There’s yet another piece of compelling evidence of the media industry’s emerging consumer-centric economics: a burgeoning controversy with Apple at its core.
With pricing power and customer control at stake, the simmering dispute pits the Silicon Valley game-changer against magazine giants Time Inc. and Hearst in a struggle over the fledgling market for so-called digi-mags on the four-month-old iPad, which already looks like another potentially paradigm-shifting hit from Apple.
So far, Apple isn’t accommodating direct sales of digi-mag subscriptions by the two publishers, who are insisting on maintaining a direct relationship with the customers.
Apple apparently wants to play the role of middleman.
“As publishers, we’ve built our business on direct commercial relationships” with subscribers, says Loughlin of Hearst. “And on the commercial side right now, neither Apple nor Amazon is willing to share data around that consumer who would like to buy subscription. It’s integral to the long term health and well being of our business.”
