With the rise of competition between company giants such as Apple and Amazon the development and need for digitalised products are becoming a must have item for the modern day population. For generations we have been surrounded by print documents that appear in a number of different formats, be that a textbook, a reading book or a magazine of some variety. However, is this resulting in a decrease of sales and interest into print products?
The expansion of e-readers has, ‘opened up the digital market,’ (Hall, 2013). These changes in the market has built a foundation in which digital can only grow due to the high demands for the latest updated version of products, such as the Kindle. The unique selling point of Kindles which print products can’t compete with is the features;
· ‘They are portable,
· They have battery power,
· Hold thousands of books at once,
· Additional features, like the ability to change font size.’ (Hall, 2013).
Data provided by Bilton, (2013, p.18) claims to show that print consumptions of magazines are still high regarding the steady increase of the digitally active population, 24%, who are downloading book apps provided my services, such as Apple.
Some may argue, ‘that the responsibility of the young is to destroy the past […] the publishing industry working harder to defend their existing business.’ (Noren, 2008). Various observers may see this as a form of exploiting the situation and using it to the best of their ability by giving what audiences want, especially the younger generation. This may be to have the latest gadget which is, ‘cheap enough to be regarded as disposable,’ (Hall, 2013).
So which side do publishers wish to publish their work on in order to get sales? It may depend on their target audience. For example, Cosmopolitan a monthly magazine aimed at people aged 18-35 may decide, that because of their subscribers lifestyle choices their consumers may prefer digitally reading on an app. Could this be because the audience is of a younger generation where we are more open to the idea of digital?
The publication also provides a digital app which is free to download, which publishers may believe is good promotion in order to gain audience numbers. However you have to pay for the content of editions of the magazine but a positive note to this is that a consumer can go back as far as a year and purchase ones they may have missed previously.
Also according to Cosmopolitan Media Kit (2014), Cosmopolitan is the highest digital division at present for Hearst Publishing house digitally through its social media and app in terms of figures of their circulation with the rate base being 53,500 when compared to Vogue's 28,250.
The flip side to this however, is that having a product in your hand feels as though you gain something from your money. Especially being allowed to manually flip through the pages of a book or magazine publication, this may mean that publishers are confident that audiences will stay loyal to purchasing print products. So for the time being it seems as though print products are still the favourite amongst publishers but with the steady increase with digital technology and the launches of new media technology this could all soon change.
Word Count: 547
Bibliography
Bilton, J. (2014). ‘Planning for the Digital World,’ (p.17-18). In Publishing, Issue 65. (Accessed: 6th October 2014).
Cosmopolitan Media Kit Circulation [online] Available at: http://www.cosmomediakit.com/ (Accessed: 20th October 2014).
Hall, F. (2013). ‘The Business of Digital Publishing: An introduction to the digital book and journal industries.’ Routledge.
Philips, A. and Clark, G. (2008). ‘Inside Book Publishing,’ (p.72) No. 4 Routledge S.I (Accessed: 6th October 2014).
The expansion of e-readers has, ‘opened up the digital market,’ (Hall, 2013). These changes in the market has built a foundation in which digital can only grow due to the high demands for the latest updated version of products, such as the Kindle. The unique selling point of Kindles which print products can’t compete with is the features;
· ‘They are portable,
· They have battery power,
· Hold thousands of books at once,
· Additional features, like the ability to change font size.’ (Hall, 2013).
Data provided by Bilton, (2013, p.18) claims to show that print consumptions of magazines are still high regarding the steady increase of the digitally active population, 24%, who are downloading book apps provided my services, such as Apple.
Some may argue, ‘that the responsibility of the young is to destroy the past […] the publishing industry working harder to defend their existing business.’ (Noren, 2008). Various observers may see this as a form of exploiting the situation and using it to the best of their ability by giving what audiences want, especially the younger generation. This may be to have the latest gadget which is, ‘cheap enough to be regarded as disposable,’ (Hall, 2013).
So which side do publishers wish to publish their work on in order to get sales? It may depend on their target audience. For example, Cosmopolitan a monthly magazine aimed at people aged 18-35 may decide, that because of their subscribers lifestyle choices their consumers may prefer digitally reading on an app. Could this be because the audience is of a younger generation where we are more open to the idea of digital?
The publication also provides a digital app which is free to download, which publishers may believe is good promotion in order to gain audience numbers. However you have to pay for the content of editions of the magazine but a positive note to this is that a consumer can go back as far as a year and purchase ones they may have missed previously.
Also according to Cosmopolitan Media Kit (2014), Cosmopolitan is the highest digital division at present for Hearst Publishing house digitally through its social media and app in terms of figures of their circulation with the rate base being 53,500 when compared to Vogue's 28,250.
The flip side to this however, is that having a product in your hand feels as though you gain something from your money. Especially being allowed to manually flip through the pages of a book or magazine publication, this may mean that publishers are confident that audiences will stay loyal to purchasing print products. So for the time being it seems as though print products are still the favourite amongst publishers but with the steady increase with digital technology and the launches of new media technology this could all soon change.
Word Count: 547
Bibliography
Bilton, J. (2014). ‘Planning for the Digital World,’ (p.17-18). In Publishing, Issue 65. (Accessed: 6th October 2014).
Cosmopolitan Media Kit Circulation [online] Available at: http://www.cosmomediakit.com/ (Accessed: 20th October 2014).
Hall, F. (2013). ‘The Business of Digital Publishing: An introduction to the digital book and journal industries.’ Routledge.
Philips, A. and Clark, G. (2008). ‘Inside Book Publishing,’ (p.72) No. 4 Routledge S.I (Accessed: 6th October 2014).