Men’s Health becomes the first magazine and media company to launch a paid iPhone app (here). According to Advertising Age the app contains workout instructions with photos and the ability to track your progress.
I really think this will do well for them and in general repackaging the content that already exists into easy to use, easy to carry with you applications will work well for all magazines. There is so much great service content that is printed once and then heads for the recycling heap, but if it can be packaged together and purchased when you suddenly need some reliable information from a trusted brand I think most people would pay 99 cents or 2 dollars instead of spending 45 minutes googling for results.
I can already hear editors calling meetings, “we need an iphone app show up with your 5 best ideas.”
9 Comments
Spin magazine has had an iPhone app for some time now.
@Emon,
Thanks. I changed it to say “the first paid iphone app.”
@A Photo Editor,
People has had a paid one for a while now too…
That’s cool! And not to get all advocate-y, but I think it’s also a consideration for the value of a photograph when photographers negotiate contracts. Contracts often have that nebulous “electronic use” line that could include any future technology like this, that the magazine is actually charging customers for.
And certainly, these two magazines (that we enjoy working with) may negotiate these things separately with photographers already. But photographers should consider this when determining the value of their work.
@NB Wonderful Machine, in a 99 cent to 2.00 world is there enough margin for photogs to get their slice of this fresh baked pie?
It is nice to see some sign of survival instincts kicking in for the print industry though.
@Mark, I think there is actually more margin in a 99-2.00 world…
this is what the app store is establishing wrt software. Notice also that Apple’s latest OS is 29.95 not 129.
NBWM is making a good point-Rodale has always been pretty aggressive wrt rights. Repackaging content like this is the thing photographers have always worried about and publishers have always downplayed, whether it was foreign language editions (Men’s Health Uzbekistan anyone) or something like this, a true new derivative product.
ON the other hand, in publishing, it is very hard to know what will be a success, and the business as a whole is very inefficient. So getting publishers to pay for rights they don’t know they can profit from is hard. But they never want to be restricted, obviously. And going back to get rights from multiple sources makes it difficult to move quickly with new products.
This is great. I agree with Rob that there is so much great content that, when in print, just ends up getting tossed.
Think about how much great (or not so great) info we now have direct access to with an app idea like this.
Maybe I can scrap my 600 page inspiration book and instead just utilize my iphone. Its much easier to carry in my pocket.
rubbish.
I would pay for a Martha Stewart or Real Simple recipe app in a heartbeat … _especially_ if it had great pictures …
Even more niche ones would do great IMO … be it weddings, cigars, cars, etc …
With version 3.0, you have in-app payments … so, you could have a free app and sell pieces of content. Lots of opportunities.
Someone find me a magazine so I can build one …
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