Chis Anderson’s latest post on the subject of “freemium” models of software pricing naturally has parallels to the issue of selling films in the digital age. I think there are some differences between utilitarian products and aesthetic ones, but fundamentally, how to create something that traditionally has cost a lot (a lot being 1-20 million for an indie and 40-200 million for a studio) and find a way to reach an audience who wants it without the audience directly paying for it.

The models he proposes are:

1. Time Limited, Then Pay- This model is definitely better for a utilitarian product since most people just want to watch the film one time. But some sites do work on a model similar to this, i.e. downloads cost more than streaming.
2. Feature Limited- Something like, if you pay you get the HD version or you get the DVD extras perhaps?  This seems like a possible model, like if a site could license a lot of special material that only subscribers could access.
3. Seat Limited- this one, that limits a  license to a certain number of computers, seems fairly specific to software, though some DRM works on a similar principle.
4. Customer Type Limited- the idea is that small companies get software more cheaply; for film, there has generally been a theatrical convention of senior and student pricing- perhaps continuing that online by making films very cheap or free for those groups would be a way to bring more older independent film lovers into the mix and perhaps even reduce piracy.

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