Making Money By Understanding The Difference Between Analog & Digital
from the scarcity-and-abundance dept
One of the central ideas of Walled Culture the book (free digital versions available) is that there is a fundamental difference between analog and digital, and that copyright fails to recognize that. Instead, it seeks to impose what is an inherently analog approach based on scarcity to the online world where abundance is the norm. The very different dynamics in the two realms are neatly illustrated in an article in the New York Times. Its title “In a Digital Age, High-End Outdoors Magazines Are Thriving in Print” underlines why it pays off to recognize that digital and analog are different, and how online publishing may be in the doldrums, but there still money to be made by taking a different approach:
There are sprouts of life, even profitability, on the landscape of print media and magazines, cratered by the pixilated bombardment of the digital age. High-end niche periodicals are popping up, but the trend might be most evident in a burst of small-batch, independent outdoors magazines like Adventure Journal, Mountain Gazette, Summit Journal and Ori. They are crowding into quiet spaces of narrow lanes — climbing, surfing, skiing, running and the like — where quality is key, advertising is minimal and subscribers are faithful. Most do not put their content online; this is journalism meant to be thumbed through, not swiped past.
As the article explains, the new wave of small-scale, luxury magazines are the antithesis of throwaway digital material with clickbait titles designed to trick people to view briefly and then move on:
The magazines are sometimes oversized and increasingly matte finished, filled with edge-to-edge photographs and literary heaves. They can cost $25 or more per issue. They are meant as much for the coffee table as the shoulder bag — designed to be collectible, not disposable.
What is particularly interesting about this evolution of analog magazines is that it fits perfectly with the idea of the “true fan,” which Walled Culture the blog and the book have explored at some length. Indeed, the true fan approach means that these high-quality and highly-valued publications can be offered alongside free material placed online. Significantly, the New York Times articles notes that “These new magazine owners aren’t Luddites; they use digital savvy to sell paper and ink.” In other words, digital is a way to generate revenue from analog. Moreover, the analog journals use the same ideas typically employed by those seeking to maximize engagement and revenue from their true fans and patrons:
The Surfer’s Journal persists as envisioned, now with about 28,000 subscribers (six issues a year for $84, or $25 for one) and eight “sponsors” (each paying $70,000 per year). Thousands of other copies are sold in surf shops and bookstores. The company has expanded into books, a popular podcast and The Golfer’s Journal, with manicured green grass taking the place of swelling blue oceans.
This approach won’t work for all creators, but its a timely reminder that the analog and digital are different. Acknowledging that difference, rather than simply trying to impose the outdated rules of one world on the other, allows them to play complementary roles in supporting creators and generating revenues by building strong relationships with true fans.
Follow me @glynmoody on Mastodon and on Bluesky. Originally posed to Walled Culture.
Filed Under: abundance, analog, digital, luxury magazines, scarcity
Comments on “Making Money By Understanding The Difference Between Analog & Digital”
I’m reminded of the most recent How Money Works video: “If AI is taking everyone’s jobs, who’s going to buy shit?” The trend companies seem to be building towards is the culmination of mobile freemium game monetization plans: business strategies are centered around making the most money from whales while still setting aside table scraps for the wider consumer base. And I’m not sure if that’s necessarily an improvement.
This isn’t to agree with the typical copyright fanatic whining that content quality has taken a nosedive because piracy exists. Piracy could disappear overnight and companies would still use the same cynically money-grubbing tactics. Where I’m concerned is the justification companies use to rationalize consumer-unfriendly policies and gatekeep their products behind prices that the average living wage these days cannot keep up with.
Re:
The money’s mostly computerized anyway, so we may as well just have the artificial intelligences buy from each other while we collect the sales tax for our own use. If that sounds crazy, we’ll declare it a new economic theory and say you’re stuck in an outdated way of thinking (kind of like how “modern monetary theory” says governments don’t need to worry about debt).
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Like goldfarming on MMOs? I wouldn’t mind. At least that still feels like doing something inane for semi-tangible value and results.
The fintech scene seems like people jostling for a piece of the same pie by introducing more protocols and platforms to skim off what money they can by being the next trendy middleman. So in a way, they’re just as parasitic – non-creators of value, just with a different coat of paint.
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Or the AIs could run its “real”-world equivalent: mergers, acquisitions, and general corporate restructuring.
I’m not sure that “the medium is” (still) “the message” in all cases, but in this case the medium is integral to the message.
(With apologies to McLuhan…)
Once again the Times is late to the party
I (along with many thousands of others) have been subscribed to the print horror magazines Rue Morgue and Fangoria forever. Fangoria explicitly doesn’t even have the articles from its print magazine online.
It’s always nice to see the Times finally reporting on things that aren’t remotely new.
Analog vs digital
The recently resuscitated CREEM Magazine is doing this.
Huge quarterly physical issues- absolutely beautiful & jam-packed with cool stuff- alongside a website with some neat archives (original bad review of “The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars” from 1972, for instance).
The new content in the magazines is on-line but only available to current subscribers. I’m pretty sure there are options for either physical & digital subs.
I’m pretty chuffed about the return of this mag & the fact that they’re apparently able to make it work in 2024.
Re: Here's that bad Bowie review
In case you’re interested. It’s part of their freely available archive features. Funny stuff!
https://www.creem.com/fresh-creem/david-bowie-ziggy-stardust-dave-marsh-creem-review
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Better example
TapeOp magazine has been going for 20-ish years and the most valued (by independant and otherwise, musicians) recording mag around, & it is free. They’ll just send it to you if you ask. Ive been getting it for nothin the entire time, except for the fist half year. Ikeep all issues and regularily peruse the whole catalog. Its a community. My 1st reation to it was “I’m not alone in this wierdness”
Glyn Moody’s article highlights a key insight from Walled Culture: the need to understand the fundamental differences between analog and digital environments. While copyright laws are rooted in an analog mindset of scarcity, the digital realm operates on principles of abundance. The New York Times article “In a Digital Age, High-End Outdoors Magazines Are Thriving in Print” illustrates this by showing that while digital publishing faces challenges, high-end print magazines are flourishing. Recognizing and adapting to the distinct dynamics of analog and digital worlds can open up unique opportunities for success in both areas.
I still have a couple print magazine subscriptions. I like to take them to the gym. Print has better resolution than any digital screen (300 dpi vs 96 dpi). If I leave the magazine behind or drop it in the toilet, no big deal. I can read it in the sauna without it going kablooey from the heat and it never runs out of juice. Sometimes old tech is better tech.