Now, thanks to the internet, the availability of digital media creation tools and the emergence of websites to aggregate digital content - not to mention an editorial process that relies on the 'wisdom of crowds' rather than gatekeepers - the traditional publishing model is being turned on its head.

And aggregators say the results are surprisingly good.

'I think this can work really well for the music industry, which usually chooses one artist from hundreds that come in front of them to turn into stars,' said Sudhanshu Sarronwala, chief executive of Soundbuzz.com, which plans to accept amateur content at its pay-per-download site in the coming months.

'There is a lot of talent that doesn't even make it in front of a record label and, in addition to that, whereas previously putting together a song professionally was extremely difficult, these days the technology enables bands to create a very good quality sound even on their own computers - they don't need to go to a studio to create at least a semi-professional sound.'

Mr Sarronwala said monetising this content would be the easy part, with tracks made available for download via the firm's regular music catalogue.

'We'll give the platform up to the users, and they will ultimately decide the track's popularity because the appeal and quality of the music will be reflected in the sales,' he said. Censorship at Soundbuzz will therefore be limited to removing content that is copyright-protected.

A similar principle exists at Lulu.com, whose founder Bob Young began the service out of frustration with the role of the traditional publishing industry and the degree of control it exerts over writers. Rather than let publishers decide which content to publish and promote, Lulu.com does not discriminate, instead letting readers vote with their wallets.

'There is more content created than publishers can handle - that's the definition of a bottleneck,' said Lulu.com communications director Stephen Fraser. 'If there is an audience for a particular subject, contributors to Lulu.com can reach them no matter where they are.'

The site receives about 130 books per day, with a bestseller enjoying sales equivalent to a 'mid-list' title at traditional publishers.

'But to me the more interesting case studies are the books that only sell 50 copies, such as Cheyenne language books,' Mr Fraser said. 'By definition, these are the kinds of books that traditional publishers would lose money on, and yet they fulfil a valuable role in society.'

As Lulu seeks to monetise the amateur content sold through the site, charging a 25 per cent royalty per download or book sale, there would appear some vested interest in trying to attract higher quality content, a policy that would go against the principle of providing an open platform for users. Co-founder Bob Young good-humouredly acknowledged his desire to attract the next JK Rowling, but argued that Lulu functioned more as an eBay than an Amazon.com. 'EBay doesn't care about the content per se,' he said. 'They care about the popularity of the platform.'

The bestseller list at Lulu.com proves that removing the content filters does not necessarily lead to large volumes of trash.

Andrew Lih, director of technology and assistant professor at the University of Hong Kong's journalism and media studies centre, said recent developments such as Creative Commons, a selection of licences designed specifically for publishing to online blogs and the internet, had helped raise standards in user-generated content.

'Creative Commons challenges the traditional black and white dichotomy of copyright by creating a grey area in the middle,' Mr Lih said.

'It encourages people to license their content, at the same time encouraging others to upgrade and improve it, and comment on it. There's always been a human desire to share, and this system gives people the protection to do so.'

Music

Soundbuzz.com plans to accept amateur content at its pay-per-download site in the coming months.

Books

Lulu.com markets itself as an 'independent publishing marketplace for digital do-it-yourselfers'. Using print-on-demand, buyers can order single copies of the books, creating a niche market for titles that would otherwise be ignored by publishers.

Blogs

Digg.com is not a blog site in the conventional sense but a technology news website that combines social bookmarking, blogging, RSS and 'non-hierarchical editorial control'. Users submit stories for review, but rather than allowing an editor to decide which stories go on the homepage, the users do.

Photography

on Flickr.com, users upload photos from the Web, mobile phones or digital cameras for other users to view and comment. The site proved especially popular after the London Tube bombings, after which many users uploaded cellphone images of the blasts and scenes of carnage.

Podcasts

Odeo.com is a podcast-creation website and has software that enables users armed with only a telephone to produce and distribute their own podcasts.