Cause I have a request for him/her...Could you please build an iTMS-equivalent for big media publications? I don't think it'd be too hard to do, but alas, the entry barrier is kinda steep.
I came up with this idea while looking for a recent Chuck Klosterman article in the latest Esquire. It's a great 2-3 page article (about Johnny Carson, shared experiences, and the paradox of choice among other things) and I'd love to link to it...but we all know about Big Media's issues with subscriptions, registration, permalinks, etc...
To read this article - without having to go to the local newstand, here are your choices:
$8 for a yearly subscription -or-
$3 for one, 1239 word, article.
(note - the $8 subscription also allows access to archived articles with Esquire Premium...but that's not the point.)
The point is that there's no reasonable option for an ala-carte serving of big media. And if Big Media wants to avoid extinction and make some extra dough (which is debatable) an on-line store would be a great vehicle to do so.
With all this Long-Tail talk, can you imagine how much money each media property would stand to make if they made it easy and affordable to buy a single, archived, article on the interweb? (not to mention how it might help increase their severly limited on-line presence) And what happens when that improves?
Big media (and they're not alone) needs to work on evolving their 'user experience'. Consumers won't tolerate the pseudo-scarcity that has plagued their desired content in the past. When a customer wants your content, let them have it in (almost) any way they want it...or you won't have to worry about them as customers for long.
Here's some quick thoughts on how to design an iBMS (internet Based Media Store)
- 25 cents (or less) per article
- make each article linkable (also, have plenty of anchors).
- linking to an article is free (duh). A link brings you to the iBMS storefront where you accept the 25 cent payment. Bills can be handled monthly or when they reach a certain total.
- allow article tagging (see Del.icio.us or Flickr)
- as mentioned above, have multiple article formats (text, audio, pdf, the more the better - prices could fluctuate based on format type)
If big media wanted to get really crazy, I think this would be a great opportunity to re-open the micropayments box - ie: price fluctuates based on article size, age, etc...And if a single person repeatedly brought large amounts of traffic to an article they linked to, they might earn some money from the publisher, etc...What do you think Ted Nelson is up to these days?
Sound good? Anyone have any contacts inside Conde Nast?
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