Quote of the Day (John Perry Barlow, on The Grateful Dead as Savvvy Marketers)

“What people today are beginning to realize is what became obvious to us back then—the important correlation is the one between familiarity and value, not scarcity and value. Adam Smith taught that the scarcer you make something, the more valuable it becomes. In the physical world, that works beautifully. But we couldn’t regulate [taping at] our shows, and you can’t online. The Internet doesn’t behave that way. But here’s the thing: if I give my song away to 20 people, and they give it to 20 people, pretty soon everybody knows me, and my value as a creator is dramatically enhanced. That was the value proposition with the Dead.”—Grateful Dead lyricist John Perry Barlow, quoted in Joshua Green, “Management Secrets of the Grateful Dead,” The Atlantic, March 2010