U.S.-based publisher Harper Collins and digital document-sharing service Scribd announced on Tuesday that they are launching a new e-book subscription service. Access to HarperCollins digital content is available for $9 a month. Oyster, an independent digital book subscription service with an almost identical business model (except priced at $11 per month and not confined to a particular publisher) launched on September 5.
Reports have compared Scribd to Netflix, a subscription movie rental service. Given that subscription music services are proliferating as well, it seems logical for books to follow that path. Scribd and Oyster, however, face a challenge that music and movie subscription services don’t: declining interest in the content the medium has to offer, no matter the price point. In 2012, book sales (digital and print) according to a Nielsen Media study, declined by 9.3% in the U.S., 10.3% in Spain, 8.8% in South Africa, 7% in Italy and 20% in South Korea. A National Endowment for the Arts report shows that the percentage of people who do not read for pleasure at all has increased across all age groups. Library visits have declined; a survey by U.K.’s Department for Culture, Media and Sports reported that the number of people who had visited a library at least once a year had decreased by 25% since 2006.
Music piracy wreaked havoc on record labels, especially before iTunes and brought a convenient and cheap way for people to buy music piecemeal in 2003. But the industry is seeing a rebound (albeit a slow one). The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry released a report in February showing the first year-over-year increase in global music sales since 1999. 2012 global music revenue was 16.5 billion, 0.3% more than 2011. 9% of that growth was driven by digital sales, which grew to $5.6 billion total.
E-books have boosted publishing industry revenues. The industry’s 2012 revenues increased 6.2% from the previous year to $7.5 billion. Ebook sales made up 22.5% of that. So if Scribd and Oyster fail to increase revenues, it means they’ll be pummeling an already sinking sector.
