British Journal of Photography has a new owner
The publisher of British Journal of Photography has successfully led a management buyout of the 159-year-old magazine and has subsequently completed a first-round of investment to form Apptitude Media, a new start-up
Author: Olivier Laurent
05 Feb 2013 Tags: Bjp
Apptitude Media is new digital media company that combines old-world publishing expertise with a proven talent for publishing to tablets and smartphones. And it promises to help re-invent the magazine, says founder and CEO Marc Hartog, who successfully led British Journal of Photography's management buy-out.
"We are at the very beginning of a publishing revolution," says Hartog. "Magazines have been around for nearly 300 years, and they will be around for the next three centuries in one way or another, but what form they will take is being shaped right now."
Apptitude Media comprises the team behind BJP, the award-winning magazine that transformed its fortunes with the introduction of a custom-made app for the iPad. Since launching the app in September 2010, BJP has more than doubled its paying subscriber base, and the app has been downloaded more than 200,000 times.
"Behind the scenes, we're celebrating this chance to gather all our ideas together and run with them, focusing on what we do well, and heading in new directions as an independent company, free to pursue the opportunities we see in digital publishing," says Apptitude Media's editorial director and BJP's editor, Simon Bainbridge. "But outwardly, you shouldn't see any immediate changes to British Journal of Photography; it's very much business as usual until we get some time to tweak the look of the printed magazine and app. We'll also be considering what we do online, increasing the frequency of our iPad edition, and putting some attention into what we do for the iPhone."
Apptitude Media also publishes the UK iPad edition of Popular Science, one of the most widely read publications in the world; it has also partnered with cutting-edge fashion and lifestyle magazine, 125, to bring it to the iPad for the first time. Publication of all three brands will continue uninterrupted.
Harnessing the team's expertise and experience, Apptitude Media promises to help publishers transform their print magazines and bring them to life on tablets and smartphones. For more details about Apptitude Media, visit www.apptitudemedia.co.uk.
Comments
With this new operating capital, I hope that the new management team consider writing an application for us Android and Surface users too. We don't all use iPads :-)
As another non-user of Apple equipment I think it is worth exploring e-book formats that can be read on Kindles and Kindles for PC which are a free download.
For me it has been stimulating and rich decades with BJP, both in print and online. I have happily paid your ridiculous pricing on (continental) newsstands and was rewarded with the best images and the most profound viewpoints in our photographic trade.
Since I have no intention of ever moving into and living inside the tight walls of that lunatic Appsylum, it seems we will soon have to part.
Thus, good bye BJP!
Your once true spirit shall not be forgotten!
Fritz, the print magazine is alive and well and will continue to be published as if nothing happened. In fact, thanks to the new company WE created - Apptitude - we'll be able to put more resources into the magazine and its distribution across Europe. So, this is a positive move and something that will only strengthen BJP.
Olivier Laurent
Acting Deputy Editor
British Journal of Photography
Dear Olivier Laurent, thank you for sharing this insight!
I'll pass the good news to friends and colleagues.
Regards, Fritz
Will we know WANT to buy the printed magazine again?
I have not been able to bring myself to buy a copy since it became a monthly as the design and layout as experienced in ptint is a disaster.
The tightly gummed pages prevent anybody opening the magazine.
We are therefore unable to place it open and flat -as it is designed and laid out onscreen-and enjoy the benefit it's size and print quality puryeys-unless you break the spine and dont care if the pages fall out.
I hope very much that at its printed price it can be arranged that the BJ again becomes openable, try using ancient binding methods folks!!
The smaller weekly supported staples and worked as it was thinner, but the gummed spine paperback style and format makes me want to bin every copy I see because I just dont enjoy reading it or looking at the pictures as it is, and on an iPad the pictures are much too small, and I dont like having to carry the thing around all the time just to read a magazine.
Is there a version for real computers with screens big enough to enjoy images on as you can on the National Gallery site or MOMA?
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British Journal of Photography is the world’s longest running photography magazine, established in 1854, and online since 1997. A high-quality monthly printed edition is available as a subscription or from selected newsagents in the UK and around the world.
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