Amidst reports of declining copy sales and advertising revenue, magazines and newspapers shuttering their doors, an oft-heard expression is “print is dead”. But while it’s true that the rise of the internet and demand for mobile, digital content has forever changed Europe’s magazine publishing industry, the claim that it’s brands are dying is far from the truth. This is what Barry McIlheney argues in this interview with the Future Media Lab.
Barry is the CEO of the Professional Publishers Association (UK). He is also a member of the executive board of the European Magazine Media Association, which hosts the Future Media Lab. think tank.
FML: Future Media Lab.
BM: Barry McIlheney
FML: Concerning the future, what do you think, how will the business model for magazine media change in the future?
BM: Well, I am quite optimistic about magazine media. I think you can go one of two ways. You can either think print sales are declining, which they are, in general, and therefore get a bit negative and ‘oh, well, it’s all over.’ Or you can see that magazine content is now appearing in print, in tablets, on mobile phones, on Facebook, on Twitter, on things that haven’t even been invented yet. And then therefore magazine brands have got a much greater footprint than they ever had, then in days of print. So I am very positive.
FML: So what does the future of the magazine industry look like?
BM: I think a lot depends on who you are, which titles you’re in, whether you’re business-to-consumer or business-to-business. Increasingly what we are seeing in the UK, and I think to some extent across Europe, is a real mixture, a real hybrid model of print and digital – which is a big word, but encompasses tablets and phones – and then another really interesting area is live events. Certainly in the UK a lot of magazines publishers are starting to extend into organising conferences, webinars, and awards for their communities. This is a real growth area as well.
FML: And let’s come to the European Union, what is your opinion about European regulation?
BM: Well, I think the UK publishers, perhaps more than any others, much prefer when they are just allowed to get on with their business. It’s interesting; in Britain at the moment the attitude towards Europe is at an interesting crossroads. But I think in general entrepreneurs who publish magazines, as long as they do it in a responsible and decent and fair way, would prefer to have a level playing field, unencumbered by regulations so they can communicate with their audience and do that in a responsible, entertaining, compelling, educational way. So the lighter the touch of the regulation, the happier we would be.
FML: Any last thoughts?
BM: My message to everyone really would be to be more positive about our industry. I think we are really good, sometimes in talking ourselves down and saying here all the problems, we can’t make any money out of it, and it’s not a quite as high as it used to be. We are an incredibly robust, vibrant, creative, sexy, dynamic community and I think we should make more out of that and sing that from the rooftops.
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Barry McIlheney presented the closing remarks for the Future Media Lab.’s “Future of Content” conference in January 2014 in Brussels. To hear from other voices from the conference, please check out the interview we conducted with keynote speaker Paul Lee (Keystone Strategy, USA) and Lorena Boix Alonso (DG Connect, European Commission). You can also read a summary of the event here and watch the wrap-up video here.
