August 13, 2007
Is the Web Really Print’s Friend?
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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