Jonathan Kopp is the lead digital and social media strategist for PR mega-firm Ketchum worldwide.
Kopp is also a Mac devotee – never far from his iPhone, iPad, MacBook Pro and Apple TV – so we thought he’d be the perfect person to ask where paid iPad content is headed.
Apple’s new subscription model, unveiled with The Daily and expected to reach other iPad magazines soon, has a price point of $0.99 per week, $40 a year, with much the same mechanisms (automatic renewal, no refunds) of analog subscriptions. Apple, which gets a 30% cut from the subs, will also enforce its rule of apps in iTunes selling content via in-app purchase.
Kopp, who came to Ketchum after working on the Obama 2008 National Media Team and the Clinton White House, doesn’t think most people want to pay for those subscriptions. (Judging from the results in our reader poll, you think so, too. )
His take: Apple’s iPad subscription model is basically another Newton and bound to flop.
Cult of Mac: What is the future of iPad subscriptions?
Jonathan Kopp: iPad subscriptions might work for a handful of niche publications that target the tech enthusiast crowd, or for certain specialized content targeting business decision makers. Rupert Murdoch’s The Daily certainly seems like a better deal when purchased in bulk ($0.20 per day) versus the pricey per-issue approach that magazines, like Wired, have taken.
But ultimately, I predict that the free, open source content model will prevail for the mass market. The “fremium” blend — where the bulk of the content is free, while some exclusive content carries an added cost — will also continue to thrive. Consumers are used to paying for games, and business people fully expect to pay for applications that enhance their productivity. But free editorial content has become the lingua franca of the social web.
CoM: How much control should Apple have over subscriptions?
JK: Apple’s right to seek to control the user experience on the iPad, but limiting subscription purchases to the iTunes platform will backfire. As consumers have the option to buy most music through the iTunes store among a range of other channels, print and video content must be more widely available.
CoM: What role will Android-based tablets have in the future of magazine and news apps?
JK: For now, the iPad practically defines the tablet market, accounting for about 90% of all media tablet sales.
But the future tablet marketplace will support multiple platforms, including Android, just like the smartphone market, where Apple, Android and RIM are next and neck. Magazine and news apps will need to be optimized to play across all channels.
