I think the situation is similar, though smaller in scale, to getting mp3 from friends and then become a fan of the band.
I certainly have bought records from bands I would have never heard of through my normal channels because someone posted an mp3 and said "this is great!" -- when I downloaded it and found I agreed, I bought the album -- and attended the concert if there was one in the area.
I certainly sought out and bought the first three Blue Beetle trades, two JSA trades, an Elseworld trade, the Thor hardback, the Runaways hardback, and the Xmen First Class hardback because of stuff I saw on scans-daily. So that's about $250 in 6 months that I wouldn't have given to Marvel or DC without that comm. If even 5% of the viewers of scans-daily (not the members, just the casual viewers who flipped to it once or twice a week) did something similar, that's probably a good chunk of money.
no subject
I certainly have bought records from bands I would have never heard of through my normal channels because someone posted an mp3 and said "this is great!" -- when I downloaded it and found I agreed, I bought the album -- and attended the concert if there was one in the area.
I certainly sought out and bought the first three Blue Beetle trades, two JSA trades, an Elseworld trade, the Thor hardback, the Runaways hardback, and the Xmen First Class hardback because of stuff I saw on scans-daily. So that's about $250 in 6 months that I wouldn't have given to Marvel or DC without that comm. If even 5% of the viewers of scans-daily (not the members, just the casual viewers who flipped to it once or twice a week) did something similar, that's probably a good chunk of money.