Alan D. Mutter writes Reflections of a Newsosaur, where, for the reader’s benefit, he combines his experience in Silicon Valley with that of his time spent at newspapers. As such, he’s a good person to consider how publishers can make money online, or if they can.
He offers this quick checklist:
1. You cannot charge for such commoditized content as world, national, business, sports and entertainment news.
2. You might be able to charge for local coverage, if it is sufficiently intensive, comprehensive and exclusive to make to make it required reading for residents of the targeted community.
3. In the business-to-business realm, you probably can charge users for exclusive information that helps them make money, avoid losing money or, ideally, both at the same time.
4. You probably can charge consumers for two things: (a) exclusive entertainment content and (b) authoritative information that helps them hang on to more of their money.
I think this is a pretty tight look at the topic. Exclusive content, especially in an area that others rely on to do their own jobs or manage their own money, is worth paying for/subscribing to, now as before. But such content is not common. It’s rare.
The online monetization conundrum isn’t about electrons versus print at all. The issue is the same as it ever was–the publisher with the best, most relevant and entertaining content wins. And that victory won’t be delivered by paid subscribers alone, but through a mix of revenue streams that might include semi-annual fund drives, selling merchandise like books or t-shirts, wise use of search and display advertising and sponsored events or conferences.
Books are like babies. They take time to conceive, develop and eventually stand on their own.
According to The New York Times, a star of the print media business–now deep into her first big digital project–thinks she can speed the incubation process up considerably.
In a joint venture with Perseus Books Group, The Daily Beast is forming a new imprint, Beast Books, that will focus on publishing timely titles by Daily Beast writers — first as e-books, and then as paperbacks on a much shorter schedule than traditional books.
“There is a real window of interest when people want to know something,†Ms. Brown said. “And that window slams shut pretty quickly in the media cycle.â€
Perseus is paying The Daily Beast a five-figure management advance to cover the costs of editing and designing the books, and Perseus will distribute the titles through its existing sales force. The writers will receive low five-figure advances from Perseus, then split profits from the sale of both the e-books and paperbacks with Perseus and The Daily Beast.
The imprint’s first book, scheduled to be published as an e-book in December and a paperback in January, is “Attack of the Wingnuts: How the Lunatic Fringe Is Hijacking America,†by John P. Avlon.
Light In August is a famous 1932 novel by William Faulkner. It’s also the name of a well read band from Ann Arbor, Michigan.
The band’s hometown newspaper says their “melodies hit the ear gently, supported by impeccable musicianship” and that their debut album, Places, is “an effective tonic for difficult times.”
Filmmaker Amy Weber likes their music. Her new Michigan-made movie, Annabelle & Bear, features Light In August’s track off the new album “Headline News.” You can hear the track on the band’s MySpace page.
Light In August formed in 2007, when guitarist, flutist and sitar player Alex Wand, came back to University of Michigan after studying in Spain. Bassist Jack Henry, drummer Max Stewart and keyboardist Ali Hodges make up the remainder of the band.
Here’s a look at the latter, a group of transplanted Southerners who originally got together in Bowling Green, Kentucky:
Jarman explains Brock’s attraction to the band…
Brock says their blossoming friendship was partly a matter of timing. “I just really had a good time any time I’d run into them,” he says. “At that point, anyone I’d try to hang out with wanted to hang out with a dollar bill hanging out of their nose. And those kids weren’t doing white drugs, so they were a lot more fun to hang out with. I was on my way out of the drug scene entirely, and just being buzzed and cruising around with these funny-as-fuck kids was great.”
After a few such hangouts, Brock finally had an opportunity to see the band play last year. His expectations were low. “I went and caught them just because they were playing in town the same night we were,” he says. “There was no one there, but they were fucking awesome. I was kind of shocked by how good they were. I liked the energy.”
Ryan White, music critic at The Oregonian came up with a funny description for Philadelphia’s Dr. Dog, which played The Wonder Ballroom last night as part of MusicFestNW.
Dr. Dog looks a little like a VW micro bus — with a Ferrari’s engine and other essential parts dropped inside. They accelerate and brake equally fast. They handle well in any kind of weather. They hug the road.
It’s also probably true, as a friend theorized, that Dr. Dog might be far more powerful live than on record.
Darby has her own way with words and an amazing grasp of popular music. After a few songs, she turned to me and said, “The Beatles and The Clash had a baby.”
I nodded my agreement and added that I didn’t realize how much Ska was in the mix–an aspect to the band that might be more visible than it is audible. These guys high step with the best of them.
This morning I’m reflecting on how good last night’s show was (Portland’s Helio Sequence followed Dr. Dog). It was good enough for me to want to know more, that’s for sure. Which leads me to this in-studio performance and interview care of KCRW in Santa Monica:
One of the charming aspects of life in the Portland Metro is this not little thing called the Urban Growth Boundary (UGB). It’s a line beyond which, “the city” can’t go.
According to Eric Mortenson of The Oregonian, Portland’s elected regional government known as Metro–which serves more than 1.5 million residents in Clackamas, Multnomah and Washington counties–believes the Portland area can grow by one million more residents over the next 20 years, without pushing the UGB beyond its current dimensions.
Michael Jordan, Metro’s chief operating officer, said Tuesday at the Metro Council meeting that the region can buffer prime farmland and preserve key natural areas while providing land for the projected newcomers and for the additional jobs they will need.
Jordan laid out his recommendations backed by a 3-inch stack of studies, charts and maps compiled by planners during the past two years.
Among the findings: There are 15,000 acres of vacant, buildable land within the current urban growth boundary, or UGB, for Multnomah, Washington and Clackamas counties. That’s about 35 times the size of downtown Portland, according to Metro.
Naturally, there is opposition to this vision of Portland’s future. Mike Wells, spokesman for the Oregon Chapter of NAIOP, a commercial real estate development association, says, “We respectfully disagree with some of the underlying assumptions” of the Metro report. “We embrace the goal of compact development and making wise use of infrastructure, but we challenge some of the assumptions as just not realistic.”
I and Love and You by The Avett Brothers–one of the most anticipated albums of 2009–hits the shelf on Sept. 29. Produced by musical Svengali, Rick Rubin, the album is the band’s major label debut.
Here’s an ad for the album meant to further build the listening public’s anticipation:
Bart Blasengame, a Senior Editor at Portland Monthly magazine, writing in the September issue of Paste Magazine says the North Carolina four-piece is “All Growed Up.” I don’t believe the article is available online at this time, but he argues that it’s kind of sad to see a favorite band blow up.
At the same time, Blasengame is in awe of the band’s new work. He writes:
…they’ve constructed something beautiful. An album that’s not merely loaded with ballads, it’s almost wall-to-wall epic ballads. Pianos trickle before the storm, strings ball up their fists, swell and waves of sound wash over the Avett’s sorghum-sweet harmonies. And this is just in the first song, a goosebump engorging title-track that could by itself inspire a legion of new fans.
The Avett Brothers have been playing their new title-track live for several months now. For instance, they played a special unplugged verison for The Ice Cream Man while in Newport, RI for the folk fest this summer.
”One thing that was great about Dirty Martini was that it shifted my writing to a darker place and it changed my singing to a bit more understated than before,” says Schneiderman. “I learned so much musically and otherwise in that band across the four years we were really active.”
If you can’t wait that long to see Ms. Schneiderman on stage, she’s appearing at Muddy Boot Organic Festival this Sunday. Schneiderman will be followed by headliner and fellow Portland artists, Weinland.
“There’s something distinctly old-school Austin about DNN: It keeps it loose and casual, then cleans up the mess with gusto.” – The Austin Chronicle
Darling New Neighbors is a three-piece band out of Austin, Texas. Their second L.P., Rocket (2009, self-released) will be available October 15 online and in record stores.
Rocket is filled with contributions from the dense orbit of talented players that make Austin, Austin. The album features mastering by Billy Stull (Okkervil River, Daniel Johnston), mixing by Jeff Hoskins (Foot Patrol, Cactus Cafe), and pedal-steel tracks by Gary Newcomb (Bruce Robison, Li’l Cap’n Travis).
Rocket is a pop shapeshifter with tracks like the sprawling “Electrolux,” the wry, masochistic and Latin-flavored “Tango,” the dirty-talk thrash of “Take It” and the psychedelic, girl-group layers of “Stars.”
Ryan Frank of The Oregonian paints an intriguing portrait of one of Portland’s largest landlords and real estate developers, Joe Weston.
At 71, Weston has built a real estate empire that ranks him among the city’s wealthiest men (the Portland Tribune puts his real estate holdings at $300 million). But he doesn’t drive a Mercedes. He doesn’t live on an estate. He doesn’t do pinstripes. He shows up to public meetings wearing ties festooned with the American flag and a bald eagle without a hint of irony.
So, Portland has a rich but grandfatherly guy roaming the streets. If he wears suspenders, he must also have some good advice to impart. Frank asked him several questions that indicate as much.
Q: There’s been a lot of talk about a glut of condos in Portland. But the city’s skyline is now dotted with shiny new luxury apartment towers. How can a city like Portland support this huge supply of high-rise apartments?
A: That’s a very, very good question because we are not a corporate town and we don’t have a huge executive payroll. I don’t know how the people currently are paying $2,400 to $6,500 a month for these units. It’s a mystery to me. You’re looking at a corporate payroll for that of $175,000 a year or more. We just don’t have that many jobs in Portland, Oregon, that pay that.
This question of where highly paid people work in this city is a dogged one. The biggest industry these days appears to be sportswear, but Nike, Adidas, Columbia, Jantzen, Lucy Activewear, LaCrosse Footwear, Nau and Keen do not a city of well off people make. The Portland metro is also strong in high tech, but not in the same way Seattle is. There’s no Amazon.com and no Microsoft.
Real estate site, MoveToPortland, points to several of Portland’s largest employers and there is a seemingly solid manufacturing base here thanks to Precision Castparts, Nautilus, Schnitzer Steel, Oregon Steel Mills, Monaco Coach, Northwest Pipe Company and PW Eagle. Of course, the ever steady flow of immigrants from Ohio, Iowa and Wisconsin aren’t looking for work in the industrial sector.
Willamette Weekly, one of the city’s two alt weeklies, ran a cover story last week called “The Young And The Jobless”, wherein they profiled people like Emily Jackson, a recent law school grad who can’t find work and is subsisting on food stamps. The paper asked her “Do you ever think about leaving Portland?” She said, “Think about it, yes, but not seriously—I don’t know where I would go. I’m another tattooed white girl on a bike; this is really the only city that would have me.”
