http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&v=ZidkQFCkYGk

Good to see more subscriber benefits as well - thank you.

OK, I don't have an ipod or itunes. I don't want to install any podcast reader software stuff. I don't want to have to sign up to any Google mail type stuff. Can't I just download the podcast directly and just drag and drop it on my generic mp3 player like I always have?
I am a subscriber btw.

and a little frustrating, but completely understandable, and it will probably force me back into the fold.

In the months before my subscription lapsed and I went "ad hoc" I'd started to see Word as a Podcast and blog with free magazine anyway, so fair's fair.

Have you got any freebies for new subscribers at the moment (bespoke offers accepted, including that Hazell Dean picture you've got on the wall)?

it was fun whilst it lasted and sincere thanks to all concerned.
I have listened to them all - even had my personal history with the 'casts printed in issue 100 - made my wife cry. Fact is, I can't afford to subscribe. I won't bore you with the sob story but fact despite being nearly 50, middle management blah blah blah I am cash poorer now than I have ever been. As I've only bought the magazine twice this year it seems only fair that those who support the team reap the full rewards. Development Hell is a business after all.
The priority here has to be trying to keep a roof over our heads.

Or so says iTunes when I paste my subscriber ID generated podcast link in...

If I go to it in my browser it says "Feed Code Error", whatever that may be.

wasn't it Deirdre Birchwood not Birchall ?

around 15 years ago and asked him how he pronounced his name. He definitely used a hard "j".

Many people pronounce Robert Moog's name incorrectly, which should rhyme with "vogue".

how you pronounce "Yngwie" "Malmsteen", it's not as if either name is genuine. He made up that spelling to sound like an international rockstar with exotic appeal...ha ha.
If he ever moved back to Sweden he'd have to change the spelling or face a lifetime of sniggering every time he introduced himself...
(There is the mans name Yngve in Sweden, but adding the i makes it sound like a girls name to us...and the extra e in Malmsten is just...silly. I guess you could argue that it suits him very well.)

I was going to subscribe this summer, but when I was looking for the details it said nothing about international subscriptions anymore and the only offer I could read about was some annoying three month deal or something like that.
So I got fed up and returned to reading the blog instead and thought that I would deal with it some other time. Forgot all about it.
I guess I'll have to get around to it one of these days now.
I would miss the podcast. Next thing you know they will only let subscribers post on the blog...(Shut up, don't give them any ideas!)

I've listened to every last podcast. On one rather tough posting in a remote part of Cameroon I'd listen to them several times (not much else to do) after waiting hours for them to download.

I now live in Hanoi. It's too humid to exercise (we rush between airconned bubbles on motorbikes) meaning that we just pile on pounds and get less and less fit. To try and beat this I try to pedal an exercise bike on a roof for half an hour every night after work. The Word podcast alongside the Kermode/Mayo podcast and the Guardian football cast keep me entertained and pedalling.

There is no possibility of getting the magazine here on a subscription. I have enquired before about getting it on Kindle but I've been told that it is not a priority.

I normally get back to the UK twice a year and I buy the magazine each time - normally coming back to Hanoi with a couple of month's worth of editions.

I know that getting people to subscribe to a magazine is the publishing Holy Grail but I physically can't. I've always been a major magazine reader but never subscribed. Put the magazine on Kindle and tell me where I send the money and I'm there and then I can enjoy the podcast and the magazine too.

Right now I can't help but feel annoyed. Yes, you'll get more people to subscribe but in the end the readership/listenership will drop. The quality of the podcast is what made the magazine unique now it's just a bolt on extra if you subscribe.

I feel like I'm losing a friend.

Bollocks.

I am a free man!

Done everything as instructed and lo... it's downloading ALL the podcasts, included the ones I already have. Bloody internet.

- why - this seems to have not been properly thought through and tested - first the link to subscribe doesn't work, altho that's now fixed, then this!

speaking as a subscriber, to be honest can't see the podcast attracting many new subscribers to the mag - not that it's not an enjoyable if irregular listen, but if you've not bothered subscribing before for whatever reason don't think it will swing the balance.

incidentally the next batch of tesco clubcard reward vouchers will be issued at the end of the month, and they have a very good deal for anyone who is thinking of subscribing - about £20 in vouchers for a year's sub.

finally, at the risk of reopening an old debate, if you want to save money why not ditch the cover cd - or make it for subscribers only - does it really attract casual purchasers to buy the mag from a newsagent?

My bank account is in France, but I am currently back in the UK. For some reason I can't get this subscription offer section to accept that quirk and accept my order. I had a similar problem earlier in the year when I arrived back in Blighty and tried to sort out the continuation of my recently lapsed subscription, I ended up not bothering and just picking the magazine up at the local newsagent.
So if someone out there would be kind enough to "gift" me a subscription to my UK address then I will reimburse immediately - or in advance - via Paypal...

... over to you, kind folk...

EDIT: *sorted* - thanks for your help, you you.

I've got my link and subscribed to the podcast again.

By the way is there any reason why the Word Podcast doesn't come with artwork on iTunes? (Well it doesn't for me anyway). Just a minor point but all my other podcasts do and I hate the default iTunes artwork!

I have often commented on the great value The Word provides overall. I probably like the podcasts as much as the magazine and this ere blog is a lovely bit of icing. I simply can't see the point of the move - following on from only those with an iPhone being able to get it a day early. I have an iPhone and am a subscriber so won't miss out but I do think it's a somewhat capricious and contrary step to take. Surely, the podcast gets Wordism out to a wider audience so limiting it to those already in the faith feels retrograde.

I'm sure you have made efforts to get the Podcast sponsored but perhaps you need to redouble your efforts in that area if it's a question of increasing your revenues. I recognize that Apple don't share much in the way of audience information but there must be a suitable client out there willing to cough a few quid for an embedded relationship with a select target market. However, the fact that no such client has been found may indicate that the podcast, in and of itself, is not a sufficient incentive to draw people into the brand.

As I said, it won't affect me and I'll continue to tune in for all the wonderful old bollocks talked but it just feels a little like the boy who suddenly has picked up the football and trotted home, leaving his friends more than a little miffed

i think i'm going to subscribe (give it a dark midweek night in the near future when i'm fretting about poverty and middle age) ... so all's well etc ... however The Word, as with lots of other service providers, gives discount on discount for direct debit people (ie subscribing is cheaper than newsstand price but direct debit subs are cheaper than annual payment subs) ... i can understand why this happens, but it's an absolute bugger for the person with a low, freelance income

mortgage, council tax, life insurance payments and one credit card payment already disappear from my account on set dates every month which means i have to organise my resources around those dates ... i could get elec & gas a whack cheaper if i agreed to direct debit with Ovo for example (it doesn't do quarterly bills, it says, and the only payment it will take is direct debit) ... but the more direct debits i set up, and given the realities of a freelance income - you never know when you're going to be paid - then the more likely it is that a direct debt will breach my overdraft limit sooner or later, get bounced, incur charges, create problems and so on ...

this problem is fixed as soon as an income becomes regular and reasonable (as yer single-no-kids-bloke if i was in an average-ish wage job and taking home £1,500 a month then i'd laugh in the face of direct debit, ho ho)

but at the moment, every time i see *Cheaper If You Pay By Direct Debit* my shoulders sag a bit; another example of why some things get proportionately more expensive the poorer you get ... and no, I don't expect Development Hell to organise itself around my circumstances which are rare in relation to people with regular salaries or freelancers with higher incomes or whatever - i just need to work harder ;-)

...if we have the app, will we continue to get the full versions of new podcasts or the short versions?

...and thanks for the response

and I may have mentioned this before, is that I quite like my local newsagent. He works tiringly long hours and deserves whatever little markup he gets from my regular order for the magazine. Furthermore, he's more reliable than the post round here, and if I ever find myself a bit strapped for cash I can easily pop in and ask him to cancel the next issue.

I'm not saying I won't cave in in the future and get the direct subscription (with the associated guilt), but at the moment it suits me to buy the magazine on an issue-by-issue basis.

that I have caved, and I have subscribed. For the first time. This morning. It's bastard expensive (£80) to Australia but I understand both sides of the argument and reckon, as DH asserts, it's still great value if you will insist on consuming all forms of the Word-produced media.

So as long as I get my free CD, the mag reasonably-ish-on-time and the podcasts continue, you'll hear no more gurning from me.

It's always a tough sell, but I appreciate the honesty in the explanatory post and think this has been handled just about as well as could possibly be expected.

I don't subscribe to any publications at present. I haven't since I was a teenager - I enjoy that "oh - the new Word's out" moment at the newsstand and prefer it to the sound of glossy paper hitting doormat.

All of that said, I will be subscribing forthwith. You guys provide a fantastic product and, crucially, you've never said or done anything to make me distrust you (apart from maybe the Dido cover). Subscription isn't my preference but if you're telling me it's that or the podcast becomes unsustainable then subscription it shall be.

Just subscribed from Ireland.

With the offer, I'm getting all the Word 'content' for about five euros 60 cent a month.

That's up to two euros cheaper a month than it would be if I bought the mag in a shop here.

I think it was Fraser who made the argument of what you get for your Word dosh every month.

It is really good value. I love the mag, love the CD, the podcast and this site. All that every day for a month for little more than the price of one pint of Guinness and a bag of crisps in certain Dublin pubs!

Cheers and good luck.

Times is hard and I can understand people would like to continue to get something for free (we run out of money in about a week, with 2 weeks of the month to go). But if we assume each podcast costs £100 to make (mostly time) then Development Hell has forked out £20 grand to date. And would like us to subscribe in return. I only really listen to 3 podcasts (Work, Kermode/Mayo and IOT) and pay a license fee for 2 so I can hardly object to subscribing for the third. I stopped subscribing for a year because of money troubles, but resubscribed as soon as I could afford it (at Latitude, which was our holiday this year). I recognise you guys have got to make a living. Hope it works out.

She renews my subscription every year as a Christmas present. Do I have to ask her to search through her emails for a sub number? (I haven't listened to all the podcast yet so apologies if you've explained another way around this.)

Got my podcast link.
Pasted it into my 'Go to this page' box.
Indecipherable load of computer bollox appears

Our people are working on this as fast as they can. And you're not missing anything as yet.

Meanwhile, Fraser is going to bed in New Zealand where *nobody* stays up after midnight.

I receive my Word subscription as a Christmas gift each year. It's more than worth the price of a big Toblerone and pair of socks.

I tried the subscriber number I have (WOR 16xxx) that was in the last email I have and the nice letter from Mr Ellen that I received when I last renewed, but it told me I didn't exist (last time I checked I was still here).

Is there a different number I should be looking for ? I see there is also a WebID on the renewal note (RAD1xxxx) but that doesn't work either.

I know the instructions say its the number on the packaging, but its going to be a few weeks before I can check that when the new issue arrives (overseas subscriber). I know I could call subscription services. but I not that fussed.... will I miss anything ?

That's why I've just renewed my subscription. I love the Word and I'm happy to pay to see it continue and for its makers to have something to show for their sterling work.

just arrived in the post, and it took me a matter of 2-3 minutes to look up the info and register on iTunes. Dead simple.

It's sad that this has had to happen, but I understand the reasoning - virtually any decision with financial undertones can be understood at the moment.

I personally think a better idea would have been to make the odd one available in full, but some of the more special guest-orientated ones (especially those who drum up a performance) made available through the dedicated subscriber's feed.

That way you're at least keeping others interested enough, and not giving them the feeling you are turning your back on them.

...the really important matter of how to pronounce yer favourite artists:

Krautrock legends Amon Düül are NOT pronounced "Eamon Dull" (wasn't that the drummer in Horslips?),
but "Ah-mon D(üüüü)-le". The umlaut (ü) is pronounced like the French word "sur", but looong.

Hope this helps.

I assume from a quick trawl on iTunes that it's no longer available?

Lordy, Lordy !!
Just copied and pasted my podcast link into itunes and lo and behold the latest podcast started to download.
I have the iphone app and I believe that I will still receive the 'casts in the normal way?
When will you upgrade the app so that it looks better on my ipad?

I have my URL etc but only download via my iPhone at present due to a broken laptop. Lack of funds means for the foreseeable this is my only option. How do I make this work if I only download through iPhone iTunes ?
Thanks

Works perfectly in Google Reader, and I even get a proper file name for once. Why don't you do a no-hard-copy, email e-dition only subscription for the expats and others?

Just copied, pasted and all that malarky - and there are some very old (but new to me) podcasts for me to listen to now.

I thought the "one-two-cast" was the first, but nope there were another 17 before that!

Phew, glad I'm a subscriber...

Getting home from a particularly unreasonable day at work to see a magazine on the worktop in the kitchen. The double whammy of firing up the podcast thing and having a shufty at the Noel cover actually gave me a tiny lift. Shame it was Mac Format magazine then. Which costs more and is less good than Word and doesn't come with added pod, music, cake and friends.

Fingers crossed for tomorrow then.

I would like to say how much I enjoyed Mark and David speaking so affectionately and fondly about their old friend Tom Hibbert. Touching without being maudlin, funny and irreverant - nicely done, gentlemen, nicely done.
I can't think of a better way to say goodbye to the podcast, at least for a while. I live in the US, and unfortunately can't justify the cost of a subscription. I am, however, hoping that I can land one as a Christmas present from the aged P's. Which would be nice...

I hear what the mandarins say. Quite understand. Makes sound economic sense (or appears to), dictates of market, added value, rewarding subscribers, etc etc.

It's still a totally shit decision.

The Word podcast is something I have only recently discovered (just before you shut down access to the archive, you rascals) and for me it's become as essential as the BBC iPlayer. I don't know why but I consider it as part of a truly Reithian tradition of broadcasting, in spite of its tech-savvy "podcast" nature. It's a bunch of Brits (mainly) talking about music in an informed and funny way. Lovely stuff. I live on the Thai/Lao border, a long way from just about anywhere, and it's one of the few contacts I have with what I like to think of as the best of the U.K. (through an internet cable hung over a palm tree, in fact). And now you're telling me I have to subscribe to your magazine to hear it? This is like iPlayer telling me I have to subscribe to Radio Times.

The podcast is a fantastic way to spread The Word around the world - the best advertising possible, and a terrific piece of sheer good will that makes everyone who hears it a potential subscriber. You're chucking all that away, and disenfranchising a massive (no pun intended) fan base.

Nutbags.

"Potential subscribers aren't much good to us"? Did I read that right? What an astonishing thing to say. Since when were potential customers in any marketplace "not much good"? Turning potential customers into actual customers is business as usual, all over the world - but not at The Word, apparently. Potential subscribers "not much good" there. How do you "grow a market" without potential consumers? Do you think that newsstand buyers are going to see the podcast as a dealbreaker and sign up because of that? How many? Balanced against the audience you reach with the podcast?

What you might have done is given the iPod app away free to subscribers, allowing them privileged access. That has a real added value - "an iPod app? Cool!" and kept the current podcasts open to the world. Your podcast is a marketing tool - and a brilliant one - and should be seen as part of your marketing strategy, not as a subs reward. That you can't see it that way is everybody's loss.

It was a podcast that made me smile and the enthusiasm and joie de vivre of Ellen, Hepworth and pals was very uplifting on my early morning runs. But I live in a remote spot overseas, so subscribing isn't an option, even if I wanted to.

As for wanting to, I'm afraid I tired of music magazines sometime in the late 90s: with a family and a business to look after, the utterances and opinions of rock gods Dave Gonad and the Spermatozoa seemed thoroughly dispensable and a waste of my precious time, and I never acquired the taste again, though I'm a devout music fan. I'm slightly ashamed to say that I've never in my life read The Word, and I'm unlikely to do so. So, after about four years of thoroughly enjoyable free podcasts, I can readily understand it if you want to cut me and my freeloading ilk adrift.

Good luck and thanks for the memories

I've been a subscriber for years, and expect to remain one permanently. But if I wasn't, I would definitely choose to become one now to ensure uninterrupted podcast delivery.

Hell, I bought the Word iPhone app more as a gesture of support than in any expectation of actually streaming the podcast, which I have yet to do. I already have all the old podcasts in iTunes, so I didn't need it for that, either. But I thought it was a financial way of saying a small "thank you" for the joy the podcast brings me each week.

'Until the end of the year' or 'for the rest of the year', surely? Don't mind me, I'm one of those subscribers who doesn't need to do anything, but I was starting to feel left out.

...I'm a subscriber, so it doesn't matter one way or another...just as long as I don't have to install iTunes or get an iPhone.

Can I try giving a bit of advice to help those folks in far flung corners of the earth who either can't or won't subscribe?

Set up a PayPal account.
Instead of having the free 15 min. version on the blog...put a link to download a password protected zip file containing the full podcast.
Charge folks 50p (to be paid by Paypal) to get the zip file password sent to them by email.
Set up another link with the pdf version (password protected) of the magazine.

This time next year, you'll all be millionaires!

But the secondary market starts here. £1 a podcast, direct email from my cousin in St Petersburg who runs a cool website called AllYourCreditCardsAreBelongToUs.ru. Not a word to Fraser/Hepworth/Ellen etc. You know it makes sense...

at your next mingle

"Ere you are ladies, memory sticks with all yer podcasts, including the ones they couldn't broadcast cos they were a little bit tasty, y'know..."

Having finally managed to get the URL rather than a message that the subscription server wasn't available, I pasted it into the HTC Desire default browser but didn't get the options given in the instructions. Instead I'm getting the podcast descriptions from the homepage.
I then tried pasting it into Google Listen search but that just returned details of podcasts in general.

Finally I tried pasting the url using the 'add subscription' option but that crashes it.

Has anybody managed to get it to work and if so, how?

Thanks.

Meanwhile I'd better do some work.

Advertising.

Whilst remaining true to the original vision, I'm sure that there are plenty of advertisers for such esoteric products as cars and drinks who would be happy to give Development Hell good coin for advertising space in the mag. Worthy though it is to have Fliggletrumpet Records letting us know that Wiggly Cliff and the Jugrattlers have a new release of outtakes and B-sides out, I sure Honda would pay a bit more.

I understand, reluctantly, why you had to do this. But a bit more notice, say a month, would have been handy. As a former subscriber who's loyal to his local stuggling newsagent I'm very sad that I'll no longer be buying it from him. But now I need to rush around like a banshee to sort out a subscription pronto (i guess everyone else is too as the website has been down all morning) when a few extra weeks notice would have made the transition a touch less painful.

I see a number of references above to sub rivers getting access to the e version, is this correct, I haven't seen any link for it?

For the record: 
- I haven't missed a copy of the Word since Elvis Costello Issue 2.  Every month.  
- I do like the podcasts, I don't listen to them all religiously but they're great. 
- The Word is the only magazine that has made me meet a bunch of people I've never met before in a pub. 

There seems to be an interesting emotional response from The Word diaspora - for people outside the UK, subscriptions are a more expensive commitment without the benefit of freebies or early arrival. Indeed, there seems to be many tales of long waits for sub issues to arrive overseas.

As avid DrJ fans will know, I relocated from London to rural Ireland earlier this year.  On my to do list when I moved was "find a newsagent that sells The Word" and I did.  It had become part of my routine, I enjoy picking the magazine up in a newsagents at the latest it's a day behind the London newsstands, which is great.  I also like supporting the local newsagent and, for reasons I can't really explain, I just like getting the magazine from a shop.

I was a subscriber for a year in London but went back to newsstand purchasing after moving house too many times.  And last month I thought I'd bite the bullet again but decided not to when it became apparent that Irish subs wouldn't get the Nick Lowe record.

So I guess I'm right in the sights of Development Hell's subscription gun. 

I have to assume that Development Hell know what they're doing.  It's curious that this is such a long thread, that there is so much buy-in from the Word massive. The podcast is more valuable to me than the covermount CD.  I can understand why an independent company like DH would look at this devotion and feel the need to turn it into revenue. It must be galling to have to justify doing that while trying to avoid triggering the dull wails of the spoilt consumer.    Will I subscribe to get the podcasts?  I don't know, if anything I feel I will subscribe because, reading through the lines, I want the magazine to survive. I guess that has to be the most important motivator of all. 

Our subscriber's edition of Word arrived yesterday. Mr Drakeygirl was reading it, he's put it down somewhere, and now I can't find it. A stern inquisition from me has only elicited the response: "I don't bloody know where it is."
What the HELL is Development Hell going to do about THAT then?

Best post on the thread award.
^^^^^ (Just up there)

There seems to be a large number of people on this thread who, for various reasons, seem willing to listen to the podcast, but are unable to subscribe to the magazine (mainly geographic ones). Perhaps the answer to this is to have a seperate subscription offer that only allows you access to the podcast. So, you pay your £10 (say), and you're issued with a subscriber number. That allows you to get through all the iTunes hoops, bells and whistles and listen the full fat version of Messrs Hepworth, Ellen and co every week, but without the postman being inconvenienced by a magazine each month.

There's lots of evidence here to suggest people would pay something to listen, but the choice seems to be all or nothing.

I'm pleased to see that there's very little in the way of views that you should be producing this stuff for the hell of it with no recompense, and this would be a sensible and hopefully easy way to keep everyone happy.

Out of pure interest, how long do you think it will be before bootleg copies of the new podcasts will be available at your file sharing site of choice?

Obviously I'm sure none of us would condone such awful behaviour, but we live in a world full of sin...

It strikes me that Word's "learned friend" is going to have some difficulty in persuading a judge that a podcast presented by two self-confessed bootleg owners (one of whom even presented a program on Radio 4 on the subject of bootlegging) are not perhaps pushing it a tad, should the miscreant be (rightfully) brought to the highest court of the land.

Is it not time for bullets to be bitten and a Zinio edition produced, thus providing overseas subscribers with a nailed-on service?

I think the decision to make the podcast available only to subscribers is completely sensible and understandable.

Since you can (if you are in the UK and not in East Timor or wherever so many of the massive appear to reside) easily wander into WH Smith's and pick up the magazine on an issue by issue basis, there has to be a good incentive to subscribe, something extra that the casuals don't get. The "free" Nick Lowe record is nice, but that's only a one-off, and the cost savings really aren't huge enough to sway the type of consumer that buys The Word. The convenience of home delivery obviously isn't enough either.
So making the podcast a subscriber-only extra is an excellent (the only?) way to add value to a subscription without adding overhead.

We all want the mag to continue and flourish, so we just have to stop complaining and get on with it.

The only person who should really be regretting this decision is Fraser, who has had to shoulder the burden of explaining how to add the new style podcast over and over, while suffering the moaners whinging at him.

...I'm on the cusp of exchanging the erratic feast-or-famine existence of a temp for a permanent job, just like a real grown-up. At last I can have things like direct debits.

Sure, I'll miss Jimmy the shoe-shine boy, along with all the other broads, hatchet men, shills, rubes and molls who frequent the 1930s Gotham news stand where I currently purchase The WORD.

This year is all about settling down. A proper job & a magazine subscription; are these not the trappings of adulthood? No more standing half-naked in the garden at 6am eating a slice of chocolate cake the size of a baby's head for breakfast. I am a man now, Mother: kindly refrain from showing everyone those slides of me naked in the bath when I was two. I will read the subscriber's edition of The Word. I will listen to the podcast and I will wear socks with a diamond pattern on them to reflect my maturity.

Just reflecting on how different things were in the dark days before computers. When you bought something like, say, Melody Maker or perhaps a monthly like Jazz Journal you just got the physical product. If you subscribed you just got it slightly cheaper. Pretty much that was it. You might have got a 'free' LP.

Fast forward to 2011 and a blog or forum is more or less expected as standard when you subscribe to a specialist magazine, free of charge. A podcast, not to mention an excellent one, seems to me a definite extra. Any sense of the values of the publication or sense of community can be readily gained from the blog/forum.

Crazy idea. Just keep on giving it for free for any old Tom, Dick or Harry who may or may not ever buy the magazine which is the only source of revenue for those who provide all this lovely stuff. Outrageous!

So I type in ABCD1234 and then go to i tunes whatever that is - God it's so hard.

Just did the iTunes thing and i'm in.

It's a quality podcast and a valued enhancement to the Word experience. A good business move that should turn waverers into subscribers and expand the Massive (and your income).

Of course, you'll need to hire a bigger boat next time...

Get Danny Baker in to do a 30 minute monologue intro and then have the following on a panel debate chaired by Mark Ellen in front of a subscriber audience:

Chrissy Hynde
Van Morrison
Morrissey
Stewart Lee
Andrew Collins

Now that I would pay to listen to and attend if invited!

Caved this evening so have signed up to a year's service. Looking forward to the first mag hitting the mat and the first podcast hitting my iPhone.

Brought together from the four corners of the web. Okay from the Guardian, Hepworth's blog and a little bit of Googling.

My take on these. David really likes podcasts. David really thinks advertisers should love them too but David doesn't actually know how many people subscribe to the current podcast.

Why would advertisers be interested if no such figures are available?

My thoughts - David really doesn't want to change the free podcast status quo but if staff can't sell it to advertisers then this'll teach them. There, how'd you like that? We've only gone and halved our listeners and pissed off occasional readers in one go. Well you should have sold the ads when you have the chance, shouldn't you? etc etc

Doesn't seem like a decision that's been taken with either head or heart.

Anyway... those thoughts:

“Podcasts can't be promoted the way conventional media is promoted. It's little use pointing people towards the contents of special editions of them. You want the lot or none at all. You don't dip in and out. Adding a new podcast to your repertoire is like deciding to have a new friend. It's a commitment. As with friends, you don't expect them to be sensational or surprising. You'd find them a bit tiring if they were. You want them to be dependable. You want them to be there.”

***

“Podcasts are punk rock.”

***

“...most advertisers don't see how they can get value out of podcasts. ...they're afraid of being alongside anything the listeners have a powerful affection for. I'm determined to challenge that with the Word podcast. I can think of quite a few advertisers who ought to be able to see a benefit in having their product associated with the idea of private time.”

***

“Reader events, websites, podcasts, commercial initiatives, newsletters and other extensions not yet guessed at: these are part of the editor's job in the future and it will not be acceptable to do any of them grudgingly.”

***

“The future lies in letting loose the very thing they have spent a large part of the past 20 years trying to suppress - the individual voices of their writers - and recognising that all that the web provides is a platform upon which to compete for the key commodities: attention and trust.”

***

“The word we're starting to hear a lot is "engagement". In future monthly magazines will have to work harder than ever to engage their readers and advertisers in other kinds of interaction (particularly via the web) and here they're going to have to do more than most of them have done in the past. Resources will come out of traditional editorial and go into other ways of reaching readers. The web is a hard school when it comes to sorting out what works from what doesn't and publishers should have learned by now that you get out what you put in.”

***

“I don't know accurately how many people download the Word podcast. I suspect that if you could get numbers they would be a bit like telling people how much you earn - half of them would think it was too much, the other half would think it wasn't enough. I do suspect one thing: that a huge proportion of them listen to all of each podcast very closely, which is not something that applies to most "media products".”

***

“Everybody in advertising knows that communication depends less on reach than it does on *engagement* but in practice they can make more money and impress more clients by doing things the same old way. I think podcasts offer more engagement than anything else in the media landscape. They turn chore time - jogging, commuting, walking the dog - into time people look forward to. It's staggering to me that advertisers haven't gathered that yet.”

***

“In the very near future, I think the decision to purchase a monthly magazine will be taken online and we will use our web operation to get people closer to it – to turn the three-issues-a-year buyer into a seven-issues-a-year buyer and turn our seven-issues-a-year buyer into a subscriber,”

Woke up dis mornin
Fired up the PC
Found something that I liked so much
Damn - now it aint free.

So I went out and shot a few people.

based on the thoughts of Chairman David, as set out by ourmanwhere and expressed here on the blog and elsewhere, I'd put a few quid on The Word being a subscription-only combined podcast, blog and on-line only mag within five years. Which would be a pity.

I am a subscriber and an avid podcast listener, a while ago I let my subscription lapse due to many things but one was a feeling of inconsistency in the writing in the magazine. But when I had a surfeit of Tesco vouchers I renewed the subscription and found on the whole the writing had returned to the high standards I had been used to in the beginning, although on occasions there will be an article I don't enjoy but that's all part of trying to write a magazine to account for such a wide variance of tastes.

My thoughts though are more on the podcast debate and whether now people are activating their subscriber numbers in itunes or whichever service they download from, once the subscription lapses or is not renewed for whatever reason will their access to the podcast be cut off. Higher up this thread we are told we only need to activate the account once with our subscriber generated number so once in the new area there presumably isn't any facility to deactivate a persons podcast subscription if they do not renew their magazine subscription.

Just thought I would mention it!!

Just been listening to Trevor Dann's Radio Academy podcast, which appears to be sponsored by various radio software companies. It made me wonder who might sponsor the Word podcast, eg :

Blue shirt retailers ( for Mark )
Cold cure pharmaceuticals ( for David )
Cornwall Tourist Board ( for Kate )
Air New Zealand ( for Fraser )

Any other suggestions?

The inner sanctum , Development Hell Ltd, Islington, London N1.

The director is sitting in a sumptuous leather swivel chair, his feet lolling on a Moroccan pouffe, absent-mindedly stroking an Abyssinian cat of impressive lineage. A full width window affords a panoramic view out over the London rooftops. Frank Zappa's Hot Rats plays softly on an unfeasibly expensive sound system while a 70 inch TV screen tuned to the Sky Business channel flickers silently on the wall. A knock is heard on the door.

Come!

You wanted to see me Mr. Hepworth?

Ah Lewry it’s you. Enter, but remain standing. How’s the new software I ordered coming along?

You mean the experimental computer code I’m writing which will enable you to identify the IP address of anyone who clicks the up arrows on the Blog?

Yes, that’s the one. I need to know which of those treacherous bastards are upping the filthy dissidents who are opposing my new plan to make the podcasts available to proles only.

Er, don’t you mean subscribers sir?

(He waves his hand dismissively) Same thing Lewry, same thing.

Well, it’s almost finished Mr. H but I must warn you, it's still in the experimental stage and there may be some teething problems. Planting this self-destruct cookie in their computers could have serious legal, if not life-threatening, implications. It could be Smash Hits all over again.

(He thumps the expensive French Walnut desk, a birthday gift from his golfing partner Mohamed Al-Fayed, causing the cat to open its eyes momentarily) That's enough! Collateral damage is inevitable in these situations - and anyway Neil Tennant was already starting to lose his hair in 1981 when we began Operation Mullet. Nothing could be proved at the tribunal and it was eventually laughed out of court. (He eyes Fraser suspiciously) Tell me, you're not having second thoughts about this are you?

Er, no sir. I just thought....

(Screaming now) You're not paid to think, man! I pay you carry out my fiendish plans to the letter. Do you understand? Perhaps if you didn't swan off to quite so many of those damn football matches with your pals from the slums you'd be able to concentrate on the important jobs I give you to do!

Well sir, I did as you asked regarding the, er, (sotto voce) 'cakes'

Ah yes the cakes. If I say so myself, that was a brilliant ruse of mine getting you to rub shoulders with those fools at their, how do you say, pringles?

Er, that's "mingles" sir.

(He makes the dismissive hand gesture again) Whatever. You did very well there Lewry. You lulled those dupes into a false sense of security and came back with some valuable information. Tell me, how is the Iris recognition code coming along? I'm convinced that automated biometric identification is the way of the future.

It's almost complete sir, Captain Underpants and Bob are strapped into the machine as we speak.

Excellent. Now, I want this thing wrapped up by the weekend, so get a wriggle on. The sooner these fools realise that resistance is useless, the quicker we can move onto phase two of my plan, the paperless magazine. Oh, and send Harrison in on your way out, will you? I need to speak to him about these ludicrous business expense slips of his. King's Road hairdressers indeed! He's fooling no one there.

such a good marketing tool and such a fantastic way of getting out the word about The Word as some suggest, then everybody would have subscriptions already* and we wouldn't be arguing.

*(Apart from those overseas or with an attachment to the local newsagent).

Even as somebody who does make use of all kinds of free bits and pieces from the web, it still makes no sense to me that businesses would give out something for nothing unless they thought they'd get something back further down the line. Maybe this is the only way in which The Word can do that and if so, fair play to them. They're a business not a charity.

This outrage that Ellen & Hepworth are the digital equivalents of heroin dealers, dishing it out for free until you're addicted and then pouncing andmaking you pay fortunes all seems a bit over the top really.

I do reserve the right to change my opinion if, because I'm technically inept, I bugger up getting future podcasts. It might well be my fault, but somebody else must be to blame.

I'm not seeing any outrage just disappointment.

And you're right - anyone who can subscribe most likely will subscribe but that still leaves a lot of people who can't.

Beyond that I think there are people who have more than a hunch that this isn't the way to do it. From what he is written in the past I think Mr Hepworth might just be one of them.

In the end though just because they've failed to monetise the podcast in anyway way - doesn't mean that this way will succeed.

As for your first line - we're arguing because we like the podcast and the magazine and we'd love to have both and we're universally happy to pay for them if we can have access to them. But the magazine for whatever reason can't make that happen.

I still maintain The Word magazine is a success and that the podcast has been a large part of that. Without it I'm not sure any of us would care quite so much.

that this isn't the way to do it"

Hunches are fine when its not your money and business.

A decision has been made, it may be unmade in a few months if it fails to get the results wanted. Yet the patronising, head shaking "oh, don't you people realise what's right" tone of much of the advice leaves a nastier taste in the mouth than any made by this decision.

Naysay away but treat those who made that decision with a little intelligence and business sense.

I'm a subscriber who doesn't listen to the podcast as there just aren't enough hours in the week (burn him! burn him!).

I'm sure I shouldn't give my subscriber number away as that would be breaking the terms of a contract and stuff (probably), but if anyone wanted it and could work out how to contact me (!), I'd be perfectly happy to email you a combination of letters and numbers and make it look like a Nigerian 419 scam email so you could hide it from Frazer et al if ever they raided your gaff or hacked your computer...

I would also have thought that there were other subscribers in the same position as me who would also be willing to help our colleagues: no?

PS. First-come, first-served with ref. to my number.

Slightly surprised at some of the reaction.

While I've a ton of sympathy for those stationed abroad who have experienced problems with subscription, I'm not sure I really follow the logic in telling the Word staff how to run their business. It feels a bit like arguing with the ref after a decision has been made.

I've seen a lot of decent magazines come and go in the last two decades. I love The Word and I hope it runs for many more years and continues to entertain us. From that perspective, I'm inclined to take the view that if the team are telling us this needs to be done then fair enough. It's not like they're a bunch of shysters with a record of screwing the customer - they just gave us all something for free (and thanks for that) and now they need it to pay its way. I don't really get the level of suspicion being voiced by some of the above.

Likewise, it seems slightly extraordinary to tell a group of people who actually work in the magazine publishing industry and presumably have access to all the relevant facts and figures how to market and sell their product. Maybe that's because I've never worked in publishing, but my inclination, again, is to tip my hat to a group of people who have managed to keep a high quality monthly on the stands for nearly a decade while remaining relatively independent - no mean feat by any means.

Sorry if all this sounds overly obsequious, but I can't think of many other businesses which would have been as up front as David and Fraser have been here, and as willing to answer questions and face down criticism. That buys them even more goodwill in my book. I suppose I'm suggesting it should buy them a little goodwill from us all.

As I said earlier in the thread, I don't have a particular desire to subscribe but I will now do so - The Word has given me heaps in terms of introducing me to new music, making me laugh and introducing me to other, like minded individuals. If this is what they now need in return in order to keep it all going in what is becoming a more challenging economy by the day then fair play, it doesn't feel like a huge ask.

OOA of course A

I get why people are disappointed that the podcast is not available for free any more. But I also get why a business, in a market place which has economic and sector challenges, would look to make the subscription package more enticing.

It's pretty obvious that a subscriber is the very best customer a magazine can have - no waste, forecast revenue, better margins and all that stuff. All customers are important but turning the ones who buy through retailers or those that buy some but not all into subscribers just seems bloody sensible to me.