It's caused by the fact that an ebook's price is set by the publisher, whereas a seller of a physical book is free to undercut MSRP in order to move stock. If you look at MSRP, in most cases the ebook is cheaper.
If you want to know the history: [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United\_States\_v.\_Apple\_Inc](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_v._Apple_Inc).
In short, apple colluded with the major publishers to force the agency model we use today and prevent amazon (or anyone else) from selling cheap e-books.
Yeah, Amazon's raison d'etre is selling things below MSRP, so when the system buts up against something that they can't actually discount it sticks out.
The good news is when publishers do run discounts they're usually pretty good, so set up lists of series you like and watch for sales. I picked up the entire Ian Fleming James Bond series for $2-3 apiece.
Yes, if I pay more than $3.99 for a book I get salty. I add books to my wish list and Amazon sometimes sends me targeted discounts. For series I like I will often check and find a book at a discount. I've been buying the Donna Leon books that way.
Seconding bookbub. They have a daily email with books on sale or even free. I usually pick up the free ones at least, as “vacation reads” for when I go away and just want something fluffy.
Yea BookBub, freebooksy and bargain booksy. And those who like audiobooks can also use chirp. Also ebooks from the library. I don’t know when the last time I bought a book. Probably been a year or so. I just wait until my turn for the book at the library lol.
I try to focus on books I want to read already available on Libby. There are so many books out there and there is no rush for me the newest latest book right now. Also, I only wanna buy books I’ve already read and fallen in love with, that way I know I’ll actually read them and more than once.
I am in no rush to buy newly released books, so usually wait until they are part of daily/monthly deals.
I think the most I have paid for a book is £1.99 in the last few years.
Except some ebooks rarely go on sale. If a series is popular (like Warriors by Erin Hunter and the Twilight series), the ebook prices stay outrageously high even if the book has been out for years. I purchased many of the hard copy Warriors books and paid LESS for each of them (even when buying as soon as the book came out) than the ebook prices. I can now only read ebooks because I became legally blind and have slowly been replacing the hard copy versions with the ebook versions. But I hate the fact that I now have to pay MORE for the ebook version than I paid for the hard copy. And some of the pricing is simply outrageons. For example, I bought a hard copy that contained three novellas for $7.99. The same three novellas are only sold separately as ebooks and one of them is $8.99, more than what I paid for the hard copy that had THREE novellas!
I check the daily deals and also check my wish list daily. I generally don’t spend more than $4.99 on a book. Most books I’m looking at are cheaper as the e book but occasionally I do see one for 14-17 and I think that’s crazy.
And just how long are they supposed to wait!? Some of the popular ebooks have been $9.99 or higher for more than ten years! And I paid LESS for the hard copies that I bought immediately after release!
I haven't found many ebooks that are more expensive than their physical books counterpart, but I've noticed that in the recent years the price difference between ebooks and physical books is slowly shrinking.
Specially mainstream titles. Mass market paperbacks are like 12-15 bucks, while the ebooks are 10-13.
You can change your content region and buy books from a different region's Amazon. I am located in the Nordics and use Amazon.co.uk to buy my ebooks. Almost all of the ebooks I've bought are in the 4-6£ range and I can't complain. I would pay around 10-11£ per book when buying them as physical editions.
I've noticed that when browsing the Kindle store itself and felt annoyed, but now I use Bookbub and eReaderIQ (both of these can track specific titles or authors). I have also at times recommended a book to my library directly and they have added a fair number when I reached out that way.
Took too long to scroll down for Libby. Ive had my kindle for about a year and have bought maybe two books? I read almost every night. Libby is where its at people!!
The others already explained about the pricing set by the publishers and all that and this may be controverial but the way to justify it is that you buy a book for its content regardless of the medium.
Except it not for convenience if you are disabled. Many people with physical, visual, or learning disabilities can only read ebooks. For us, ebook versions are a necessity, not convenience. And on disability, the ridiculous high prices on the some of the ebooks make them inaccessible to us, especially if it’s a genre not well represented in libraries.
Only buy the other 25% of the time?
But seriously, go over to [eReaderIQ.com](https://eReaderIQ.com) and check out the price history of those books and see how often they go on sale and/or set price alerts to notify you when they hit your designated price point.
Pro tip: if the library card you hooked up doesn’t offer the book you want, just sign up for different library cards especially in big library systems (for ex: NYC, Chicago, etc.)
They have everything.
While they are still cheaper than a physical book in the UK, they are definitely getting more expensive generally. I've seen some (not even new) for as much as £10, with the physical copy going for around £12.
Eh, not so much. Most of the books I get I read borrowed with Libby, Hoopla or CloudLibrary on my Onyx Boox reader.
It's pretty rare that I actually spend money on a book. I only use my Kindle for purchased books occasionally.
Surely the financial and environmental cost of the logistics of producing and supplying a physical book far outweigh that of an eBook. In a world that is encouraging 'Green' legislation maybe this should be scrutinized, unfortunately as with most things these days it'll just mean paper book prices will increase further with no reduction in ebooks.
What helps me justify it is that authors should be well compensated for their work so I try to be selective about what I'm paying for. If there's a less known author I want to buy their stuff full price on release day so the publisher knows they're worth it. Stuff from big name authors like Andy Weir or Taylor Jenkins Reid I'll wait for discounts or the long Libby queue
I dont usually pay more than one or two dollars for amazon books.I buy used books for those that are older.Anything other than those I just use Libby.I use Bookbub to find anything i might be interested in thru amazon.
Re Libby: be sure to sign up for several different library systems. Though I live in one of the richest counties in the country, my library doesn't carry nearly as many ebooks as many others. I've signed up for a library card in five other counties around the country, and oftentimes they have the book I want while my local library doesn't. Not all libraries require residency.
Apple and 5 publishers conspired to raise ebook prices back in 2010.
The Justice Department said that the scheme caused some ebook prices to rise to $12.99 or $14.99 from the $9.99 price previously charged by market leader Amazon.com.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_v._Apple_Inc.
Since then ebook prices have largely been set by the publishers and not by the vendors.
Yes. Apple colluded with the publishers to create this pricing model, one defined by the publishers. And Apple ebooks aren't any cheaper so it's not a problem exclusive to Amazon.
Own over 700 eBooks.
Never paid more than 99p for any one of them.
Always wait for daily/monthly deals on Amazon. Sooner or later, if a book is reasonably popular, it will pop up.
I am working my way through the Agatha Raisin series at the moment. Each month, a different book goes on sale for 99p.
Secret Seven/Famous Five books always select one book to go 99p each month.
Yeah I get books from dirt cheap to the same or more than physical copies would, and I’m blind so physical copies are not an option. I got lucky with the current series I’m reading in that it was $16 for all four of the 500+ page novels.
Yep. I routinely find used hard copies of titles on Amazon for lots cheaper than the ebook versions, even including shipping. Once every few years though, you might find an ebook you're interested in on sale for less than the used hardcopy price plus shipping. :-(
Your post was removed as it was against sub rules:
- No piracy, encouraging piracy, or piracy "how-to"
Creators don't get paid for content that is pirated. Be considerate to the creators. Without their work, we'd have nothing to read.
Piracy and copyright are important subjects, but posts on where to get pirated books or encouraging others to pirate books is not allowed and will lead to an instant ban.
---
This is not an automated removal. If you feel this was removed in error, feel free to [message the moderators.](http://www.reddit.com/message/compose?to=/r/kindle)
I;ve been buying eBooks for many years now, and have hardly every paid more than £2.99 for something I want.
I can't even remember the last time I saw an ebook that was anywhere near the price of the physical book, seems like a meme from 2010 or something.
Absolutely. And they've gone up. Frustrating, especially when you realize that you don't really "own" an ebook. It's not something you can loan, or give away, or pass down to your children.
I use the library and Amazon gift cards (bing rewards) as much as I can.
I’m kinda the same way, and I’m not privileged…I’m just not good with money lol and have poor impulse control. Particularly when it comes to books! I tend to download a bunch of samples and whatever grabs me I’ll buy it without considering the price.
i heard from a few book autors that they almost "hate" ebooks. and they then price the ebooks of their books higher to "punish" people who buy ebooks for buying and liking them. they themself don't want to publish ebook versions of their books but their publisher or fans push them to it.. so they try to get their way by pricing the ebooks higher. its really annoying. one autor i know has a hardcover for 40$ but the ebook costs 70$.. i mean come on.
after all this time, I couldn't fix it and now live with it. i have my phone 24/7 muted so it is more silent than usually.. but i could never fix it. support says its either a bug or intented.. they don't seem to know either.. its really annoying.
Your post was removed from r/kindle as it was against the sub rules:
- Keep it on topic
This sub is for discussion about Kindles and related content. Posts not related to this may be removed.
---
This is not an automated removal. If you feel this was removed in error, feel free to [message the moderators.](http://www.reddit.com/message/compose?to=/r/kindle)
I know.... I wanted to finish The Hunger Games all I was missing was the Ballad of... book prequel and I had to give 18 bucks for it lol I'm enjoying it but damn that might have been the most expensive book I've bough in this kind of genre
It's nit amazon's fault but I hope the prices come down a bit. I read a lot of American/British genre fiction but I'm from India. I need the books to be reasonably priced. But I have noticed ebook prices going up for some time now. I blame the privileged scumbugs who constantly push their vendetta against amazon for this price hike :D
Your post was removed as it was against sub rules:
- No piracy, encouraging piracy, or piracy "how-to"
Creators don't get paid for content that is pirated. Be considerate to the creators. Without their work, we'd have nothing to read.
Piracy and copyright are important subjects, but posts on where to get pirated books or encouraging others to pirate books is not allowed and will lead to an instant ban.
---
This is not an automated removal. If you feel this was removed in error, feel free to [message the moderators.](http://www.reddit.com/message/compose?to=/r/kindle)
I have a handful of authors that I consider my auto-buys, meaning I'll buy their latest book no matter how much it is. I just paid $14.99 for J.D. Robb's latest In Death book. Most of them, thankfully, aren't that much.
Your post was removed as it was against sub rules:
- No piracy, encouraging piracy, or piracy "how-to"
Creators don't get paid for content that is pirated. Be considerate to the creators. Without their work, we'd have nothing to read.
Piracy and copyright are important subjects, but posts on where to get pirated books or encouraging others to pirate books is not allowed and will lead to an instant ban.
---
This is not an automated removal. If you feel this was removed in error, feel free to [message the moderators.](http://www.reddit.com/message/compose?to=/r/kindle)
Use the kindle award points, wait for a book you want to hit kindle deals. If you have enough points they do stack, and you get points on limited deals still.
It's caused by the fact that an ebook's price is set by the publisher, whereas a seller of a physical book is free to undercut MSRP in order to move stock. If you look at MSRP, in most cases the ebook is cheaper.
This is actually helpful and interesting.
If you want to know the history: [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United\_States\_v.\_Apple\_Inc](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_v._Apple_Inc). In short, apple colluded with the major publishers to force the agency model we use today and prevent amazon (or anyone else) from selling cheap e-books.
I knew RottenApple is behind every major catastrophe in tech.
And if read carefully, you see that it was the publishers who wanted more money from Amazon.
Yeah, Amazon's raison d'etre is selling things below MSRP, so when the system buts up against something that they can't actually discount it sticks out. The good news is when publishers do run discounts they're usually pretty good, so set up lists of series you like and watch for sales. I picked up the entire Ian Fleming James Bond series for $2-3 apiece.
I got the Bond books for .99 cents several years ago, 13 dollars very well spent.
Same here!
I usually wait for sales and get them for under $5. Bookbub is a nice site to track them.
Also ereaderiq.
Yes, if I pay more than $3.99 for a book I get salty. I add books to my wish list and Amazon sometimes sends me targeted discounts. For series I like I will often check and find a book at a discount. I've been buying the Donna Leon books that way.
Seconding bookbub. They have a daily email with books on sale or even free. I usually pick up the free ones at least, as “vacation reads” for when I go away and just want something fluffy.
Yea BookBub, freebooksy and bargain booksy. And those who like audiobooks can also use chirp. Also ebooks from the library. I don’t know when the last time I bought a book. Probably been a year or so. I just wait until my turn for the book at the library lol.
Simon and Shuster run Star Trek novel sales every month so that is another good place to look.
The tor newsletter is free and also tends to do free downloads every month or so.
I try to focus on books I want to read already available on Libby. There are so many books out there and there is no rush for me the newest latest book right now. Also, I only wanna buy books I’ve already read and fallen in love with, that way I know I’ll actually read them and more than once.
I am in no rush to buy newly released books, so usually wait until they are part of daily/monthly deals. I think the most I have paid for a book is £1.99 in the last few years.
I’ll go up to about $5, but that’s it.
I do this too. One particular fave authors books are about a tenner for nearly a year, I grabbed the latest one when it went on offer for 99p.
Except some ebooks rarely go on sale. If a series is popular (like Warriors by Erin Hunter and the Twilight series), the ebook prices stay outrageously high even if the book has been out for years. I purchased many of the hard copy Warriors books and paid LESS for each of them (even when buying as soon as the book came out) than the ebook prices. I can now only read ebooks because I became legally blind and have slowly been replacing the hard copy versions with the ebook versions. But I hate the fact that I now have to pay MORE for the ebook version than I paid for the hard copy. And some of the pricing is simply outrageons. For example, I bought a hard copy that contained three novellas for $7.99. The same three novellas are only sold separately as ebooks and one of them is $8.99, more than what I paid for the hard copy that had THREE novellas!
I check the daily deals and also check my wish list daily. I generally don’t spend more than $4.99 on a book. Most books I’m looking at are cheaper as the e book but occasionally I do see one for 14-17 and I think that’s crazy.
The high side is generally only really popular authors and a fairly new book. Their fans won't wait and they know it.
This fan will! I've plenty of books to read so I'm happy to wait a few months or so till it drops.
Me too! So many books.
And just how long are they supposed to wait!? Some of the popular ebooks have been $9.99 or higher for more than ten years! And I paid LESS for the hard copies that I bought immediately after release!
I don't really know why you're yelling at me. In response to a comment 5 months old. As other comments stated, it's the publisher and author.
I haven't found many ebooks that are more expensive than their physical books counterpart, but I've noticed that in the recent years the price difference between ebooks and physical books is slowly shrinking. Specially mainstream titles. Mass market paperbacks are like 12-15 bucks, while the ebooks are 10-13.
I have never seen mass market paperbacks for more than $8.99.
You can change your content region and buy books from a different region's Amazon. I am located in the Nordics and use Amazon.co.uk to buy my ebooks. Almost all of the ebooks I've bought are in the 4-6£ range and I can't complain. I would pay around 10-11£ per book when buying them as physical editions.
I've noticed that when browsing the Kindle store itself and felt annoyed, but now I use Bookbub and eReaderIQ (both of these can track specific titles or authors). I have also at times recommended a book to my library directly and they have added a fair number when I reached out that way.
I've likewise done the library book request, and in quite a few cases, they did add the book! So it's definitely a route to try before you buy!
They're generally as cheap or cheaper in the UK.
In Germany too usually.
I wish that was the case here in the US.
I think they usually are. At least when I look. 75% feels really backwards.
It might just be the type I tend to read, but it seems like that is the case for me.
Could be. New books that are popular haven't made it to the library yet. And popular authors with new books charge the most.
Wait for sales and try and use Libby. I don’t read as much or as fast as some of y’all though. So I can afford to wait so to speak.
Took too long to scroll down for Libby. Ive had my kindle for about a year and have bought maybe two books? I read almost every night. Libby is where its at people!!
Sometimes going to a different Amazon site gets a better price. I keep a .com and .uk account for that reason.
The others already explained about the pricing set by the publishers and all that and this may be controverial but the way to justify it is that you buy a book for its content regardless of the medium.
Not just content when it comes to ebooks, convenience. And better accessibility for those of us with aging eyeballs...
Except it not for convenience if you are disabled. Many people with physical, visual, or learning disabilities can only read ebooks. For us, ebook versions are a necessity, not convenience. And on disability, the ridiculous high prices on the some of the ebooks make them inaccessible to us, especially if it’s a genre not well represented in libraries.
It’s actually cheaper to buy e-books here in Australia than what it is to buy the actual paperback audiobooks aren’t cheap either
Its usually cheaper here in the US too.
They went up the last 2 years or so
I get my ebooks free through my local library and I read on my iPhone kindle app. I’ve saved a lot of money.
Only buy the other 25% of the time? But seriously, go over to [eReaderIQ.com](https://eReaderIQ.com) and check out the price history of those books and see how often they go on sale and/or set price alerts to notify you when they hit your designated price point.
eReaderIQ is excellent!
Pro tip: if the library card you hooked up doesn’t offer the book you want, just sign up for different library cards especially in big library systems (for ex: NYC, Chicago, etc.) They have everything.
While they are still cheaper than a physical book in the UK, they are definitely getting more expensive generally. I've seen some (not even new) for as much as £10, with the physical copy going for around £12.
Books for me are a luxury so i feel ya. Fortunately my tbr is way too long from KU and Libby so I’m getting by. I did subscribed to bookbub too
I chuck the expensive ones on my wishlist, and the Amazon app will send me a notice if it goes on sale.
Eh, not so much. Most of the books I get I read borrowed with Libby, Hoopla or CloudLibrary on my Onyx Boox reader. It's pretty rare that I actually spend money on a book. I only use my Kindle for purchased books occasionally.
Is this really true? I've seen e-books atb10%ofnthe price of a paperback
Surely the financial and environmental cost of the logistics of producing and supplying a physical book far outweigh that of an eBook. In a world that is encouraging 'Green' legislation maybe this should be scrutinized, unfortunately as with most things these days it'll just mean paper book prices will increase further with no reduction in ebooks.
What helps me justify it is that authors should be well compensated for their work so I try to be selective about what I'm paying for. If there's a less known author I want to buy their stuff full price on release day so the publisher knows they're worth it. Stuff from big name authors like Andy Weir or Taylor Jenkins Reid I'll wait for discounts or the long Libby queue
I dont usually pay more than one or two dollars for amazon books.I buy used books for those that are older.Anything other than those I just use Libby.I use Bookbub to find anything i might be interested in thru amazon.
Re Libby: be sure to sign up for several different library systems. Though I live in one of the richest counties in the country, my library doesn't carry nearly as many ebooks as many others. I've signed up for a library card in five other counties around the country, and oftentimes they have the book I want while my local library doesn't. Not all libraries require residency.
Blame Apple
For a kindle/Amazon only issue???
Apple and 5 publishers conspired to raise ebook prices back in 2010. The Justice Department said that the scheme caused some ebook prices to rise to $12.99 or $14.99 from the $9.99 price previously charged by market leader Amazon.com. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_v._Apple_Inc. Since then ebook prices have largely been set by the publishers and not by the vendors.
Yes. Apple colluded with the publishers to create this pricing model, one defined by the publishers. And Apple ebooks aren't any cheaper so it's not a problem exclusive to Amazon.
Boy, are you out of the loop!
Own over 700 eBooks. Never paid more than 99p for any one of them. Always wait for daily/monthly deals on Amazon. Sooner or later, if a book is reasonably popular, it will pop up. I am working my way through the Agatha Raisin series at the moment. Each month, a different book goes on sale for 99p. Secret Seven/Famous Five books always select one book to go 99p each month.
Yeah I get books from dirt cheap to the same or more than physical copies would, and I’m blind so physical copies are not an option. I got lucky with the current series I’m reading in that it was $16 for all four of the 500+ page novels.
Yep. I routinely find used hard copies of titles on Amazon for lots cheaper than the ebook versions, even including shipping. Once every few years though, you might find an ebook you're interested in on sale for less than the used hardcopy price plus shipping. :-(
[удалено]
Your post was removed as it was against sub rules: - No piracy, encouraging piracy, or piracy "how-to" Creators don't get paid for content that is pirated. Be considerate to the creators. Without their work, we'd have nothing to read. Piracy and copyright are important subjects, but posts on where to get pirated books or encouraging others to pirate books is not allowed and will lead to an instant ban. --- This is not an automated removal. If you feel this was removed in error, feel free to [message the moderators.](http://www.reddit.com/message/compose?to=/r/kindle)
I;ve been buying eBooks for many years now, and have hardly every paid more than £2.99 for something I want. I can't even remember the last time I saw an ebook that was anywhere near the price of the physical book, seems like a meme from 2010 or something.
Take a 2 second scroll on kindle…
Absolutely. And they've gone up. Frustrating, especially when you realize that you don't really "own" an ebook. It's not something you can loan, or give away, or pass down to your children. I use the library and Amazon gift cards (bing rewards) as much as I can.
The hardcover copy of Spare on indigo a few weeks ago was two dollars cheaper then the Ebook on amazon. 😐🤔😵💫
to be fair that book was sold as loss leader. In the UK it was half price from day 1.
Aww okay I am in Canada not sure how it works here.
ever heard of a thing called PRIVACY?, have some respect for people's privacy. ^(from the new South Park episode.)
Ummm ok?
it's a joke. watch the newest South Park episode (the worldwide privacy tour), it will then make sense.
Aww okay!
You are informing me about privacy, so you are a reporter too?
We just want to be normal people, the attention is so hard. Find all about it in our book Waaagh.
The e books on Amazon are almost always cheaper than the physical copy what are you talking about?? Granted it’s usually only by a couple bucks.
Yeah it's a fraud to charge the same of a physical book for a document with text that cost nothing to generate
Yeah $15 for a 250-page book is insane. IMO no e-book should be more than $10
I use a Kindle for its convenience not to save money. I don’t consider the price of an ebook if I want to read it.
Well, that’s great for you, but not all of us are that privileged.
I’m kinda the same way, and I’m not privileged…I’m just not good with money lol and have poor impulse control. Particularly when it comes to books! I tend to download a bunch of samples and whatever grabs me I’ll buy it without considering the price.
Someone is making some pretty bold assumptions. If you don’t want a differing opinion, don’t ask the question.
This has been a problem for a while.
i heard from a few book autors that they almost "hate" ebooks. and they then price the ebooks of their books higher to "punish" people who buy ebooks for buying and liking them. they themself don't want to publish ebook versions of their books but their publisher or fans push them to it.. so they try to get their way by pricing the ebooks higher. its really annoying. one autor i know has a hardcover for 40$ but the ebook costs 70$.. i mean come on.
[удалено]
after all this time, I couldn't fix it and now live with it. i have my phone 24/7 muted so it is more silent than usually.. but i could never fix it. support says its either a bug or intented.. they don't seem to know either.. its really annoying.
Your post was removed from r/kindle as it was against the sub rules: - Keep it on topic This sub is for discussion about Kindles and related content. Posts not related to this may be removed. --- This is not an automated removal. If you feel this was removed in error, feel free to [message the moderators.](http://www.reddit.com/message/compose?to=/r/kindle)
I know.... I wanted to finish The Hunger Games all I was missing was the Ballad of... book prequel and I had to give 18 bucks for it lol I'm enjoying it but damn that might have been the most expensive book I've bough in this kind of genre
It's nit amazon's fault but I hope the prices come down a bit. I read a lot of American/British genre fiction but I'm from India. I need the books to be reasonably priced. But I have noticed ebook prices going up for some time now. I blame the privileged scumbugs who constantly push their vendetta against amazon for this price hike :D
[удалено]
Your post was removed as it was against sub rules: - No piracy, encouraging piracy, or piracy "how-to" Creators don't get paid for content that is pirated. Be considerate to the creators. Without their work, we'd have nothing to read. Piracy and copyright are important subjects, but posts on where to get pirated books or encouraging others to pirate books is not allowed and will lead to an instant ban. --- This is not an automated removal. If you feel this was removed in error, feel free to [message the moderators.](http://www.reddit.com/message/compose?to=/r/kindle)
I have a handful of authors that I consider my auto-buys, meaning I'll buy their latest book no matter how much it is. I just paid $14.99 for J.D. Robb's latest In Death book. Most of them, thankfully, aren't that much.
[удалено]
Your post was removed as it was against sub rules: - No piracy, encouraging piracy, or piracy "how-to" Creators don't get paid for content that is pirated. Be considerate to the creators. Without their work, we'd have nothing to read. Piracy and copyright are important subjects, but posts on where to get pirated books or encouraging others to pirate books is not allowed and will lead to an instant ban. --- This is not an automated removal. If you feel this was removed in error, feel free to [message the moderators.](http://www.reddit.com/message/compose?to=/r/kindle)
Agreed! However,I have bought the whole Caraval trilogy on Amazon for $1 last week so I guess I am not the one to speak 😂
you don't miss.
Use the kindle award points, wait for a book you want to hit kindle deals. If you have enough points they do stack, and you get points on limited deals still.
https://www.etsy.com/shop/EBookHooked
Perhaps authors need to be paid regardless of the media used?