The debate rumbles on…. How do you make digital media pay? Ever since the web went mainstream, part of its appeal has been its free nature. Information and services available 24/7 at no extra cost. But has this freedom come to an end…?

Of course, there are corners of the web who have made money. Some have offered goods; Amazon, eBay. Others have offered adult entertainment; porn and gambling. And the rest have used the web to offer the same service in an alternative way; hotels, flights, tickets.

When it comes to news, features, interviews and the like however, it has been cost-free. Instead, the models of old media have been adopted for the new media. Advertising has meant we, the web user, got to see the content we wanted at the expense of others.

Unfortunately, for a variety of reasons this model used for TV and newspapers isn’t creating enough cash to support the equivalent online operations.

Bizarrely, the running costs of digital media is somewhat reduced compared to their predecessors. So it seems strange that even though less money is charged, this still can’t cover running costs.

After all, the cover fee on newspapers and magazines mainly went to cover the printing and distribution – not the cost of content production.

Now, as old business models die out, the recessions continues to bite, and new models creep further into the mainstream – something has to change.

And however much I as a consumer would like to receive everything for free, the fact of the matter is someone has to pay somewhere.

Who pays?

Personally, I’ve never been a hugh fan of advertising as a revenue generator. I’m more than happy to pay for good services I’d like to receive.

The license fee for BBC content, my subscription to Sky (although I do have issues with their additional revenue stream for ads). I happily subscribe to .net magazine and if I had the option I’d no doubt subscribe to HBO.

Unfortunately I’ve no loyalty to newspapers. Partly because news is so available in various formats, and because I can get it free – online, on radio and tv.

So how do you get money for content where other means won’t pay? If there was an easy solution I’m sure someone one have tried by now. Some have tried pay walls and stopped. Others persevere with debatable success.

Over recent years, many attempts to charge have been mocked and scoffed at. Some have even added the very notion of cash brings the ethos of the web into disrepute. That, I’m not so sure.

One way or another it seems the future of a universally free web is coming to an end. Major players are looking at payment models – the biggest of which being Rupert Murdoch.

Small payments made often may be the answer.  iTunes began with music (forgetting the fact whether you think 79p for a track is reasonable) and now continue to be successful with the App store for the iPhone and iPod touch.

It will be interesting to see which way the major players in the market go with this. One way or another something will change.

Quite rightly talent should be rewarded in all walks of life. Journalism and content production is no exception.

Posted on May 18th, 2009 in Blog