings-casual-vacancy-will-readers-care/
9 http://steveblank.com/2010/01/25/whats-a-startup-first-principles/
10 http://techcrunch.com/2012/11/21/supercell/
11 www.forbes.com/sites/karstenstrauss/2013/04/17/is-this-the-fastest-growing-game-company-ever/
12 www.fastcompany.com/50106/inside-mind-jeff-bezos
13 http://kinnon.tv/2010/10/steve-jobs-on-the-perfect-group-size.xhtml
14 http://techcrunch.com/2010/08/04/google-wave-eric-schmidt/
15 http://pandodaily.com/2012/11/27/supercell-is-accels-fastest-growing-company-ever-and-it-has-a-ball-pit/
16 www.imvu.com/about/faq.php
17 www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/news/8559744/Moshi-Monsters-hits-50-million-members.xhtml
18 www.develop-online.net/news/42713/Bigpoint-passes-300-million-registered-users
19 www.veoc.org/kingarthurflour
20 www.bcorporation.net/blog/king-arthur-flour-a-company-built-to-last#.UYpP5MphDo8
21 www.7dvt.com/2013when-kitchen-calamities-strike-king-arthur-flours-baking-hotline-comes-rescue
1 www.fiksu.com/resources/fiksu-indexes#loyal-index
2 http://thetrichordist.com/2013/02/08/music-streaming-math-will-it-all-add-up/
3 https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AkasqHkVRM1OdEJFUnhyNFFkZjVSUWxhWGl1dE9lQXc#gid=3
4 http://craphound.com/walh/
5 www.theappside.com/2012/10/24/hairy-maclary-comes-to-ipad-with-17-book-apps-at-once/
6 Roger Lloyd, ‘Is TV the New Rock?’, Los Angeles Times, 30 December 2012.
7 www.guardian.co.uk/football/2006/sep/14/sport.comment1
8 www.guardian.co.uk/media/2012/jun/13/premier-league-tv-rights-3-billion-sky-bt
9 www.businessinsider.com/inside-andrew-sullivans-attempt-to-turn-the-digital-media-business-model-on-its-head-2013-4
10 www.theequitykicker.com/2013/05/23/building-businesses-around-passionate-communities-of-users/