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Michael Giltz: Prince Is Right: Stuff Gotta Be Free
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/michael-giltz/prince-is-right-stuff-go_b_58152.html [4/5/2009 8:56:04 PM]
APRIL 5, 2009
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This Story to DiggPrince Is Right: Stuff Gotta Be
Free
Posted July 27, 2007 | 03:22 PM (EST)
Read More: Time Warner Inc. , New York , Breaking Media News
I just got an offer in the mail to buy a year's worth of Entertainment Weekly . As a former "EW"
subscriber, I'm apparently entitled to the "alumni rate." (Have I missed the annual gatherings, the
newsletter?) Instead of paying $171.50 for the full cover price of 57 issues, instead of paying thestandard subscriber rate (whatever that may be), I'm being offered a full annual subscription ... for$10.
Ten dollars? That's less than 18 cents an issue-- even with bulk rates, will that even cover thecost of mailing it? In short, EntertainmentWeekly is practically giving itself away for free.
How soon will it be before they offer to sendme the magazine for nothing?
Prince is right, apparently. He gave away his new CD to readers of the UK paper the Daily Mail.
Not for free, really -- the paper is paying Prince a chunk of change. But it works out great: thepaper gets a ton of publicity, their readers get a free CD, Prince gets a guaranteed amount ofmoney and reaches fans who might never have bought one of his CDs. That can only encouragethem to buy a ticket to one of his shows, and buy a t-shirt or other merchandise, the areas whereartists have made most of their profits for years.
So it's worth more to Entertainment Weekly to practically pay me to take their magazine. They get
to announce a higher circulation and more eyeballs mean higher rates for their ads. Of course a lot
of those ads are from Time Warner, the company that owns "EW." When they want to promotetheir movies or TV shows or CDs in their own magazine, they naturally like to have as many peoplereading it as possible.
You can already read lots of Entertainment Weekly content for free on their steadily improving
website , just like you can read much of the New York Times and countless other publications. If
they're giving it away online, why not give away the print edition too? For years, newspaper
subscriptions have mostly just paid for the cost of delivery. The real profits come from ads, notfrom forcing people to pay for a print edition of something they can get online for free.
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Michael Giltz: Prince Is Right: Stuff Gotta Be Free
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/michael-giltz/prince-is-right-stuff-go_b_58152.html [4/5/2009 8:56:04 PM]
Michelle Obama's Clothing
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magazines and newspapers are only a matter of time. You can get it for free -- or enough of it to
satisfy you -- online. So why pay for it? And from their point of view, why force you to pay for a
newspaper or magazine of whatever when if you read it, they'll make more money off their ads?
Twenty years from now, major magazines like Time and Entertainment Weekly will give
themselves away for free. People will subscribe to music databases the same way they subscribe to
cable TV. Big companies and little artists will make their money one way or another. And if you
want the new Prince CD, all you'll have to do is go online and ask. Prince knows that just means
more people will pay to go to his concerts -- one experience that can't be downloaded. Yet.
Comments for this post are now closed
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Michael Giltz: Prince Is Right: Stuff Gotta Be Free
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/michael-giltz/prince-is-right-stuff-go_b_58152.html [4/5/2009 8:56:04 PM]
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Michael Giltz: Prince Is Right: Stuff Gotta Be Free
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/michael-giltz/prince-is-right-stuff-go_b_58152.html [4/5/2009 8:56:04 PM]
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http://www.huffingtonpost.com/michael-giltz/prince-is-right-stuff-go_b_58152.html [4/5/2009 8:56:04 PM]
APRIL 5, 2009
HOME POLITICS MEDIA BUSINESS ENTERTAINMENT LIVING STYLE GREEN WORLD CHICAGO
COMEDY 23/6 VIDEO BLOGGER INDEX ARCHIVE
Make HuffPost Your HomePage
Get Email Alerts
Twitter: Follow Us
BIG NEWS : Fox News | Newspapers | Facebook | NBC | More...
LOG IN | SIGN UP
Michael Giltz | BIO | I'M A FAN OF THIS BLOGGER
Be the First to
Submit
This Story to DiggPrince Is Right: Stuff Gotta Be
Free
Posted July 27, 2007 | 03:22 PM (EST)
Read More: Time Warner Inc. , New York , Breaking Media News
I just got an offer in the mail to buy a year's worth of Entertainment Weekly . As a former "EW"
subscriber, I'm apparently entitled to the "alumni rate." (Have I missed the annual gatherings, the
newsletter?) Instead of paying $171.50 for the full cover price of 57 issues, instead of paying thestandard subscriber rate (whatever that may be), I'm being offered a full annual subscription ... for$10.
Ten dollars? That's less than 18 cents an issue-- even with bulk rates, will that even cover thecost of mailing it? In short, EntertainmentWeekly is practically giving itself away for free.
How soon will it be before they offer to sendme the magazine for nothing?
Prince is right, apparently. He gave away his new CD to readers of the UK paper the Daily Mail.
Not for free, really -- the paper is paying Prince a chunk of change. But it works out great: thepaper gets a ton of publicity, their readers get a free CD, Prince gets a guaranteed amount ofmoney and reaches fans who might never have bought one of his CDs. That can only encouragethem to buy a ticket to one of his shows, and buy a t-shirt or other merchandise, the areas whereartists have made most of their profits for years.
So it's worth more to Entertainment Weekly to practically pay me to take their magazine. They get
to announce a higher circulation and more eyeballs mean higher rates for their ads. Of course a lot
of those ads are from Time Warner, the company that owns "EW." When they want to promotetheir movies or TV shows or CDs in their own magazine, they naturally like to have as many peoplereading it as possible.
You can already read lots of Entertainment Weekly content for free on their steadily improving
website , just like you can read much of the New York Times and countless other publications. If
they're giving it away online, why not give away the print edition too? For years, newspaper
subscriptions have mostly just paid for the cost of delivery. The real profits come from ads, notfrom forcing people to pay for a print edition of something they can get online for free.
Popular Stories on HuffPost
Fashion Face-Off!
Michelle Obama And
Carla Bruni-Sarkozy
Finally Meet In
France (VIDEO,
PHOTOS, POLL)
*Video, poll and slideshow
(to...
Levi Johnston TalksSafe Sex With Tyra
Banks (VIDEO)
***UPDATE*** 8:30pm:
People.com is reporting
that Sarah Palin hasissued...
Oscar de la RentaSlams Michelle
Obama's Buckingham
Outfit As MajorDesigners Feel
Ignored
While Michelle Obamahas made lesser...
Verena von Pfetten 7
Lessons To BeLearned From Carla
Bruni
So here's the thing.There's no shortage ofarticles dedicated to that
certain je ne...
Huff TV Arianna
Discusses MichelleObama's "Fantastic"
Parents Of Detained US Journalist Fly
To Iran To Plead For Her Release
More in Media: FoxNews Columnist
Trouble... No Paper Is Safe... This
Week in Mags...
Beauty And The Blog: Blogger Ann
Althouse To Marry Commenter From
Her Site
Michael Giltz: Prince Is Right: Stuff Gotta Be Free
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/michael-giltz/prince-is-right-stuff-go_b_58152.html [4/5/2009 8:56:04 PM]
Michelle Obama's Clothing
Has Sean Hannity All Out OfSorts
Cenk Uygur: Have WeReached the Tipping Pointon Guns?
RICHARD POPLAWSKI,Pittsburgh Gunman, Kills 3Police Officers
Dr. Rachel Ehrenfeld: DoesIran Harbor Osama binLaden?
TV SoundOff:
Sunday Talking
Heads
Levi Johnston On
Tyra: Will YOU
Watch...
"Family Guy,"
"American Dad"
Men Talk Hillary...
Roger Friedman's
Leaked "Wolverine"
Review Gets Him...And that's why seemingly bizarre changes like giving away Entertainment Weekly and other major
magazines and newspapers are only a matter of time. You can get it for free -- or enough of it to
satisfy you -- online. So why pay for it? And from their point of view, why force you to pay for a
newspaper or magazine of whatever when if you read it, they'll make more money off their ads?
Twenty years from now, major magazines like Time and Entertainment Weekly will give
themselves away for free. People will subscribe to music databases the same way they subscribe to
cable TV. Big companies and little artists will make their money one way or another. And if you
want the new Prince CD, all you'll have to do is go online and ask. Prince knows that just means
more people will pay to go to his concerts -- one experience that can't be downloaded. Yet.
Comments for this post are now closed
More in Media...
HuffPost Stories Surging Right Now
Buy a link here Sponsored Links
Degrees for Working Moms
Find a Flexible Online Degree Program to Fit Your Needs. Financial Aid
www.moms.yourdegree.com
Refinance Rate Drop to 4.60% FIXED!
Mortgage Refinance: $200,000 loan for $791/mo. No SSN - FREE Quotes!
Refinance.MortgagesBestRates.com
I Got FIRED!
But thanks to the internet I ended up making more money than my old boss. Read my blog and find out
how!
http://coreyhasmoney.com/ca
Comments for this entry are currently under maintenance but will be restored soon.
Style On CBS'
"Washington
Unplugged"
Arianna was on CBS'
"Washington...
Huff TV Arianna
Appears on ABC's
"This Week"
Roundtable With
George
Stephanopoulos(VIDEO)
Arianna was a guest this
morning on...
"BRUNO" TRAILER!Calamity, African
Babies, Chase
Scenes And More
(NSFW VIDEO)
IT'S HERE! The trailer forthis July's Sacha Baron
Cohen...
NATO Leaders Focus
On Afghanistan, ButMost Reject Obama's
Plea For Troops
(SLIDESHOW)
STRASBOURG, France— On the eve of the
NATO...
First Lady Fashion At
Friday's NATO
Concert (PHOTOS)
Another night, another
fashion opportunity for
NATO leaders and their
spouses! See...
Diana Palin, Sarah
Palin's Sister-In-Law,
Arrested For
Breaking Into Home
ANCHORAGE, Alaska —Police say Alaska Gov....
John Oliver Explains
The Real Reason YouNever Touch TheQueen (VIDEO)
Jim Cramer Declares
The Depression"Over" (VIDEO)
On Thursday's episode of"Mad Money" host Jim
Cramer declared that the
depression...
New Jay Leno Show
Rejected By NBC
Affiliate In Boston
BOSTON — Boston'sNBC affiliate says it will aira local newscast instead
of...
Ice Bridge Ruptures
In Antarctic (VIDEO)
An ice bridge linking ashelf of ice the size of
Jamaica to two islands in
Antarctica has
Scientists FindRocket Fuel
Chemical In Infant
Formula
ATLANTA — Traces of a
Michael Giltz: Prince Is Right: Stuff Gotta Be Free
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/michael-giltz/prince-is-right-stuff-go_b_58152.html [4/5/2009 8:56:04 PM]
Sports
AIG
Computers
India
Barack
Obama
Michelle
Obama
Olympics
Housing
Crisis
Fox News
MORE BIG NEWS PAGES
»
Books by this author
A cabin of one's own: New
England's MacDowellColony celebrates 100years of artistic utopia.And the gay and lesbianartists who prosperedthere celebrate ... (Thenational gay & lesbiannewsmagazine)
by Michael Giltz
Affairs to remember:Farley Granger beddedAva Gardner, ShelleyWinters, and LeonardBernstein. In hisautobiography, IncludeMe Out, Hitchcock's muse... (The national gay &lesbian newsmagazine)
by Michael Giltzchemical used in rocket
fuel were found in
samples of...
HUFFPOST'S BIG NEWS PAGES
Bloggers Index
Read All Posts by
Michael Giltz
This Blogger's Books from
Michael Giltz: Prince Is Right: Stuff Gotta Be Free
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/michael-giltz/prince-is-right-stuff-go_b_58152.html [4/5/2009 8:56:04 PM]
HOME POLITICS MEDIA BUSINESS ENTERTAINMENT LIVING GREEN STYLE WORLD CHICAGO COMEDY FUNDRACE
ARCHIVE
Advertise | Login | Make HuffPost your Home Page | RSS | Jobs | FAQ: Comments & Moderation | FAQ: Huffpost Accounts | Contact Us
Copyright © 2009 HuffingtonPost.com, Inc. | Archive | User Agreement | Privacy | Comment Policy | About Us | Powered by Movable Type