Do free webcomics hurt the industry?

[Dane_Sherbet]

All forms of entertainment are in competition with each other. There's only so many people in the world and only so many hours that they need to be entertained.

[ToxicRamen]

I don't think it is. I think being able to read webcomics online for free helps builds a fanbase for artist and if the webcomic is popular enough, people would buy books & other merch from the artists. I've been buying collected trades (via Kickstarter) of webcomics that I've enjoy reading like Trying Human and Ava's Demon.

[rajillustration]

I do think that as an industry, in general, artists need to be charging just a hell ton more. The rate for freelance illustration has not really risen although the cost of living absolutely has. But, the quote is still incorrect--"free art" on the internet isn't to blame for this--the blame goes to companies trying to pay artists as little as possible and taking as long as they can to do it. We really need some sort of union omg.

But, when it comes to webcomics or youtube musicians--that isn't actually "free." We get ad revenue, youtubers get the possibility of sponserships for their videos. You attract people to your patreons. It's all a business, and money is still absolutely involved, you just get paid at a different time than standard publishing. Webcomics is an investment that artists make. A thing that might make money in the future, if you play your cards right. Same with music youtubers.

[thedude3445]

I got into comics thanks to webcomics. Webcomics such as 8-bit Theater, Dinosaur Comics, and Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal helped me love the art form of free comics on the web, and that eventually led to me reading all sorts of comic work both online and on paper.

Free art does not hurt industries. It helps industries thrive.

[Prometheus]

Never mind. I’m not explaining myself well enough. I’ll just leave it be.

[Prometheus]

Never mind. I was just trying to add a point, but I’m starting to see that it wasn’t a valid point in the medium of comics.

[NellieVP318]

This is the first time I have seen an opinion like this. IMO, releasing your work for free is not hurting the industry. If anything, I see people moving to paid work once they have the confidence to switch for releasing their work from free to paid.

I think it call comes down to a person's confidence in their skills. Not everyone has a competitive drive and one person may simply just want to post their work for free without that stress. Personally, I wouldn't mind being paid but I also know going the paid work does take a damper at times from meeting with demands and expectations.

[prunier]

As it says "Ignorance is bliss"
As someone who lives in a country where comics aren't popular at all and where isn't enough comic corporations because of economic crisis are all the time, I just want to laugh at this statement because being an indie creator it's a great way for me to let other people from the globe to know my work and take some donations.

[Puck]

It´s 2020, kids read comics online and stream music. There is still a way to make money, you have to find out what you can offer that the other creators can´t offer and what the consumer wants to spend money on. You can´t change the market or how the internet works. I´m a musician and an illustrator. I grew up with the dream to live on selling vinyl records and comic books. Nobody buys that today, I can complain or be angry about it but that doesn´t change anything but my own mood or I can adapt to the market

[Darth_Biomech]

We're not really competing with each other. If anything, we're here to help each other. I don't know a single comic book fan that says they will read Dragon Ball and ONLY Dragon Ball.

Well, to a degree, we are, actually. The reader has limited time during which he can read the stories. It's the reason why people are dropping them constantly and why some comics have tens of thousands of subs while others have three - they find something that suits their tastes more and\or can't spend time on your comic anymore (I for instance unable to keep track of more than 10-20 stories at a time, and still can't find time to catch up with the Stay Still Stay Silent, because for every bunch of pages I finally find time to read, the artist (via some unholy soul-selling to obtain inhuman working speed, I'm sure) releases twice as much more).

Like with that famous picture about the two cakes viewed by the artist and the consumer, that omits the small detail that there are not two but actually twenty thousand cakes with all sorts of flavors and quality, and the viewer can eat only 10 at best.

But, when it comes to webcomics or youtube musicians--that isn't actually "free." We get ad revenue, youtubers get the possibility of sponserships for their videos.

It is a curious question, but does it matter? Yeah while the artist gets nifty things out of it like sponsorships and patreons, for the viewer it still doesn't cost one penny to consume their work, as opposed to things that you must explicitly buy before you can enjoy them. The viewer isn't interested that "actually" the artist gets money out of what they're doing (Apart of maybe "hey cool, they'll keep making more free stuff for me!").

[ghostmaya]

I believe no~ you can see Manga, Tapas, webtoon and other webcomic platforms, they have free series to read but people are still willing to pay for featured/premium comics because there's still audience who really supports their favorite creators~ if free webcomics hurts the industry then there should be no featured/premium comics in the 1st place~

[cleo_san]

Free webcomics do NOT hurt the industry, the industry, as many of other posters have said, hurts itself with such a point of view.

I know of people who got into comics/mangas because of their artist friends. I have several friends who would not have dreamed of ever touching such a thing as a manga, then bought my little self-published indie-comic and are now manga and comic readers to the core.
I know of people who grew up together and motivated each other to eventually draw and publish their own comic (also my friend circle)
I know people, who have joined bigger publishers and about the ~2$ you get for delivering one page you spent 2 days on. (minus taxes).

Big Comic publishers / the comic industry is the one which underprices to the point, an artist has to work to exhaustion to make ends meet.
I'd rather support indie artists any day via ko-fi and patreon than buy an industry comic, because I know that the money I spend on supporting a person actually reaches that person almost completely (minus patreon/paypal fees, of course). I choose, which story I support, I follow "my" creator, have seen their struggles and their little anecdotes about their characters. I can see the person "behind" the story I love and this gives me as a consumer a completely different viewpoint. It makes those creators more "human" to me =)

I also think, that the "MONEYMONEYMONEY" attitude of the industry will eventually be the point which breaks it. The meddling in otherwise beautiful and creative stories by a 3rd party to the point they became bland and unoriginal and the unhealthy contracts artists sometimes sign... welp, let's just say that I think that there need to be some changes in the industry instead of blaming indie artists for their "free content".

[Prometheus]

I agree. Comics, or just stories in any medium in general, are for the most part, really creative. They have heart. But corporations and the industry tend to break that creativity and heart down and strip it away when their soul purpose is , “We want money!” I never thought of the industry itself being the issue, but now that everyone’s saying it, I see it.

[jcmraz]

This isn't a very good explanation of this. Most quality creators make money through other means such as crowdfunding websites like Patreon and Ko Fi and such. So the products aren't free. They're being paid for by the people supporting the creator as well as ads. Next, you can't do anything with properties owned by certain people or companies. You want to read a story about Wolverine then you're going to have to get it from Marvel. Period. Last is just a stamp of quality. There is a lot of stuff out there. Some good, some bad. And there is a much wider divide for free on the internet. If you're buying a comic, you're buying something that has someone that works full time in the field working on it and performing to a professional quality of work with both the writing and art.

I would also like to add that these two mediums are entirely different and comparing them isn't really fair. The things you can do, the way you read it etc,.. I wouldn't read "They Called Us Enemies" or "The Best We Could Do" as a webcomic. Free or not. They don't work in a page release structure. And though some people might buy a book of Cassandra Comics, they function best in a spreadable and meme-able format that can be shared.

[cleo_san]

Agreed, @Prometheus. I mean, let's stay in official mangas, published by a big publisher in my country, okay?
There are tons of mangas in Japan. We in Germany get a small percentage of that and I basically stopped reading manga because every manga I pick up has a) the same cover, b) the same art, c) the same cliché story and is either Romance or BL. Or one of the few exceptions like One Piece or another trending shounen manga.
A friend of mine speaks and reads Japanese, and whenever she has the chance, she reads Japanese manga and the plot summaries she gives me makes me go "gimme gimme, wanna read!!!" - which I can't because I can barely say my name in Japanese XD

So, what can I do to get good stories, which are not - and I apologize for using this term - mainstream (since only those seem to be published in my country)?

Right - the internet =) Mainly tapas, Webtoon, you name it. In the premium section(s) there seems to be an abundance of royalty and relationships thereof at the moment, but this is what people seem to like to read at the moment, the current trend, which will pass. Those are not my cup of tea, so I binge through discovery sections /canvas/whatever else it is called and I can support the artists who'se stories touch me, make me laugh and cry (or both at the same time). e.g. with tapas ink I can support friends of mine who have never dreamed of making even 1 cent with their (rather awesome) work - and let's be honest: Each ink drop / new patron / ko-fi gives us indie artists a big boost in self-confidence.

Which is another very important point I could write pages about XD

@jcmraz since your post popped up while I was typing, I want to add: Yes, if you put it that way, those products like webcomics are not free =) Or only free to a certain extent.
I know for sure that I can't only draw so much until I have to worry about where my rent and food comes from, so every reader who decides to voluntarily support their fave artists is a lifesaver in helping us live our dream

[DukeOfOool]

I think free stuff never hurts the industry, I'd rather ask what is THE industry, outpricing IS a tactic and if you can afford to delive cheaper AND make ends meet then bravo. If one cant compete with this then it's the persons own fault, it should move back into a hobby. Many people want ot be artists, but only a few can the truly succesfull, so it's more a question of "is the industry filled with to many 'missinvestions'?" I'd say maybe. There are a few people who fail and have to reinvent themself entirely or go into another industry to make ends meet, but this was a calculated risk and if there's limited money avaible in the market, then we can only fight against each other... If your trying to live from it.

This is why I hope everybody here has a backup plan. The comic industry is especially volatile because there's already a massive backlog of works and a constant shift of trends. Nobody should bet on internet fame to make a living. Also like many people already said most 'professional' comic companies that are failing are just failiing because they failed to catch the zeitgeist or fail to distribute it. For example in case of manga, which are OVERPRICED btw.

If your not trying to make money, then free works are especially great. This is a giant community, an organism of infinite creativity and this we should cherish.

---

NOTE: the 'you' is just a fictiscious character and only here to help me demonstrate my opinion. I'm not argueing against or for something and just saying my opinion