The passion of the posts

All of this erodes the value of ‘traditional’ media companies and cultural institutions since individuals will be more able to provide proof of passion without branded legitimization and artists will be able to fund their creative endeavors by selling proof of passion to their engaged communities. There will also be major downsides to transforming ... See more

The good news is that the internet is trending back to Kelly’s vision. For example, many top writers on Substack earn far more than they did at salaried jobs. The economics of low take rates plus enthusiastic fandom does wonders. On Substack, 1,000 newsletter subscribers paying $10/month nets over $100K/year to the writer.

An interesting theory: We’re entering an age where top-tier journalists are finally going to get paid what they’re worth by branching off and doing their own thing (like Bill Bishop)

The problem for consumers in the Passion Economy is that there is no opportunity to own assets. Everything is still subscription-based. Given that readers and listeners act as marketing channel for creators, it makes sense for them to have some skin-in-the-game.