Good analysis on the topic of discussion in today’s class. –“This week, let’s try a Newsonomics of the Apple, Google, and Journalism Online pay-for-all Q&A, to poke at and tease out the issues.”
UPDATE: And more, with a link roundup from Mediabistro:
The Media Industry’s Biggest Fear: How Do We Know Next Year Apple Won’t Be Taking 50 Percent? (TechCrunch)
The big publishers and other media companies with substantial subscription businesses don’t like the prospect of handing over 30 percent of their revenues in perpetuity to Apple. What they like even less is losing the direct relationship with their customers, and all the data that comes along with that. The refrain I’ve heard from a couple of publishing industry insiders is: “How do we know next year Apple won’t be taking 50 percent?” LA Times: Remember how Apple shattered the music business? Publishers do, too — and they don’t want it happening to them. AdAge / MediaWorks: Many magazines are staying away from Apple’s new iPad subscription system, which threatens to keep publishers in the dark about their own subscribers. So what are Elle, Nylon, and Popular Science doing, accepting Apple’s terms? paidContent: “It is still unclear how Apple’s proposed new subscription business will work for publishers,” a Financial Times spokesperson told paidContent:UK. “But we obviously have concerns over changes to an approach that has so far worked well for our readers and the broader publishing ecosystem around tablet devices, and that may compromise our business model.” TechCrunch: With all of the debate about whether or not Apple will prevail with its new subscription pricing for media apps on the iPad and iPhone, it is helpful to keep one thing in mind: Nobody else yet comes close to selling as many tablet computers as Apple. paidContent: “Apple just f___ed over online music subs for the iPhone,” Last.fm co-founder Richard Jones said. TechCrunch: The App Store has existed for less than three years, and Apple has been drastically changing the rules on the fly, ruining some businesses and hampering others.
Enjoy!
