Wednesday, June 22, 2016

Martin Aagård Storytels purchase of the venerable Collins makes the similarities with … – Aftonbladet

A couple years ago, I asked easily hopefully a board member of one of Scandinavia’s largest media groups if they should buy Norstedts.

Hen answered with a shrug.

– Näej. What are we going with a publisher for? We already have one.

It’s easy to understand the total lack of interest.

Buying a publishing today is not much investment.

A publishing consists largely of not more than employees – and they can always change workplace. The authors, who now says its agents much closer than the publishers, switching easily and often publishers and starts perhaps a custom label if they do not like any of the old ones.

Collins, who over the years has had more owners than Zlatan , has for some years been for sale. Again. Three years ago there was speculation that the owners KF would reap the billions, but today it was sold for just 150 million to upstart Storytel which has rapidly become the largest provider of streaming audio books in Sweden. A kind of Spotify for reading aloud, simply.

The money has Storytel borrowed at the bank. It is a company that has grown rapidly and would continue to grow.

Now it is speculated in what the new owners have for the intentions of the venerable publishing house at Riddarholmen.

That they want to access rights to old Norstedts publishing is obvious. What editor would not like to have a backlist of Step Larsson ?

As any small startups want Storytel surely blow up its value to eventually sell to any major corporation. And shares shot very real in height shortly after the purchase of Norstedts.

This requires that the cuts in expenses. Which is probably to be expected. When Storytel recently bought Massolit publishers they laid down, inter alia, non-fiction publishing.

Maybe it was this moment when publishing was the same fate as the record industry. The similarities begin in any case be striking.

It’s no longer about selling books and CDs. Streaming is the works and the mobile phone platform puts all his hopes. Compensation models to the authors is becoming increasingly unclear and artists, sorry, the authors make their living more live performances than on sales. As a consequence grows festivals every year.

In addition, publishers and record companies more than anything else become marketing devices. Themselves find and cultivate new, unknown abilities begins for both industries become quite unattractive.

What are the new author? They already have several.

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