In Search Of A Viable Subscription Model
from the interesting-ideas dept
Ian writes "Continuing the unending debate on subscription, free content, blah blah. this article states that the risk needs to be more widely spread: "Imagine it as a spectrum. Presently all the risk sits with the publisher. My suggestion is that it should be possible to shift some of that burden down the spectrum, onto the content producer by developing systems that allow content providers to work as performance driven individual business units, within an overriding subscription model." My friends tell me that porn subscription works something like that. Mike, can you confirm this? (via The End of Free, also good follow up comment)" Can I confirm how porn subscription models work? Unfortunately, no. I really don't know how porn subscription models work. However, I do know how DoCoMo's i-Mode system works and it does follow the original DotComScoop suggested model pretty well (and is mentioned in that article). I think what Robert is suggesting in that article is interesting... but the biggest problem (which is exactly what all of the wireless carriers are dealing with right now) is setting up those billing mechanisms. Perhaps that's a business opportunity - for someone to create a billing mechanism that facilitates passing subscription money on to the content provider (without having the billing cost too much). I also think that his suggestion assumes that many content producers are more entrepreneurial than they really are. They want to get paid for their content - and not maybe paid depending on how much people like it. In turn, that could lead to content creators to target only the lowest common denominator - looking to write a story that appeals to the widest possible audience in order to make the most possible money. I think the job of the producer is to take a risk - and part of that risk is figuring out how to produce a vehicle that can make money. The producer is putting it together - they should be the ones to deal with the risk.
Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.
Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.
While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.
–The Techdirt Team
Reader Comments
Subscribe: RSS
View by: Time | Thread
are but....
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: are but....
Your post here clears up a bunch of the questions I had about your system. I certainly see how producers could find it useful and be willing to test it out - and it might be worthwhile if the billing mechanism is both cheap enough and easy enough to use.
However, part of me wonders if it will just become too complex. Maybe I still don't have a completely clear picture of what you're describing, but it would have to be relatively seamless to everyone involved to get them to a point where they'll take a chance on it.
Hmm. Wait. I think halfway through writing this response what you're describing has finally clicked in my head...
Ok. Ok. So, what you're really describing is more or less a walled garden of content - created by a number of different content providers who all agree to work together (somewhat) as part of this subscription plan. Then, within that walled garden, subscribers can chose to reward certain content providers more than others, if they so chose.
Then... any content provider outside the walled garden who suddenly wants to offer a subscription plan, can chose to join that walled garden under the same rules.
Am I understanding it yet?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: are but....
Fortunately that is not my problem. I'm just throwing forth a general idea, someone else can work out the details. I subscribe to the theory that if there is a man on the moon, most problems can be sorted out ;-)
'Am I understanding it yet?'
Yes. That is pretty much it. btw, just to clarify, I'm not suggesting that this could succeed from a zero start position. I'm talking about it being attempted by a publication with a large existing audience. Or a relatively large niche player.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Thinking about it
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
dsg
[ link to this | view in chronology ]