Sherman Alexie is wrong

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I enjoy Sherman Alexie’s writing.  And I think he’s a reasonably funny guy.  But he’s just plain wrong about digital books, and really about the supposed threat posed by digital books, music, and so forth to artist’s creative freedom and ownership.  (See the video below).

Music is a terrible example.  Musicians never made much from record sales to begin with, and the entire structure of the music industry was one in which most artists were crowded out in favor of those who could sell tons of records and make their respective record labels lots and lots of money.  With digital music and the iPod and yes, even music piracy, we’ve seen the rise of a new music industry, one that is similar in a way to the world of blogging and online news.  The music is nearly free, and there are many more artists to choose from.  Musicians can do away with record labels altogether and record and distribute their own work.  Or they can choose from a plethora of indie labels. And they still make money playing live shows and from radio royalties, mp3 sales, and yes even record sales.

The musicians didn’t take the hit from digital music – the record labels did, and some of the biggest bands who suddenly faced more competition. Digital music democratized the music industry, and has ushered in a new golden age in music.

Alexie’s premise is entirely false, because it’s built around the myth that protectionism is good for artists, good for jobs, and good for local communities. This is simply false. Buying an e-book or a book from an online website doesn’t hurt a local community or the author of that book. What it might do is save you money which you can then spend at a local restaurant or at a music show or a play. Far from hurting local jobs, this empowers people to spend money on more things they want, creating new jobs and new opportunities for artists, musicians, and writers who may have been unknown or incapable of marketing themselves to be seen or heard to sell some of their own art.

Sure, protecting the local bookstore from the competition of the internet might save a job or two, but it means more costly books for people and less money spent elsewhere – at that restaurant or on that local band’s show. And for towns without bookstores, the online revolution has made books just a few clicks away, rather than a long drive to the bigger town.