I wrote this first as an answer to a hot thread on Quora, I am posting it here with links to support my view.
Why would print subscribers get the same newspaper on their iPad for free?
The direct answer to the question is that because, in many cases the same publishers already also offer their ‘print’ content on the Web for free.
Once publishers stop posting their original print content for free on the Web they begin to recapture scarcity and gain economic leverage in the market - but only for original material.
That is Econ 101: Supply and demand.
Paywalls are one approach to try to find this market.
Another approach that I have talked about with editors-in-chief I consult with is to offer something completely different on a newspaper Web site other than the articles from the paper.
Yet another is to drive Web readers to the paid apps.
For example: if you are in Germany and visit the Web site of country’s best-selling newspaper “BILD” from an iPhone or iPad you will be redirected to the paid app. No longer does their Web site deliver free news to i-Device users.
Owner Axel-Springer is pioneering this step.
Publishers are trying to recast themselves to enjoy a position that music and film content publishers currently enjoy. Content producers who earn money selling the same material more than once. In other words, they sell the ‘experience’ as much as they sell the ‘content.’
The vast majority of news execs who came into power when the business model was monopolistic still believe that they are in the ‘content business.
That is simply not true.
Content is but one part of the experience.
“Paid content” is the search for a gilded unicorn in a glass cage. A holy grail if ever there was.
Forget about it, better models exist for selling an experience that customers will pay for.
For example just consider how many copies of STAR WARS you may have already bought? On VHS, LASERDISC, DVD, BLU-RAY, CABLE, IN PAL or NTSC. Or did you splurge for the widescreen limited edition in a special box set? You have already seen the movie . . . but have you see the ‘director’s cut?’
The adage is simple: “Why sell something once, when customers will buy it twice?”
Required reading
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