The one, the only, Jancis Robinson has uploaded a slew of new videos to her YouTube Channel from her very popular Wine Course DVDs!
This is a great thing, and I look forward to soaking them all up – I’ve only seen bits and pieces in the past. Hopefully this is a sign of an increased savvy-ness of Web 2.0, and maybe -just maybe- we’ll be able to not need to fork over cash just to read her current published articles (including an upcoming piece on her recent BC trip). Ideally she’ll take note that the way of increasing your brand and profits by charging for subscriptions has gone the way of the dodo, but to rather allow open content which allows for an upped financial stream by higher demand for talks (and much higher speaking fees), appearances, ads and special offers and promotions not to mention much larger exposure and anticipation for future books, DVDs and other media.
The biggest media minds of our generation (Gladwell, Rushkoff, et al) get this, as do our journalistic legends (Woodward & Bernstein, Hertzberg and so on). It was many years ago that The New York Times, Slate and almost everyone else learned that paid online content was the wrong route – and proceeded to increase their online presence and online profits by turfing paid subscriptions and opening it all up (hard print copy is, of course, a different story, although Dave Eggers – king of ‘give it all away’ - has a plan…).
It hardly matters that Robinson is a journalist with more of a niche or genre, as food-wise - Michael Pollan has pretty much excerpted most of The Omnivore’s Dilemma and such, all over the web…
I am by no means “calling out” the almighty Jancis, I respect her dearly and have even met and chatted with her in the past. Were I to meet her again, I’d be more than happy to bring this all up. Just thinking out loud, more than anything else.
< Update: Please see ‘Comments’ for some further clarification I offer. >
Meanwhile, enjoy this splash of Pinot Noir:
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6 Responses:
August 5th, 2009 at 10:38 pm
Well… while I certainly agree that many products/people have found that offering their opinions, thoughts and writings gratis is the right way to go for their marketing efforts, there is also something to be said for writers being paid for their work. It seems to me that Jancis offers a lot of her pieces for free, with further pieces offered to those who are interested enough to pay. It ‘s not like she’s asking you to pay for magazine articles that she’s already been paid for – she’s just asking for you to pay for premium content, and that’s still a pretty common request among trade media outlets, if not among those aimed at the consumer. Just saying that just because she’s Jancis, doesn’t mean that we all have the right to know her every thought for free.
August 5th, 2009 at 11:02 pm
Oh, by all means!
Ms. Robinson can certainly do whatever the hell she likes.
Much of this does indeed come from, as I should have been more clear of. a desire to learn more from her.
However, I’m assuming (quite possibly wrong, but assuming nonetheless) that she writes for either passion, profit or both.
My point is, that if either or both are indeed the case, then I believe that there is something to be learned from the majority of her colleagues, which would result in increased personal, professional and financial benefit.
August 5th, 2009 at 11:32 pm
Valid points you bring up Mr Kolt. First off, I’m all for free internet content (which Jancis does offer a fair amount of). Maybe all the articles she offers on her website could be free-for-all? That’d be fantastic as a free learning resource and would be very generous of her.
However, the difference of JancisRobinson.com is the other valuable resources she offers: all of the maps you would find in the World Atlas of Wine (on a more updated basis), the entire searchable Oxford Companion to Wine, an indexed catalogue of her tasting notes, well run forums…etc etc. As you and I know from our personal wine libraries, these books cost a mint should you want to pick up a hard copy (not to mention that the publishers probably wouldn’t want to give them out for free). These forums and her continually updated tasting notes will require operation costs. Etc. I think her website in its entirety is a different beast than some of the other websites out there. Lower subscription costs? Yes please. Free for all? Perhaps a little unrealistic.
This of course is coming from someone who pays $120 year for a subscription to JancisRobinson.com!
August 5th, 2009 at 11:38 pm
PS
I’m stoked these videos are on YouTube and will be spending a lot of time watching them.
August 6th, 2009 at 10:57 am
Yes to all of that!
What I’m referring to in my short piece, which I guess wasn’t clear enough, was simply about the articles. “…fork over cash just to read her current published articles” were the words I used. I’m certainly not proposing that she give away her Oxford Companion and such, nor am I insinuating there is not value in her Purple Pages subscriptions. Of course there is.
I guess my point is, as someone who has already purchased her literature (physical copies), I bristle at having to pay for it again. There lies the rub. I have also paid to attend a dinner with her, and have promoted to novices the value of buying The Oxford Companion, Vines, Grapes & Wines, etc. The business of Jancis Robinson has more of my money than any other wine writer.
I’m not saying all content everywhere should always be free. If there were a multi-tiered approach to content on her site, I would be a happy guy. Of course there are operation costs, etc. If there were even, say, a £2 charge per article, then JancisRobinson.com would certainly have received some of my money of the years. With the current format, unfortunately not. A charge for access to forums, the Oxford Companion, etc? Absolutely. This is where her site is the different beast you mention.
As far as current and recently published articles and the idea of offering them for free, I think it would benefit both the reader and the business of JancisRobinson.com. It would broaden exposure which, as mentioned above, would translate into higher book sales, DVD sales, increased demand for appearances, and invite a bigger cross section to the site, which would, in turn, bring more money to services like the Oxford Companion, forums, tasting notes, etc. From Radiohead and on, there are many examples of those with a devout following increasing cash flow by giving things away.
“Free” by Chris Anderson offers a good synopsis of this phenomenon. http://www.wired.com/techbiz/it/magazine/16-03/ff_free
While I’m sure Ms. Robinson has done well by her site, I’m fairly certain that it would do better by opening up current content, and then having more accessibly-priced tiers. I’m simply curious what sort of thought there is towards that.
And, of course, there’s no need for her to give any regard to some chump in Vancouver’s opinion on this.
I have huge respect and admiration for her, and I’m sure that many reading this think that I’m in no position to say a negative word about her. I just think even the best in our trade, who have been broadly deified by many (not that that has been asked for), are not above repectful criticism. I’ve certainly spent many years waving her flag, this is just one tiny aspect that I wish were a little different.
I’m a big fan and I want more access to her work. I just don’t want to have to pay for something twice in the process.
August 22nd, 2009 at 6:08 pm
[...] very distinct step up in quality overall. I realize that not everyone has a membership to her site (as Kurtis touched on previously), but today an article she wrote on BC was printed in the Financial Times and also reposted for [...]