Page 151 - AC/E's Digital Culture Annual Report 2015

AC/E Digital Culture Annual Report 2015151can largely be explained by the high tax rate on digital books: a 21% VAT rate compared to 4% for print books.But this situation is not the same in all markets. According to statistics released bythe British Publishers’ Association, 10 nearly 30% of the sector’s annual turnover of 4.7 billion pounds relates to digital products and services. Fiction e-books accounted for 39%of the total digital book market, whereas academic digital books – the other main digital segment – accounted for 43% of sales. In other words, the crisis in Spain could be explained by circumstantial factors such as the applicationof a different VAT rate for different formats. The publishing sector also needs to respondto changes such as the rise in self-publishing, which currently accounts for 12% of book sales in the United Kingdom.Innovation in the publishing sector is underpinned by self-publishing models and by publishing on demand services.All this points to the need to adapt structures and processes to these demands with respectto products and services, through innovationin media and new narratives, as well as to experimentation and the development of new business models. In this regard, the big Internet companies are in the lead in controlling distri- bution. Nevertheless, if we examine the retail sector, we find that future trends stem from on/off integration thanks to advances in 3D printing, for example. We see possibilities for reinvention in experimentation and innovationin self-publishing models, and in publishing on demand services for both the publishing and education sectors.Another trade that is attempting to adapt is bookshops, which have opted for diversifi- cation11 – by offering restaurant services, for example – or specialisation in particular themes, and must progressively include new technologies such as printing on demand in order to survive.The transformation of experienceWithin the culture industries it is necessary to distinguish between those based on the distribu- tion of content, irrespective of the medium, and those based on an experience linked to an actual event held in a particular physical space, such as museums, performing arts or live music, among others. In the latter it appears that not only has digitisation not strictly modified the business model but that opportunities have arisen for deepening interaction with audiences before, during or after the event.MuseumsMuseums are an exception to the rest, as digitisation provides them with new business opportunities. Information technologies have made it possible to broaden institutions’ touch points with users. Despite the emergence of services such as Google Art Project, which bring art closer to users outside traditional spaces, they have not affected the traditional business model as they have with the publishing andPepe Cerezo