Destination websites have
always been attractive to those searching for that one place where they can
find everything they want under one roof. The challenge is often to get competitors
to collaborate and realise that working together often makes more sense than duplicating
cost and effort. Often it needs a third party to pull the competitors together
and present the range in a neutral and compelling place.
The Magic Town platform is
being launched by Mindshapes with the aim of creating a compelling online site,
where children aged from two to six can find interactive classic fairy tales and
children’s ebooks. Mindshapes envisage that the parents of children do not want
to spend all day trawling the app stores and web looking for suitable and
engaging stories for their children and by offering a one stop shop they will
capture the growing market. They have got the support of publishers such as Hachette,
Penguin and Simon & Schuster and are reportedly in discussion with more. The
Magic Town, will also be available on the
iPad and is planning to operate on part free part subscription model with some
20 titles available free and subscription access to the full catalogue costing £7.99
a month, or £49.99 a year. They estimate that some 200 stories will be
available on the platform in the first year.
Mindshapes was founded in
2010 and last year it raised £3.1m in a Series A funding to launch two destination
hubs; Magic Town and Language City. Magic Town is accessible via an app and web
browsers whilst Language City is browser only. The business model mix of free
and subscription, is a logical and one that could resonate with busy parents
who may be happy to subscribe to a single and trusted service.
The challenges we see are
not huge but are significant. The model is not one that is easy for publishers
and especially ones which carry heavy development costs and hold potentially
significant secondary rights. We are reminded of the Jesuit maxim, "Give
me a child for his first seven years and I'll give you the man". The target
age group is itself relatively small, some 3 years and where do their readers go
then? Can they extend the offer or create a follow on offer as the children
grow or that can be shared with their older siblings? Will the offer be
extended to cover all books in the target age range or remain with just web and
app offers and will that be enough to satisfy the needs of the parents? Finally
will publishers embrace Mindshapes as just another digital ‘experiment’, or see
it as a serious strategic channel and direction?
We watch with interest at
this venture into the world of Spotify for books.
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