This isn't directly about book publishing, but Billy Bragg's presentation at the EconMusic conference are worth this industry's consideration. Basically, the British pop-folk star pointed out that somebody's making money off all that music available online, and, far too often, it isn't the artists:

"How much do you think MySpace makes from advertising? $800 million? And how much do they pay for content?... We need to establish the principle of paying content providers, not just musicians but for everybody. In order for us to to make a living, the industry has to recognize that the old model doesn't work anymore and has to be restructured."

Bragg is the first person to admit such restructuring won't be easy, but he's not entirely sold on some of the alternatives that have been suggested to musicians, like treating songs as promotional tools for concerts and merchandising, either.

We don't pretend to know exactly how these issues port to the book world, but we suspect a similar showdown is coming as electronic publishing continues to grow.

(photo: PaidContent)