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There is nothing more associated with online content than free. And free content is growing exponentially. Users on sites like Facebook, Twitter and YouTube produce mountains of it daily. Professional content creators like journalists, bloggers and entertainers produce mountains more. The stream of free online content seems endless. So it may seem strange that anyone would suggest readers would pay for online content, yet that is exactly what Brad Greenwald believes.
Greenwald is the founder and CEO of Tidbitts, a paid content distribution platform that just launched today. Tidbitts allows content creators to distribute their work to readers for a 99 cents per month subscription fee on the Tidbitts app and website. Content subjects are broad, including cooking, parenting advice, fitness, and college admissions. True to its name Tidbitts content tends to be shorter, around 60 seconds and designed for busy people. But with so much free content available, will busy people pay?
“If you value someone’s voice and its not available elsewhere on the Internet then you’re going to pay for it,” said Greenwald. Tidbitts content is usually exclusive to the platform and the company sites a study that says 29 percent of respondents said they would pay 99 cents per month for content made by someone they care about.
Greenwald is quick to point out there is precedent for this model too. In 2013 Andrew Sullivan, a former editor at the New Republic and prominent blogger at the Daily Beast, launched his own stand-alone site called The Dish. Initially, readers were asked to donate to the new venture, but eventually Sullivan implemented a $1.99 per month or $19.99 per year subscription service. By the end of 2013, they had $851,000 in revenue, nearly 34,000 subscribers and ten employees.
Sullivan has a distinct voice that people will pay to listen to. Greenwald believes there are other such people. Tibitts is launching with over 100 content creators including several with existing followings like former Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Jeff Blake and CNN health contributor Mark Macdonald.
“Media marketplaces evolve to meet the needs of consumers. Consumers have shown a willingness to pay for higher quality content from content providers they care about," said Greenwald. "Just as Sirius XM radio complemented free radio, and cable TV complemented free TV, the TidBitts platform will complement free Internet content.“
After years of free content and the noise that comes with anyone being able to publish online paid content's time may have come. “Initially it was so easy to produce content, buy a server and put it up on a website,” said Greenwald. But, “you can’t make money on digital advertising; it's tough.”
“You just can’t afford to put out quality content over time and not get paid for it.”
