Only recently PSFK asked Can Paper Survive? But what about the magazine market? While the web seems to be knocking newspapers, niche publications from the UK to Japan are thriving – or at least appear to be. Maybe the web is a friend of print, not it’s killer? A few points to consider:
In the UK, a magazine targeted (by subscription only in a direct mail fashion) to the super-affluent, is perpetuating the growth of a luxury brands market. The Spear’s Wealth Management Survey has a database of 30,000 high-net wealth (HNW) readers, an attractive crowd for the brands who want to maintain their elite image.
And Japan’s culture magazines seem to be thriving if we can believe what we read on Jeansnow.net.
Mr. Magazine lets us know that ” there will be 130 to 140 million fewer copies of magazines in 2007 than 2006 on the nation’s newsstands.” This seems to be more of an issue with distributors than with an issue of printing. About the “print is dead” issue, Mr. Magazine says, “Digital editions of magazines are good and dandy, but they are more like a television channel than a magazine. The good ones are not competition to print; they just are a different medium.”
And as a final word, let’s hear from tastemaker-du-jour Jeff Staple as argues on his blog that Mags can survive:
As the internet continues to infect every single possible action in our daily lives, we often hear that the printed word will soon be extinct. You hear this most often when it relates to traditional print magazines. Experts call it a dying breed…A waste of time. And true, while magazines simply cannot compete with their online counterparts when it comes to speed, there are still some dinosaurs out there trying to fend off extinction.
There’s a lot of magic that goes into making a great magazine. (Writing, photography, creative direction, design, production, printing…and so much more.) And the ladies at Missbehave are definitely doing it well. It is without a doubt a major pain in the fucking ass to make a magazine. But some people still choose to do it! Other magazines like THEME, MONOCLE and ANTENNA and others are the last of a dying breed. I really applaud their resilience and determination.
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Whoa whoa, “print isn’t dead???” Next your gonna tell me the 30 sec. spot is still relevant?
Make up your Mind!
I’m looking to you, Erin, to make these calls from now on. If you say print is alive and well, I’ll believe you. Good to see your contributions. Hope NY is well and you hire me one day! Cheers
david
August 13th, 2007 at 5:03 pm
Hey,when you said the good ones are a new medium, check out VIVmag through Zinio. I have never seen anything like it. Also, I found that if you click on http://www.vivmag.com/partner/vivc1 you can get a year’s subscription for free. They are probably tryingt to get people to adopt the technology.
At any rate, the magazine is fabulous!
August 13th, 2007 at 7:55 pm
Until I can roll up my RSS feeds/laptop, stick them into the back pocket of my shorts, drive to the beach while sitting on them, them them survive sand & sunblock spilled on them, and still read them in high-quality 2400dpi 4C reproduction in the brightest sunshine … magazines will have a role to play.
And the whole Zinio thing I don’t get. Electronic screens aren’t the same format as magazines, nor SHOULD they be. Winding Road is my favorite example of good content in utterly the wrong distribution medium.
Magazines will live for quite a while. Newspapers, OTOH …
August 14th, 2007 at 6:30 am
Print is threatened by the new electro gizmo industry, but as you know necessity is the need for invention. Well when I was a kid, most of the industry service was not that great…for print buyers to deal with printers and having a print job done right and fully satisfied was a dreamland…but now the same technology that threatens ink on paper has left more customers satisfied.
We are entering a new digital age where we want to have more happy customers at the same time give them ease of ordering there print.
Personalized printing has not yet taken up to its fullest potential, may be this will lead to a new markets never thought before.
Print is not dead, and no indications other then shifting in markets….
Sam
http://www.ozoprint.com
http://printingreviews.blogspot.com/
August 16th, 2007 at 5:45 am