The fundamental tension of online writing
+ Make it freely available -> more public benefit, less personal benefit
+ Make it paid -> more personal benefit, less public benefit
We want these strongly aligned. Patreon, Substack (etc) reduce the misalignment only a tiny bit
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Not trying to say anything new - this goes back at least as far as "Information wants to be free; it also wants to be expensive". Just pondering out loud. It's as though the invisible hand is broken... I guess this is what quadratic voting & similar ideas are for...
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Funny that in some (many?) cases, making it freely available online actually leads to more net personal benefit than one would have accrued if one sold the work (e.g. due to indirect gains, social capital). This might occur less when one is more established.
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Sort of? I think it's: (a) very uncertain and far more stressful; and (b) has a very high variance.
Certainly, I'd believe that the top 10,000 musician direct music income has gone done. Though a few people like Rihanna perhaps do better in other ways.
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