From Britney Dourgherty -
Producing online content for profit has been a growing headache for many media companies. Many consumers no longer purchase or read print media and expect to be able to get their information online at any time. They also seem to expect to do it for free.
Some companies have begun requiring people to pay for their online content. Sometimes consumers have to subscribe to the print publication or to the website itself. Another way to do it is to have them buy each issue online or individual articles. Interweave, a company that produces magazines about various crafts, has successfully done this and taken it a step further. They now have magazines strictly available on the iPad. They use a system where users can download the app for free then buy individual issues of the magazines for $9.99.
Vice president John Bolton says, “More than 90% of our eMag revenue comes for single issue sales, while less than 10% comes from sponsorship revenue. We do not currently sell subscriptions to our eMags, but we plan to have a subscription product launched by January 2012." My bet is that many companies will be following Interweave’s example and change their online and tablet content to make them more money.
Source: “Interweave Brings Successful Paid eMag Model to iPad” MinOnline.com
I'm seeing this model on other magazines as well - but mostly highly targeted magazines, and with the expectation that readers won't buy all of them, but rather the occasional ones whose focus matches that reader's interest.
ReplyDeleteIt makes sense for crafters in particular.