Concerned Publishers Groups Say ‘Apple Is Not The Only Offer On The Table’

Publishers from across Europe will convene at a hotel at London’s Heathrow Airport on Thursday morning to discuss their response to Apple’s new content subscription terms.

The meeting has been scheduled for weeks. Many publishers expected Apple’s announcement on Monday.

“It is good that, after many weeks of confusing its partners, Apple (NSDQ: AAPL) has finally decided to clarify their offer to content publishers to sell subscriptions,” Grzegorz Piechota, president of the European board of the International Newsmedia Marketing Association trade umbrella, which has called the summit, tells paidContent:UK.

But Piechota’s members don’t appear unilaterally happy. “We still miss many details and, as it happens, the devil is sometimes in the details,” he says. “In its statement, it has not answered to other publishers’ concerns —about the transparency of the app admission process and about content censorship.

“Our main goal is to be able to provide our customers—readers, users, viewers, listeners - access to our content on any device or a platform they wish for a reasonable price. Our concern is that publishers keep a direct relationship with their customers so they can improve the product and services provided.

“Apple’s offer is not the only one on the table and apps are not the only way to access content on mobile devices. Publishers and their associations are looking at all the options available and talking to all technology and payment system providers. It is a pity Apple has refused to talk with the representatives of this roundtable.”

The meeting is being attended by over 50 representatives of European publishers and associations including the Online Publishers Association, International Federation of the Periodical Press), World Association of Newspapers, the European Federation of Magazine Publishers, the European Newspaper Publishers Association and the European Business Press Federation.