Yesterday we spent some time discussing the differences between print and digital media. Someone in class brought up the subscription + advertising business model used in most traditional media.
In this model, the subscriptions are just part of the overall revenue stream. In fact the subscription fees rarely cover the cost of producing the media. Advertisements are a second source of revenue and help subsidize the production costs. Interestingly enough, advertisers are actually willing to pay a premium to advertise to paid subscribers. Advertisers are betting the people who pay for the magazine on a regular basis are a more captive audience. You could say they are betting on a higher return on attention.
I bring all of this up because last weekend I saw The September Issue. The September Issue is a documentary about Vogue magazine’s largest issue of the year – you guessed it, September. The film does a fantastic job of showing the amount of production (and associated high fixed costs) of producing the content. It also highlights the impact the magazine and its editor, Anna Wintour, have on the fashion industry as a whole.
The movie got me thinking. Will magazines like Vogue be replaced by digital substitutes? You can make the argument that Vogue is iconic, but so was the New York Times. How is Vogue different? Is it because fashion is more exclusive & allusive than news? Is it because Vogue is more about images and less about text?
Those are some of the great questions to ponder if you check out the movie. I highly recommend it. If you aren’t a fashionista- don’t worry, my boyfriend really enjoyed the movie too.
It’s playing at the Seven Gables Theater not too far from UW. Here’s the trailer:
