Apple subscription charge will hinder publishers, warns INMA

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News publishers will not be able to invest in new technology, products and services if 30 per cent of digital subscription revenue is taken by technology platforms, the International Newsmedia Marketing Association (INMA) said following a roundtable discussion on the issue this week.

While news executives present at the tablet subscriptions meeting in London yesterday were said to have expressed their admiration for companies such as Apple and Google , concerns were raised about the ongoing relationship between publishers and technology firms as well as recent developments.

The discussion between nearly 60 representatives of the European media industry followed Apple's announcement this week that it had introduced a subscription service through the App Store for content-based apps.

As part of the technology firm's new rules, publishers who make a subscription offer outside of an app must make the same or better offer from within the app, where Apple will receive a 30 per cent share of the revenue. But according to the INMA this will hinder the potential for future investment by publishers.

Following the roundtable INMA published four key concerns which it claims news publishers want to raise with all technology companies, including their need for a fair business partnership, transparency in the framework and a direct relationship with customers.

Organisers of the meeting said some members were "frustrated by the unclear rules” and that there was an "uncertainty of doing business with the biggest player in the tablet market, Apple".

"The publisher’s goal is to be able to provide their customers access to content on any device or a platform they wish for a reasonable price," Grzegorz Piechota, president of INMA Europe said in a release.

"Therefore, they don’t want to leave any platform, especially the one that is already popular and provides convenient payment systems. Before taking any antagonistic actions, publishers plan to talk to all technology providers, platform providers, and other stakeholders themselves and with the help of their associations."

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