Media Business Changes: Publishing

With the iPad, Apple has signaled not only a new way we can access and consume our media, but they’ve also signaled a new way for media producers to monetize their products. Apple has done this before with music, and now they’re trying to do it with, of all things, book publishing.

Remember the day when you bought CDs? Whole “albums” with 10-12 songs on a disc? Hard to remember those days, I know. Apple revolutionized the purchase of music by offering $0.99 individual songs. No more buying a whole CD because you liked a song or two, and then being disappointed in the rest of the project. No more “concept albums” that wove a theme together through 10 different – but complimentary – songs. No, I just cherry-pick my favorites and pay $0.99 per tune.

They’re different, I know, music and books. And I’m not suggesting you’ll be able to grab the first and last chapters of a new novel at the iTunes Store for $0.99 each. No, there’s something else happening in the world of print (be that ink or e-ink).

When Apple announced the iPad, Steve Jobs indicated a new, strategic price plan for downloaded e-books. One with the publisher getting to set the price-point. One which gives great profit margins to the companies who find and produce the best-sellers. A pricing approach that affords the dying publishing world a breath of new life – if they can squeeze more margins out of their business model. Mr. Jobs negotiated with the major companies and – ta da! – found a price point that was appealing to them. And they, in turn, pushed back on Amazon (which has moved a lot of books at $9.99).You can bet that the publishers are feeling some new-found strength, and that there will be other changes coming.

So, look for other pricing deals to be made, and watch the other, existing e-book sellers to roll out a similar pricing tier for e-books. It could signal new life for the publishing world, one which gives them some new revenue potential. That bodes well for them, and for those of us who love books. It could breathe new life into an old-media giant that has been in need of some good news.

And we’ll have Apple to thank for it? Who’d have thunk it?

How Media Consumption Is Changing

With the introduction of the iPad, Apple is signaling a new phase in how the media world will work. There are certainly things about the new device that lack “wow” power, but there’s something going on here that signals where Apple is going, and why we should pay attention. Consumers, not manufacturing companies, are driving the media revolution, and this is yet another technology that will affect our media buying and consumption habits.

It is obvious that Sony’s eReader, Amazon’s Kindle, and now the B&N Nook all have their merits. They make it easy to carry a lot of books and to read multiple titles any time a person wants. They all have an ability to download various books, at various prices and in various formats.

To date, though, none of them does other media very well. You can’t listen to radio, surf the web or watch video on their E-Ink gray scale screens, nor would you want to. This is where the iPad will instantly make itself more appealing to many people. One device that does…one thing? Not gonna survive. These days, how many people have a cell phone that just makes calls? Or who has an MP3 player that just plays songs? So, by limiting their functionality to books, a dying medium (I hate typing that, but its a fact that fewer people are reading – and buying books, so let’s just live with it, okay?), the current offering of “readers” will find itself looking for an audience while mainstream culture goes with the flashy, color-screened, multi-functional iPad.

Read a book? Sure, anyone can carry around a small tablet-sized screen on which to read – all these devices can do that. That’s easy.

Carry around a business book AND a “guilty pleasure” fiction, too? Yep, the “readers” can do that.

Read the local “newspaper” while I listen to some classical music I downloaded? No, can’t do that on the “readers.” They do text really well, but not much else.

Interrupt my reading so I can check e-Bay for that item I was bidding on? No, sorry, the “readers” can’t do that. You’ll need to have a better tablet for online use – these things are for…reading.

Finish that video I started online last night before I begin studying my textbook for that upcoming quiz? Don’t think Sony can help me do that with their “reader” (despite the fact that Sony makes some gorgeous televisions these days).

Take a break from my book to in order a photo book of pictures from my trip – so it is waiting for me when I return from this trip? Um, I’ll need something more than a “reader.”

I’ll admit that these are all nice, hypothetical examples of how the “reader” will want to be replaced by something more. They don’t necessarily describe your life and how you operate – yet.

By making the iPad a multi-media device, Apple has tapped into where many of us are at – living in a fast-paced, media-saturated world. Apple is correctly seeing that if you  do one thing really well, you’ll likely be obsolete very soon (this is why the iPhone is so popular. It does many things well. Not everything perfectly, but it has enough of the capabilities that I want, and delivers them well, so that I’m finding it hard to imagine life without such a smart “phone.”).

The truth is, we want more more more from our technology, and we want to do do do things anytime, all the time. Apple may have made a big mistake here, that is possible. My guess, though, is that in a few years the iPad, and its various permutations and the inevitable competitors, will change how we do books – and every other media, too.

iTablet’s “Wow Factor”

Like many other techies, I’m really interested in the expected announcement about the Apple iTablet, or iPad, or iWhatever.

There’s great speculation about the size and capabilities of the new device, which I’d anticipate to be a game-changer for portable computing. Just as the iPod changed our music listening habits, and the iPhone changed the way we access our media, the folks at Apple must surely have an intent for how the iTablet should change…something. But what?

Here’s an intriguing look at how the iTablet could reinvigorate (resuscitate?) printed media…and forever changing how we “read” magazines and newspapers. What do you think? If the iTab – and other similar devices – can deliver something like this, would you want one?

UPDATE: Link to some specs and sales projections (10 million in the first year?!).

Radio: A Strong Buy

Radio is strong.

I’m not just saying that because I’m biased.

According to recent research,

• Broadcast radio reaches over 79% of all U.S. adults daily, who listen on average for over two hours daily.

And it isn’t just for an “older generation:”

• Even among younger adults (18-34 years old), radio reached more than 79% of the population –  with an average listening time of more than one and a half hours each day.

When I’ve run advertising campaigns, I’ve always included radio in the mix. There’s no reason to change, either. Smart money goes into smart radio buys. Use radio well, and it delivers exceptional results!

More encouraging data about radio here (see the report titled, “How U.S. Adults Use Radio and Other Forms of Audio from the Council for Research Excellence Video Consumer Mapping Study”).

Can Newspapers Be Saved?

Over at the Tribune, former radio genius Randy Michaels has a new role, taking the helm as CEO from Sam Zell. Michaels has demonstrated he knows how to run a huge radio company, but it remains to be seen just how he can take the Tribune Company, which is trying to come out of bankruptcy – a rather embarrassing decline for the “World’s Greatest Newspaper.” How will the company make enough to fund the staff-intensive and printing/distribution infrastructure that has been newspapers?

And, related, the largest newspaper publisher in Europe suggests that there should be a payment system for news that we find on the Internet – so that link you follow from Google to a news piece could cost you. Monetizing the news departments of major daily newspapers might save them. If – and it is a BIG “IF” – folks like you and me will pay for that which has to this point been free.

And then I think about Chris Anderson, who argues that “Free is better.” In fact, he pushes for a free-for-all web, where free makes sense – even economic sense. I’m not sure that applies to newspapers, though.  Can Michaels turn around the Tribune with a free model? I rather doubt it. Will you pay for news that someone, somewhere, will offer for nothing? I don’t think so.

I’m not sure newspapers are going to make it. That’s a big deal to me. I’ve been reading papers on a daily basis since I was 10. Confession: I started reading…the Tribune. Every day I’d read it, after my Dad finished, of course. Now I get the Wall Street Journal, and consume as much as possible every day. Sometimes my kids read an article or two. But now the Journal is starting to charge for its web content. And I’m not paying for that, not while it is delivered to my door every day.

Can newspapers be saved? I hope so.

They Tweet For Money – Would You?

Interesting article about Twitter users who post ads for money. You mean my friend’s Tweets might be ads? Yup.

So, would you mind pulling in a few extra thousand dollars a month this way? Is this selling out? Do you mind when folks use Twitter this way?

Methinks the Twitter revenue model might just explode with this kind of micro-ad sales. Isn’t anything pure anymore?

Bye Bye Cable?

Upfront, I’ll admit I use cable for my internet and telephone services. And I’m generally pretty happy with the service, although I wouldn’t mind trimming the cost a bit. Also of note: I don’t have cable television – just don’t want to watch TV that badly.

Now, I seem to be in the minority for a couple of reasons. First, I just don’t watch television. Alright, sometimes I do – if I am traveling, or at someone’s home. But the only TV shows we watch are Sunday kids programming (before we head to church). Secondly, as mentioned, my experience with the cable company has been positive. From what I can tell, that is unusual.

Here’s an article that caught my interest because it suggests that cable television could be a thing of the past, if Apple has any success at all with a subscription TV concept they’ve been shopping around.

Now, I don’t know if Apple will ever get any traction in this space, but being an Apple fan, I hope the company does have a win in the television space. There could be better service, cheaper prices and, oh, I don’t know, a new piece of Apple hardware?

Net Neutrality?

The on-going debate about the FCC’s proposed institution of formal “net neutrality” rules is becoming more heated, and both sides of the debate are stepping up the rhetoric:

“Network neutrality protects the fundamental rights of Americans in using the Internet and accessing content, applications, and services of their choice. A well-reasoned network neutrality policy also ensures a level playing field for companies large and small…” Senators Byron Dorgan (North Dakota, D) and Olympia Snowe (Maine, R)

I didn’t know Americans were at-risk in using the web, although now that you bring it up, I am concerned that any governmental regulations of the internet will surely threaten our access. And what, exactly, is a “level playing field” in the digital world?

“This is a down payment on creating a digital democracy. Today’s vote to begin the process of requiring nondiscrimination ensures, among other things, that large internet providers will be unable to block or throttle speech from competitors or those who disagree with them. The nondiscriminatory environment in which the Internet was developed fostered unprecedented opportunities for political and artistic expression.” Andrew Jay Schwartzman, president and CEO of the Media Access Project, a media reform and digital rights group.

Excuse me, but I thought we already had a “digital democracy.” Aren’t folks able to use the web as they choose? Ask the Iranian protestors if the internet was helpful in their pursuit for freedom. Wouldn’t any attempt to “block” access necessarily be made known and result in a backlash against the offending provider (unless it was illegal to do so, hmmm)?

Also, I’ve got to think that “the nondiscriminatory environment in which the Internet was developed” mentioned in the above quote remains in place today, thank you. Although the government could change that with these “hard” neutrality rules.

“I know of no empirical evidence suggesting that the openness of the Internet that we all value is under threat today, or is likely to be under threat tomorrow. In the absence of evidence of market failure or demonstrable consumer harms, the costs of government intervention are more likely to outweigh the benefits.” Barbara Eosin, a senior fellow at the Progress and Freedom Foundation, a free-market think tank.

This seems reasonable to me. What’s the crisis? What pending “crisis” will these rules prevent?

“As the FCC’s Broadband Task Force said recently, it could take $350 billion to build next-generation broadband across America, and most of that money will have to come from the private sector and companies like Comcast. We continue to hope that any rules adopted by the commission will not harm the investment and innovation that has made the Internet what it is today and that will make it even greater tomorrow.” David Cohen, executive vice president at Comcast

Unless I am wrong, it seems that the largest investors in the internet infrastructure, those like Comcast and other major providers, are possibly going to suffer the biggest losses if net neutrality is implemented. After spending billions on pipelines, the government now wants them to take their hands off any controls and offer everyone the same access, regardless of need for capacity or speed? This just seems wrong to me. Talk about stealing incentives.

Also, remember the day you paid more for usage over a certain amount? I’d guess that Comcast and others will resort to such “tiered service levels” if the government persists in this “neutrality” business.

“It is risky business for regulators to mess with a technologically dynamic environment that is working well for American consumers and the economy.” Randolph May, president of the Free State Foundation, a free-market think tank.

Well said, Mr. May.

Alright, I’ve spoken a bit of my mind. Obviously I am a free-market guy on this one, and in favor of letting those with the pipes have some control over their own expenses and income. I am also leery of the government’s idea of “fairness” – sorry, I just don’t trust the Feds to truly do the right thing here (or almost anywhere, frankly).

How about you? Reactions? What’s your take on this debate?

Who’s Going Mobile? You May Be Surprised!

The fastest-growing age group of mobile web users? Surprise – it isn’t teens!

According to Media Post, the Nielsen Company has recently released research findings that show an increase in audience of 34% to 56.9 million users in July 2009.

Overall, year-over-year growth among the 13-17 and 65+ age groups outpaced the growth of the total mobile Web audience, with a youth increase of 45% and seniors surging upwards 67% in July.

I wonder what is driving this trend, especially the growth in seniors who access the web though a mobile device. Is it the popularity and low cost “Net Book?” Or easier-to-use smartphones?  Or…what? Regardless, it is clear you cannot ascribe online and mobile use of the web as only “a young person’s game.” The shift to the web is rapid and touches everyone. How are putting YOUR message out there?

Twitter Growth

First came news of an infusion of $100 Million. Then statistics that show Twitter is still growing at a very fast clip.

A recent report by eMarketer.com says at least 18 million adults access Twitter on any given platform monthly. That’s a 200% increase over 2008 estimates! Additionally, eMarketer projects that Twitter users will total 26 million by next year.

Of course, not every user is a frequent user. Previous studies show that many people try Twitter once or twice – and then give up. Still, interest in the service is growing, and a financial model is being refined, so expect Twitter to stick around for some time to come.

Meanwhile, how are YOU using Twitter to promote your brand, spread your message, cultivate your tribe (er, flock?)?