Kanopy Ticketing Changes Starting Nov. 1
I am not always a big fan of change. As previously stated, when Taco Bell changed and stopped offering the Nacho Cheese Chalupa, a part of me died. DIED.
I can only pray that a higher-up at Taco Bell reads the HPLD blog, sees my repeated pleas for this menu item, nay, for this exquisite delicacy, and brings it back.
Anyway, Kanopy is changing, and while change isn’t always good, this change promises to make things a bit easier for those of you who know and love Kanopy.
In basic form, the change is in the credit system. Currently, you get 10 credits every month, and one credit equals one checkout.
Which is simple, but not always the greatest. Why does one episode of a TV show cost the same credits as a 3-hour feature film?
AND, how does an absolute banger like Day of the Dead cost the same number of credits as George Romero’s later Diary of the Dead? Day of the Dead looks at Diary of the Dead and says, “You and me? We are not the same.”
The new ticketing system makes all of this a lot simpler.
For starters, TV Shows:
Currently, you watch ONE episode of Alone, and it costs you one credit. Simple, but flawed. Because who is going to watch ONE episode of a reality show where people encounter bears on the verge of acquiring a taste for human flesh!?
With the new ticketing system, it’s not only clear how much the show “costs,” it’s also made extremely clear what you get. For example, here’s Alone season 1 in the new ticketing system, and you clearly get access to ALL of Season 1 for 48 hours for the cost of 3 tickets. Which means you can try and slam down the entire season in 48 hours, or you can watch, say half now, and then use another set of 3 tickets to watch the other half next weekend.
It’s easy, it’s a lot clearer, and it makes it much easier to binge great shows. #TeamRoland
For movies, you’ll find a varying ticket cost, depending on the movie. But it’s nothing too wild, you won’t have a movie that costs 400 tickets or anything like that.
Lots of folks use Great Courses on Kanopy, and those will work like episodes of shows: You’ll get a clear explanation of how many tickets you put down, and that number will give you access to the course for a set period. Easy.
The short answer: Kanopy decided to change.
The longer answer: this DOES make it a little easier for libraries to manage Kanopy.
Here’s your inside scoop:
The way Kanopy works, HPLD pays them per stream. BUT, not all streams are of equal cost. So, Patron A, who uses all of their credits under the current system, might rack up a $10 dollar cost. Patron B, who has different taste, might rack up a $20 dollar cost.
Where this gets tricky is that, with the old credit system, we can’t necessarily predict what our Kanopy cost is going to be on a given month. We have a range, but it can vary quite a bit depending on the selections you make, the mood you’re in.
With this new system, we still won’t always know exactly what the bill will come out to be, but we can set a ceiling on it. By buying tickets, which have a fixed cost for us, HPLD can be sure what we’re going to spend, at most, every month.
And what’s great about that is that we don’t have to cushion that budget, just in case someone decides to go on a Cult Horror Binge this month. Just say, for the sake of argument…
Instead of needing to leave ourselves a cushion, we can use that money for other things, for other services and collections.
Like I said, I’m not a big fan of change. But when the end result of the change is “more stuff,” I can learn to live with it.
Or, in the case of Day of the Dead: I can UNlive with it.
This change will happen November 1st!