What will the iPad mean for publishers? – a few opinions
We have out a piece which looks at the hopes and ambitions of traditional publishers of newspapers, magazines and books in the run-up to the unveiling of Apple’s long-awaited iPad tablet device on Saturday. The consensus seems to be that the iPad will be a great boost for the industry. Pictured above is the April issue of Interview magazine‘s version which will be available for 99 cents on launch day.
Here are a few more thoughts we couldn’t get into the piece:
What does the iPad mean for Amazon’s Kindle?
Brian Murray, CEO Harper Collins:
“People love their Kindle but I think there’s room in the market for both a dedicated book reader like the Kindle, Sony Reader or (Barnes & Noble’s) Nook. But there’s room for a single device that can accommodate books, magazines, and newspapers and surfing the Internet like the iPad. My view is the price of the Kindle,Nook and Sony Reader is going to drop dramatically I suspect to under $100 so there will be a market for certain.”
John Makinson CEO Penguin Books:
Let’s dance: Universal, YouTube talk music site
Get ready for Vevo, or whatever YouTube and Universal decide to call their premium online music site.
It’s no sure thing a deal will get done, of course. One source told Reuters that negotiations have “literally” just started and key details, like financial terms, are still undecided.
Still, at first glance, this seems like it could be one of those win-win deals and both sides would probably be smart to work out an arrangement.
For Google, it would mark one way in which they could pull some revenue from YouTube, which it has been seeking to do given its $1.65 billion investment in the site. It would also help smooth over sometime rocky relations with the media industry, while avoiding future disputes like the one it now has with Warner Music (Late last year, after negotiations broke down, Warner demanded that YouTube pull down all music videos on the site featuring its artists).
And for Universal? It lets the music label showcase (in a protected environment) videos from artists like U2 and the Killers — and that’s no small thing when you’re scrounging for all the album sales you can get. What’s more, a deal could finally create a way for music labels to start making more money from videos (presumably, there would be a revenue-sharing deal from advertising that YouTube would sell).
We need to hear more. But right now, it sounds pretty good.
If I was youtube i’d tell em to go flip sand. Perhaps youtube should consider their own Record Company.
