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Alternative revenue Archive
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Think of a number and double/halve it: the science behind online subs pricing
Comment by Tim Dawson Deciding whether it makes business sense putting online publications behind paywalls is increasingly like finding scientific evidence for the existence of God. Your conclusion appears to be determined more by pre-existing prejudice than from any meaning actually extracted from data. In the past week, Wolverhampton’s Express and Star has abandoned the [...] -
Local press: adrift without a compass and in danger of disappearing
I met the editor of one of Britain’s oldest regional dailies at a social event recently. We chatted about the worrying state of the media and with a resigned sigh he said: “I am hoping that the paper will see me out”. He is in his mid-50s and the title he edits has been published [...] -
Moving to a new beat – online music tutorials flourish after band bookings bomb
Case study by Tim Dawson Two-and-a-half years after fully focusing on producing online bass-guitar tutorials, Paul Wolfe is earning around £70,000 a year from his business. Approximately 500 subscribers pay $127 annual subscription for his weekly magazine and instructive video, other eBook products sell hundreds of copies at prices generally between $100 and $200. Indeed, so confident [...] -
Under the spotlight: Citizen journalism site Blottr
Report by Alex Klaushofer. Since launching a little over a year ago, Blottr, or ‘the people powered news service’, has been growing exponentially. With regional sites covering eight UK cities including London and Leeds, Blottr has recently expanded overseas, launching sites in France and Germany. Its traffic is impressive – 1.6 million unique users a [...] -
Tablets provide media with sweet relief
Analysis by Tim Dawson. News International’s announcement last week that digital sales of its Times/Sunday Times products had grown by 3% over the past three months dispel for the moment suggestions that Murdoch’s paywall strategy is bust. With 111,000 subscribers, and growing, it is quite possible that News International’s online customers will over take the [...] -
E-publish and be damned – emerging trends of the digital book economy
Analysis by Alex Klaushofer. Those trying to follow the changing fortunes of book publishing in the digital revolution have had a tough time of it trying to discern the direction things are taking. But, finally, in the last quarter of this year, a few trends are beginning to emerge. First fact: the long-predicted shift from [...] -
Charitable model could save local news
Guest blog by David Ainsworth. Recently a group of my colleagues and I became interested in the idea of creating a charitable local newspaper. The reason for this was simple. Local newspapers are important, but they are also in trouble. It’s time to try out a new model. Those of us who’ve worked in local [...] -
Download tools – an online newservice for the labour movement
Report by Tim Dawson. Trades unions have not always been the quickest to adopt new means to communicate, in part because of an institutionalised ambivalence to technological change. It perhaps explains why reporting this sector is one that that has attracted relatively few online operations. Into this gap step two recent past presidents of the [...] -
E-publishing provides ‘alternative avenue’ for journalists
Report by Alex Klaushofer. Amid all the gloom about the difficulties the digital age have brought both the media and publishing, Dan Franklin is almost Tiggerish about the liberating possibilities of the e-book for journalism. As digital editor at Random House, Franklin is in the vanguard of a small group of publishers who are developing [...] -
Niche both a help and hindrance to online start-up Bookbrunch
Case study by Alex Klaushofer. When Nicholas Clee and Liz Thomson were casting about for a new job, with full-time staff jobs behind them and freelance opportunities on the wane, a digital solution seemed obvious. Between them, they had over fifty years experience in writing about publishing and the book trade: Clee was a former [...]