The publishing industry is one of many that have had to face up to the challenges brought about by the Internet revolution over the past decade or so. Of course, the changes in the way that consumers use tech has also meant that massive new opportunities have arisen, but for an industry that has been based on producing physical products for centuries, publishing is facing an existential dilemma.

Managing the transition

Managing the transition to a fully online market is something that other major industries have already been forced to endure. The first to be really hit was the music industry, because MP3s and downloading caught many by surprise, and in the wake of Napster, the major music corporations were playing catch-up for years. Likewise, the movies and TV have been deeply affected, although a move to official streaming outlets was better managed that that of the music industry and now a new model runs parallel to the older ways of delivering visual/audio content. For written content, the challenges are much the same, although some in the publishing industry are guilty of keeping their heads in the sand for too long.

Diversifying into online

While some commentators are asking whether print can survive in the digital world, the experience of movies should prove that, if managed correctly, diversifying into online distribution is perfectly possible for publishers across the board. Some companies are already leading the way by being involved in both printed and online media. A great example of this is an early adopter, New York-based Louise Blouin Media, which has been running online operations since 2005 when it launched artinfo.com, later becoming the internationally successful blouinartinfo.com. You can find out more about Louise Blouin on LinkedIn. Of course, many other publishers have simply waved the white flag and given up on print media altogether in order to make their publications online only, and this includes some major newspaper titles in the US and around the world.

Future outlook

So as more people than ever before use their handheld devices to access information on the go, the idea of carrying a book around or wrestling with a broadsheet newspaper increasingly seems like an anachronism to many. So what will the publishing industry look like in 10-20 years’ time? Will there still be any printed media, or will all written content eventually only be accessible in a digital format? For possible answers, it may be worth looking at the music industry once again. There, sales of vinyl records, a format thought to have been killed off by CDs long before mass-Internet use, have been rising in recent years, against all expectations. This consumer-led development has come about because many people prefer the tactile nature of a physical product. This surely means that a similar effect will happen in publishing, and that printed materials will have a long life ahead of them.