Interesting things are happening for publishing in Slovakia and Slovenia. The idea came in May 2011 to Tomàs Bella, former director of SME Online, the digital edition of the main Slovak newspaper. Bella convinced the heads of the most popular publications to sign an agreement to share a single paywall and divide the proceeds with these parameters: 40% goes to the site on which the subscription was subscribed, 30% goes to the site on which the reader reads the information, 30% goes to the Piano Media structure. The agreement was signed by nine publishers and 12 newspapers, eight dailies, a weekly, two monthlies and a gossip website. In the first month, 40 euros were collected, quite a lot in a country of 5 million inhabitants.
Bella has succeeded in a feat deemed impossible, that of convincing competing newspapers to collaborate to make their online editions fruitful. The reader not only has greater ease of access thanks to a simple and acceptable payment system (0,99 euros per day, 2,90 per month, 29 per year) but is also freed from the unpleasant sensation of paying a publishing company for content that he can easily find for free in another's publications.
From next week, the project will extend to all newspapers in Slovenia, a country with different characteristics and with a large circulation of regional newspapers. But it doesn't matter: "What unites the two nations - commented Bella - is the fact that all the newspapers are in crisis and have a desperate need to find new revenue channels". Readers in Slovenia will pay more than in Slovakia (1,99 a week, 4,89 a month, 48,90 a year) and newspapers will have to find a way to coexist in a highly competitive market.
While many hope for the success of the operation, there is no shortage of criticism. Piano Media acts a bit like Apple, applying a withholding tax of 30%, the same that is applied to applications downloaded from the App Store. Furthermore, Tomàs Bella also invites the participating newspapers to deal only with the contents, leaving him with marketing, advertising sales and public relations operations, something that the owners of the newspapers don't like, who rightly want to maintain direct control over their brand and its use.
According to Piano Media projects, Slovakia and Slovenia are just the beginning. Contacts with publishers are reportedly underway in 11 European countries and collaboration agreements are expected to be signed in three or four countries by the end of the year. If the operation is successful, in the agitated sea of publishing the hitherto prevailing logic of "save who can" could be replaced by a more sensible common strategy.
