Rogers Media withdraws magazine titles from library service offering free downloads
For many library card holders in Canada, it may have seemed too good to be true -- that they could download free digital copies of leading magazines such as Maclean's and Chatelaine, using a service powered by replica magazine service Zinio. As it has turned out, after a brief period of access, it was.
Rogers Media has withdrawn most of its magazines from the service, attributing the decision to advice from the industry trade association Magazines Canada. Mark Jamison, the president of Magazines Canada said it was because of "content delivery expectations and restrictions". According to Rogers, quoted by the Globe and Mail, the decision wasn't its own, but Magazines Canada's, of which it is a prominent member and major funder.
It can't be a complete coincidence that Rogers Media's recently announced partnership with the U.S. group Next Issue Media to form Next Issue Canada is based on the intention to sell digital magazines packages, its own and as many as 100 American titles. Essentially at least part of this story is the clash between "free" distribution and "paid".
The Zinio subscriptions which libraries paid in order to be able to offer free magazines to cardholders was based on a combination of a flat license and user fees. My local library has been offering 50 titles to anyone with a valid library card, until now. Some of the more popular ones included Canadian Living, National Geographic (with interactive content), O, the Oprah Magazine, Women’s and Men’s Health, Style at Home, Maclean's, Chatelaine, the Economist, Hello! Canada, House & Home, Maxim, Zoomer and Sportsnet. As can be seen, Rogers's decision will leave a fairly large hole.
A note on the Zinio site says:
Rogers Media has withdrawn most of its magazines from the service, attributing the decision to advice from the industry trade association Magazines Canada. Mark Jamison, the president of Magazines Canada said it was because of "content delivery expectations and restrictions". According to Rogers, quoted by the Globe and Mail, the decision wasn't its own, but Magazines Canada's, of which it is a prominent member and major funder.
It can't be a complete coincidence that Rogers Media's recently announced partnership with the U.S. group Next Issue Media to form Next Issue Canada is based on the intention to sell digital magazines packages, its own and as many as 100 American titles. Essentially at least part of this story is the clash between "free" distribution and "paid".
The Zinio subscriptions which libraries paid in order to be able to offer free magazines to cardholders was based on a combination of a flat license and user fees. My local library has been offering 50 titles to anyone with a valid library card, until now. Some of the more popular ones included Canadian Living, National Geographic (with interactive content), O, the Oprah Magazine, Women’s and Men’s Health, Style at Home, Maclean's, Chatelaine, the Economist, Hello! Canada, House & Home, Maxim, Zoomer and Sportsnet. As can be seen, Rogers's decision will leave a fairly large hole.
A note on the Zinio site says:
PLEASE NOTE: Effective October 2013 Rogers Publishing Group has removed the following publications from all library Zinio collections: Canadian Business, Chatelaine, Maclean's, Today's Parent and L'actualite. We are working on replacement titles.Read more »
Labels: libraries, Next Issue Media, Zinio. Magazines Canada
posted by D. B. Scott at
4:11 pm
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