Yes.

This is a pretty good negative example... but I can't think of a positive one (that lasted long), either.
I mean, doesn't everyone just want free content?

Clicking the link and reading the whole post makes Prefix look really bad because they criticized Amanda Palmer for basically the same thing.

As for whether I would do it or not I'd say it depends. If I have a good income coming from somewhere else and writing was a great passion of mine and I just want a platform then yeah I would. Doesn't make what Prefix is doing less shitty though.

Interesting read, Dre.

It's shitty. The less writers get paid, the less time then can devote to the work, obviously. It's going to be tough to keep quality content or consistency of staff for probably a lot of publications if they go this route. They'll probably get a lot of college kids who quit when they get real jobs, etc.

I feel like getting paid $2 per 200-word blog post is worse than doing this shit for free. Fuck that ad.

I've always put writing before pay - I didn't even think about the paycheck for my current (college) newspaper job until it actually came, like manna from heaven. I suppose it would depend in the mag/site's finances and the frequency of my writing, but I can definitely understand writers.providing content for cheap/free - as long as it's honest.

Granted, I would hardly consider myself even half a professional. But I think that -I even for low pay or free - there will be good writers passionate enough to continue providing good content.

Some people may just want to write to get their name out there. I know with my site I didn't really make anything for the first 1,000 posts (about a year's worth). Still, it's shitty and free would be less insulting. But it's not shocking, tons of sites try to get rich off of the hard work of others.

Originally Posted by deezee

Some people may just want to write to get their name out there. I know with my site I didn't really make anything for the first 1,000 posts (about a year's worth). Still, it's shitty and free would be less insulting. But it's not shocking, tons of sites try to get rich off of the hard work of others.

This.

I LOVE writing and I feel it's my strength, but who reads? I think you can rope good writers in for free, for a certain amount of time, until they realize GOOGLE ADS etc etc

I'm not in any way a professional writer, just some dude on the internet with an opinion, so I will totally do this for extra $$$. Professional Writers, or people looking to be professional writers, don't stoop to this though. It's beneath you.

Edit: To add a a little context, I totally just plan on copy/pasting my 200+ word facebook/tumblr/whatever rants and submitting those. Seriously, I rant a lot.

I don't see how profiting off content provided by someone not adequately reimbursed isn't exploitative.

I don't feel like the "getting your name out there" argument works if you try to apply it to most any other field.

I'll write for free for myself and my own website etc. etc. I'm not sure if I'd ever write seriously for someone else where I'm not getting properly compensated. I have better things to do with my time than watch others profit off of what I do.

"Writing for a penny a word is ridiculous. If a man really wanted to make a million dollars, the best way to do it would be start his own religion."

- L. Ron Hubbard

I think that if going in, you are aware that it's that meager of compensation, why not?
You're agreeing to there terms and it's not really all too bad if you do it a lot. I could have maybe 20-30 extra bucks a month for 10-15 articles and for music people that's enough for Spotify Premium/ iTunes match, other services.

But to call out that band does seem a little fucked up.

I write for free on a blog now. Its just fun shit for me to do on the side, nothing serious. If they want quality stuff posted they're gonna have to pay people, if they just want some basic stuff they could probably get it for free. Its a cost/quality of output relationship, and I wouldn't be mad at them if they want to run their site that way. I've never even heard of them anyway. I wouldn't write for them cause I don't care, and if I did I wouldn't spend a lot of time on it.