Rolling Stone publisher Jann Wenner has questioned the rush of magazine publishers to the iPad. The US journal AdAge reports this and other comments fro Wenner in an excellent article.
It’s a good magazine reading device, absolutely. And where it becomes more convenient to read the magazine on that, that’s got the advantage. But that’s more convenient only if you’re traveling, if you’re away from home. Otherwise it’s still easier to read the physical magazine, which is widely available on newsstands, at airports, and everywhere. You can still subscribe to get it and get it on time. You still get all the value of the magazine.
I don’t think that gives you much advantage as a magazine reader to read it on the tablet — in fact less so. It’s a little more difficult.
From the publisher’s point of view I would think they’re crazy to encourage it. They’re going to get less money for it from advertisers. Right now it costs a fortune to convert your magazine, to program it, to get all the things you have to do on there. And they’re not selling. You know, 5,000 copies there, 3,000 copies here, it’s not worth it. You haven’t put a dent in your R&D costs.
So I think that they’re prematurely rushing and showing little confidence and faith in what they’ve really got, their real asset, which is the magazine itself, which is still a great commodity. It’s a small additive; it’s not the new business.
interesting to see someone in the industry saying magazines still have life , i like it , it is a change from all the doom and gloom that we read about on here .it is common sence that all the tech mags will go to ipad eg science etc because that is the type of thing these people are into .
Hey try hanging up a poster out of the ipad on your wall .
Easy, shaun. 6 inch nail straight through the centre of the ipad 🙂
oh well there goes our blue tac sales as well
Jann demonstrates some of the signs seen when the music industry first took a negative position on digital music downloads.
To say that it’s easier to read the physical magazine is bewildering. If the magazine is a digital copy of the paper product then it should be read with the same amount of ease. If its a magazine created specifically for tablet devices then the experience is likely to be different, not easier. If a magazine difficult to read on a tablet device that’s a reflection on your application, not the medium. All those videos, animations, audio, interactive sections, hyperlinks, upselling opportunities – how could all these features possibly advantage the reader Jann? :-S
She promotes that with physical magazines “You can still subscribe to get it and get it on time.”. Its a strange statement considering the digital edition is available before print and subscription is also an option.
To say that publishers are crazy to encourage the move to digital is to promote short-term revenue over long term planning. Getting your publication into the digital sphere is not about making huge profits in these initial stages. It’s about getting ahead of the game and making sure your not left behind.
I don’t see why it should “cost a fortune” to convert a magazine to a digital version (assuming it’s a simple conversion of format and not layout as most current digital mags are). The conversion software already exists and should be relatively cheap compared to actually printing the product.
Why would publishers show blind faith in the printed product when it continues to trend downward. It may still be a great commodity, but it isn’t growing. Smart publishers are looking to the future, not holding onto the past, closing their eyes and hoping the trend away from print will disappear.
how do you explain the 6inch nail through the ipad then ?
what will all these kids to in the future , i suppose mums will be happy .
the prehisoric mans shed will look a little bare in your world not one poster of that beloved car or bike or that pin up .
Jann is in the industry ,one would think she would know a little about what is going on
Not everyone that reads is a computer freak that has to have all the hitech gear .
Shaun, Look up the history of music sales post 2005 (iPod) and you will see the playbook which many are following, Music is still being produced, the medium has changed.
This is a hardware play. Once they get that right and prove the revenue is there there will be a shift. It is quite a while off yet … hence the need to make hay while the sun shines.
Shaun,
Posters are not magazines. Their popularity and sales are not bound to magazines.
The beauty of the technology is that one can make it as high-tech or as simple as they want. E-readers, like the Kindle, are a perfect example of that.
The music industry has suffered from illegal downloads In the 21st century, consumers spent less money on recorded music than they had in 1990s, in all formats. Total revenues for CDs, vinyl, cassettes and digital downloads in the world dropped 25% from $38.6 billion in 1999 to $27.5 billion in 2008 according to IFPI. Same revenues in the U.S. dropped from a high of $14.6 billion in 1999 to $10.4 billion in 2008. The Economist and The New York Times report that the downward trend is expected to continue for the foreseeable future —Forrester Research predicts that by 2013, revenues in USA may reach as low as $9.2 billion.
Kon,
There are a number of different factors that have influenced the drop in revenue seen by the music industry. Obvioiusy one of those is illegal downloads. The same trend, however, is not seen in the sale of ebooks or digital content apps.
Jarryd,
There are already file sharing torrent networks of ebooks on the internet just check out piratebay it will only be just a matter of time
Kon,
Pirate music downloading was established very early in the medium’s life. E-books have been around for a few years now, are already popular in the mainstream and there is no evidence that people are turning to illegal downloading in the same capacity that was seen with music.
Jarryd
I agree with you – but have you any solutions to the shift to IT for the “Newsagent”
This publisher is still supporting print – yet again it may fall by the wayside with new technology – is there any way the current newsagency model can adapt to tap into this market yet retain the print interest?
I can’t see anything apart from offering free wireless internet with APPS for newagency exclusive use? Only ideas?
Ex, there are good opportunities for the next two to three years for proactive newsagents because other newsagents and other retailers in the space will drop the ball.
I started offering free wireless in 2006. I think it’s late to enter that space now.
Ex-Newsagent,
I agree with Mark that for pro-active newsagents there will be opportunity over the next few years. I think we will see over the next 5 or so years a significant consolidation of the industry – hopefully leading to a higher concentration of sales for those store that are still in business.
The new technology only works when its available everywhere 24/7. Making the technology dependant on a physical store simply won’t work because it fights against the very nature of the product.
I want more than anything to see an e-reader/tablet hardware offer in newsagencies. A fully comprehensive, standardised and properly merchandised offer that is linked with (likely through pre-loaded apps) newspapers, magazines and books (all of which must include at least of of the major publishers) would give newsagents a purposeful place in the transition from print to digital. This is the only potential role i see newsagents playing.
“Making the technology dependant on a physical store simply won’t work because it fights against the very nature of the product.”
What about offering special offers via wifi/bluetooth (or whatever) when people are in the store?
Sort of like how Hoyts gives out food bar coupons via bluetooth, and McDonalds in Japan gives out coupons via the DSi and NintendoZone.
Follow up to the above comment.
Not sure how it could be implemented, but maybe something along the lines of:
-Customer downloads a [name of store] App.
-The newsagent broadcasts offers/deals/etc which are automatically picked up by the device.
-Customer shows the downloaded coupon/offer at the checkout and gets claims the offer.
Aaron,
I would say that this kind of in-store direct electronic marketing is likely only to work with products the store sells – not electronic content that the customer neither purchases or associates with newsagencies.
People looking to purchase something like electronic magazine are not going to be walking into newsagencies in the first place. Publishers can make special offers without newsagencies. There is no incentive for them to offer these exclusively through physical stores.
Facebook has already launched this exact feature called Facebook Deals in certain parts of the US. Customer sees the Facebook Deals logo in a store, checks in with their mobile device and gets the special offer. I can see this working very well for physical products – just not with electronic content.
Jarryd and Mark you have an opinion and that is fine.
I like print is that ok to say?
Derek, no one here is denied their opinion.
I don;t agree with all of what Jann Wenner has had to say on this. He appears to be following the playbook of music folks who later found that their opinion was ignorant.
We need to run our businesses as if this change is coming. We have nothing to lose if we do that yet we have everything to lose if we operate as if change is not coming. A bit like climate change really.
Well every one on here by now would know i am not a fan of the Ipad well guess what , My wife won one the other day and now my wife my 5 year old and 6 year old are on it just about 24-7 you almost have to line up for the damm thing . Although they are only using it as a gameing console at the moment , and my 6 year old thinks she is a profesional photographer with it . And i to have played the odd game of uno on it as well . It would be interesting to know if the Ipad has taken any sales away from the likes of say the DS gaming etc .