Advertising: Print Magazines Vs Web
Posted April 7, 2008 — in Music News
Both Harp magazine and indie rock mag Resonance which catered to the indie demographic have gone belly up. Those two outlets really spoke to our consumer,” says John Biondolillo, general manager at Dave Matthews’ ATO Records. This could have long term consequences for or indie labels promoting triple A and alt-country acts.
Many labels are taking their ad dollars to the web rather than magazines, mainly because the net is cheaper. ‘Indie sites charge between $1,200 and $3,300, while print publications like Harp and No Depression charged between $1,825 and $2,295 for a full-page color ad’.
Advertising only on the net isn’t the answer either and has its limitations. “It’s hard to see publications for the non-teen and twentysomething demographic go because they are the group that still buys physical CDs and keeps the record stores open,” Wittman says. “They are not the people that are reading (music Web site) Stereogum all the time.”
Allocating advertising dollars is not an easy decision, more so now, in the fact that distribution and media channels have become fragmented. There’s like fifty bazillion places to advertise on the internet while radio advertising is expensive for only a second clip . Some labels like ATO are focusing on old school advertising like Cable TV.
“All of this is really a symptom of a larger problem,” Hoess says. “It’s a lean time for everyone. Labels’ revenues are drying up, and record sales are down, which leads to smaller ad budgets. For us, losing Harp and No Depression is the print equivalent of Tower Records closing — we are an eclectic label, and we are losing coverage outlets.”
This one hits home. I launched an hip hop publication 2 years ago called Hoodgrown that catered to indie artists as well as the major labels. We had a low cover price because we wanted to make the magazine advertiser supported and had our page rates low enough so that even the most cash strapped indie could afford to advertise.
Regardless, getting content from both the majors and the indies were no problem… getting people to part with advertising dollars was a whole other ball game. I’m a graphic designer, not a salesman (in that sense) so after 3 issues and having just landed a distribution deal for the magazine through TransMedia and Footlocker (finagled by the Game’s then publicist, Shemia Miller) I had to cease publication and focus online.
I’m making more money online than I did in print… but I still miss having a phyiscal publication.
Comment by Universal Indie Records — April 8, 2008 @ 2:44 am
Online publishing is booming now and most of the readers are encouraging epublishing. Survey’s also predicting that web publishing is rapidly increasing from the past three years. I do the frequent research on publishing trends and I found recently a website http://www.pressmart.net provides the digital solutions for all print publications. I think using these kinds of services would be helpful for the publishers in the process of digital publishing.
Comment by John — April 8, 2008 @ 3:59 am
Very good points. Print ads can be very ineffective and costly. On the other hand, so can internet advertising. However, social networking and bookmarking, amongst other methods, can be free and bring more traffic to a site, translating to sales.
Comment by Free Advertising — April 8, 2008 @ 5:15 am
Looking only at cost is a mistake. It’s not just what you pay, it’s what you get. Or, a better way to say it is “It’s what you get for what you pay.” Check out http://www.strategicmediainc.com for more information. Or, you could also learn a lot from the articles at http://www.directresponseradio.com. All very valuable free information on how to think about advertising, costs, etc.
Comment by Jeff small - Direct Response Advertising Expert — April 8, 2008 @ 9:23 am