Maghound: possibly new business model for magazines

Picard talks about how newspaper business model has been changing rapidly in his book. While I was reading the book, I kind of got tried on newspaper business model since we have read and talked about it a few times. Instead, I wanted to know a new business model for magazines. And I found this interesting new service based on a new business model called “Maghound.com.”

There are numerous magazines in this century and it is natural for people to want more personalized stuffs. Maghound allows people to select a number of magazines for monthly subscription, and people can change the list whenever they want to. I thought this idea was brilliant new business model for magazine industries. This was probably possible in magazine industries because most magazines are specialized in their specific areas such as sports, fashions and computers. Thus, people can select some magazines from various fields they are interestd in, and they don't have to worry about a number of sperate subscription for each magazine thanks to Maghound. This model, however, would not work with newspapers because most newspapers are not specialized in its unique fields compared to magaines.

Here is an interesting point of view about the Web site: "Why MagHound is Brilliant -- And Why It Won’t Work"

Since I just discoverd about this interesting service, I might do my presentation on this Web site. If that happens, I will talk more about the new business model for magazines and MagHound during my presentation.

If the value is still content, then what content and how should we package the content?

As Picard said, 

A business model involves the conception of how the business operates, its underlying foundations, and the exchange activities and financial flows upon which it can be successful.

Different media need different model. What fits one medium might not fit another. Right after reading Gao’s Participation Business Model, I started thinking if we could use a participation business model for online news. Many newspapers’ online sites indeed have participatory features, such as blog, comment, rating, or allowing users to submit photos and videos. These do not seem to be very innovative or popular features if we compare these features to MyShow, Super Girl, or American Idol. 

Probably participation is not a major “value” users expect from a newspaper web site, as both Picard and Gao emphasized value is the center of a business model. So if we go back to wheat Picard said that content is the core business of publishing industry, then now in the digital and online environment, what “kind” of content? Instead of telling people what to do or what to read, why not say: how may I help you today? In addition to what kind of content a user would value from a local newspaper site, a different kind of navigation maybe? Something like google's front page or iPone's main page that there are several preset icons and users can modify those icons. 

Business models

Picard’s chapter suggested that newspaper’s business model has shifted from dependency on circulation to advertisement, and now with the declining of the readership it is time for newspaper to go back to the old business model. Like the recent article in AJR: The Elite Newspaper of the Future argued that:

A smaller, less frequently published version packed with analysis and investigative reporting and aimed at well-educated news junkies that may well be a smart survival strategy for the beleaguered old print product.

Those all sound like cliché to me. It is just one of the myths that has been repeated so many times but has not become the reality yet? Besides WSJ, which newspaper has actually managed to do that or even tried to do that? I think the blogs are the ones that are really making the effort to provide analysis and investigative stuff.

Gao’s analysis of emerging business model is very neat. Just a footnote, after the success of Super Girl, there are many similar TV programs in China . Over the time, people will eventually get tired of it. So even a really good business model is venerable to repetition.