Irish mags offered by Dublin-based digital service

An Irish newsagent is hoping to sell magazines online the way iTunes sells music. Mymagonline.com, based in Dublin, will be offering readers PDF versions of Irish publications at a typical 40% discount off cover price. Current titles include Irish Garden, PC Live and Car Buyers Guide.

"The service does for magazine publishing what iTunes has done for music, delivering magazines to readers in minutes with just the click of a mouse and providing publishers with a shop window on the web," said Barry Baker, chief executive of Mymagonline.com.

"Our aim is to deliver a wide range of quality magazine content to a time-poor target market, on a highly accessible web platform that has been designed to grow as our business does. Our offering complements traditional media outlets and allows content providers access to greater readership and expanded advertising."

The project will launch into the United Kingdom in 2008.

In a sense this service is not much different that North American digital magazine services such as Zinio, which also offer PDF magazines; the main difference is that, like iTunes, the emphasis is on single copies as well as digital subscriptions. It must be remembered that in Ireland the U.K., a very high proportion of magazines are bought as single copies, or by standing order at a newsagent's shop.