Emerging business models and digital transition in the Spanish publishing sector

Abstract

The main goal of this research is to give a vision of the main challenges faced by Spanish publishers because of technical change, analyzing its digital transformation. Subsequently, this work proposes different publishing business models currently tested in the market, from which publishers can take advantage by expanding the portfolio of their products and services. Besides, this study outlines and formulates possible future scenarios to deepen the Spanish publishers’ cultural and business functions and encourage them to assume a proactive position on innovation. The main conclusions of this research are the following: first, the Spanish publishing sector presents two lines of business that coexist as complementary and not as substitutes: on the one hand, the paper book and, on the other, the e-book; second, the innovative caution of Spanish publishers is holding back the development of the e-book market on the supply side, given the low volume of works published digitally compared to those on paper; third, the lack of joint digital initiatives, that is, between the different agents of the book value chain, has caused hardware manufacturers and Internet service providers to enter the book industry, surpassing, in many cases, traditional industry players in the creation of new business models for digital content; and finally, the current pandemic situation has represented a turning point in the attitude of a part of the Spanish publishing sector, forced to focus on the need to carry out an accelerated digital transformation to continue with its activity, for which the Covid-19 has indirectly catalyzed, as a collateral effect, the urgency of organizational change.