Yes, interesting that book (and audiobook) publishers are further behind the music industry. And then there is movie and tv with it's inane fragmentation.
One subscription for access to ALL the content is the way to beat piracy. Anything else is anti-consumer at this point.
> One subscription for access to ALL the content is the way to beat piracy. Anything else is anti-consumer at this point.
So what do you do when an Amazon Prime membership is required to access most contemporary books?
Or when you have to get several different all-you-can-read memberships to access all the authors you like. Eg. first there was just Netflix, now there is Hulu, Disney+ and Paramount+ as well if you want to see The Handmaid's Tale, Stranger Things, Game of Thrones, Star Trek: whatever, The Expanse, Star Wars & Avengers movies (to name just a few of the most popular and culturally relevant shows and movie franchises).
Whether there is a monopoly or oligopoly doesn't make much difference to consumers, though it does make some difference to content creators.
To make a system like you describe palatable over the long term, you would have to add in structural separation (content owners can't also be distributors) and strictly limit the kind of exclusive licensing deals that are allowed (eg. require statutory licensing of some sort) so new publishers and distributors can't be prevented from entering the market.
I'm guessing that you missed my point. I was saying that the music industry has the right model that is mostly consumer friendly and beats piracy. I can pay Spotify or Apple a single reasonably priced subscription and have access to "all the things." Books, audiobooks, movies and TV are all a fricking mess (as you point out) and it is anti-consumer and promotes piracy.
The music industry doesn't have the right idea (from their POV). They let Apple become dominant (same as publishers let Amazon). The movie and tv industry (which overlaps with music) wasn't going to let Netflix (or Apple, or Amazon) do the same, so we consumers get fragmentation that preserves their profits, and they get to demonize piracy.
One subscription for access to ALL the content is the way to beat piracy. Anything else is anti-consumer at this point.