Will people pay for online media content?
Media companies are shifting back to establishing ‘paid walls’ around their online content. Structural change has caught up with them, forcing titles across the board to bite the bullet and look to charge.
But will people pay? It’s a big, big question. News Corp. thinks so, but so many aren’t convinced.
One of the strategies launched this week by The Times is a membership club. Not a new concept by any means. Other concepts being banded around include charging for apps, micro-payments and aggregated content across various publications.
I’m a trends researcher so naturally I pay for content that I deem worthy and insightful. Ad Age, Wall Street Journal, FT, Contagious, Wired, New Media Age are a few of the sources I’ll pay for. The big difference is this is a business agenda and pretty niche content in the scheme of things. But I get a combination of print and online for both and I quite like that.
Will Joe public pay for their daily dose of the Guardian, Mail or Sun online? I think, if I’m paying for something, I’d sooner get something tangible. Maybe what we’ll see is people seeing more value in print? But then, that could be the idea.
Another thing I wonder in all this. Will Twitter become less effective for media companies once paid walls are inserted? There’s nothing more irritating than clicking on a link and not being able to access the article.
Newspapers have been some of the most prolific users on Twitter, directing a lot of traffic to websites. Such a strategy could make Twitter more of a redundant tool if links do not work…?
If you’re as intrigued as I on this subject, I’d recommend reading Paul Bradshaw’s Online Journalism Blog and Nieman Journalism Lab at Harvard, where you’ll be dazzled by brilliant minds, such as Clay Shirky and Jeff Howe.
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October 8th, 2009 at 15:15
Good, thought-provoking post, Suzie! Thanks for putting it out there!
I think though people will resist and complain at first, they *will* ultimately be willing to pay, particularly if there are micropayment options.
I agree that the clicking thru on a link only to come to a log-in wall will be a huge barrier. What would help would be if the news media banded together to create some sort of universal log-in/payment structure so the user could buy credits one time and not have to log in to so many sites every single time.
I’d be curious to hear what others propose.
Hollis Thomases
(@hollisthomases)
October 8th, 2009 at 18:16
Hi Hollis,
I have a feeling that it is being mooted by some of the big players. They certainly stand a better chance of working this out if they do so collectively.
There is something called Journalism Online in the US, which is based on this principle, although I don’t think it has taken effect yet.
http://www.journalismonline.com/model.php
Thanks for your comment
Suzie