Today we’re excited to announce that we have received funding from Syddansk Teknologisk Innovation (SDTI) a Danish seed fund.
The funding will first and foremost allow us to bring on an additional team member to help us build on our already trending sales. We’re therefore pleased to have Dirch Svenningsen join us as Sales Director. Dirch is an entrepreneur by heart and was a key member in the success of Zmags, tackling many of the sames challenges we have at Magma. He knows the publishing industry and understands the digital space.
Looking forward we are excited about being able to focus even more on improving Magma and providing excellent support for our growing user base.
We’ve come a long way from starting out with an idea in July 2010 to being selected for Startupbootcamp and launching a great product. It has been truly mind blowing watching editorial teams manage all aspects of their business on Magma and we are working hard to live up to that responsibility. Always trying to provide the best possible environment for editors, journalists, ad sales and art directors to work together in creating great publications.
Best regards,
Sebastian Stockmarr & Andrew Dahl
So it’s been Official for a few days now, what we actually have been knowing for quite some Months. Apple went through with their promise of entitling themselves to 30 % of Publishers revenue when using Subscription plans through their Apps. That Publishers, who have embraced Digital publishing haven’t really voiced their concerns about this, is to say the least disturbing. History is surely repeating itself – Hello Music. Everything aside, this is the reality of now. What amazes me is that the majority of Debate, is still generated among Tech websites and Bloggers.
The discussion is about to die along with the number one benefit of going from Print to Digital – decreased distribution cost. Why Publishers are not manning up and showing that Content is King, is uninspiring and beyond my comprehension. In my view it is not what Apple has done that is so disturbing, it’s that Publishers have not been proactive on the Subject, but rather just been lying flat on their backs. Those who are Embracing the Tablet format, seem to be putting themselves six-feet under by not collaborating with their own Industry on the future of distribution. Right now it’s just Apple laying down the law.
Bam, Apple really showed the publishers that they mean buisness. With the annoucement, that 30 % of subscriptionfee’s and 40 % of add revenue are to go into Apple’s pocket, Apple are making a stand for global dominance in online distribution of Magazines.
Will publisher’s bow in grace and submission? I think not - this is the opportunity and time for publisher’s to take control. Apple’s fees make the benefits of going digital obsolete, by latching on to the publishers bread and butter - the Subscribers. Now is the time develop an awesome distribution platform for Publishers by Publishers.
/Magma
Digital publication. When will it be viable? And when is it going to appeal enough, that the publishers will feel confident to commit wholeheartedly to this medium? As it is now every morning I go to check my newsfeeds and blogs, new speculations and predictions have soured throughout the web overnight. It seems that my AM hours are where the format daily gets, praised, torn down, named the messiah and then crucified for not bringing anything to the table, other than headaches for its publishers. It would have been convenient, if the transition from Print to Digital had been somewhat similar to that of my Egg Timer app for my iPhone – obvious and effortless, and in ways superior to it’s real life counterpart.
Alas reality is, that moving forward currently is moving backwards. Publishers, who take the leap and offer digital replicas of their print content, haven’t been given the Milk and Honey trend gurus promised. Magazine sales for tablets haven’t wowed anybody yet. The feeling I sit with when reading news and blogs is that Publishers see Digital Magazines, as expenditure rather than long-term investment. The more I think about it the more it holds true with the current stalemate. Normally being first means being dominant; but as of now there are no apparent benefits for going Digital. Ofcourse then, this makes publishers think twice before abandoning their ship – even though it been known to leak.
I’m sure this transition stalemate wont resolve itself today or tomorrow, but with everything going in one direction, you don’t want to end up on the outside, of the Ipad or my iPhone. Just ask my old eggtimer. More direction and collaboration within the industry is needed. The Trend is real, the Opportunity is real - treat it as such. Enjoy the weekend.
/Magma
Hello to you all out there
My name is Kristian and i am the new guy here at Magma. I just started working here, and love it so far. We are working hard to get Magma launched. I’m here to help Andrew, Sebastian and Morten market their slick software, so all of you out there can be as psyched about it as we are here at the office. Expect more regular action right here on the blog and Twitter. And please don’t hold back on the feedback, it’s much appreciated.
/Kristian
Is there something in the air? Hot on the heels of Rupert Murdoch’s impending The Daily newspaper for the iPad, we’re getting word of a Richard Branson-funded, iPad-specific magazine dubbed Project. The magazine will cover entertainment, travel, business, design, and international culture.
Engadget writes and speculates that this may have something to do with the shift in Apple’s treatment of publications. Look for more when the magazine launch next week.
We just finished up a bunch of new features and we hope you’re going to love them as much as we do! To sum up:
- New text editor - now you can style articles in any way you want, work in full screen and much more. We’re working hard on making it compare different versions of an article too.
- Create more publications - if you manage more than one publication, we’ve got you covered. Simply use the dropdown with your publication name and you have access to all your publications as well as the option to create new ones.
- A helping hand - we’re always working on making Magma as easy to use as possible, BUT if the need ever comes around, we’ve created a help section with all the info needed.
- Minor fixes - and not so minor ones, like being able to log in from iPhone etc.
We’re very excited to let you have a go at them and tell us what you think. And if that doesn’t scratch your itch, you can catch us here www.getsatisfaction.com/magmahq
