European newspaper publishers unhappy with Apple's publication requirements

A few European publishers have heard from Apple about subscription arrangements on the App Store, and they're not happy at all. The agreement isn't that surprising -- just as with the current setup in iTunes for software developers, Apple is asking that all subscriptions go through them, and that they take their usual 30 percent cut. But that has European publishers quite angry -- not only is the price higher than they want to pay, but they say it's because Apple will cut them out of access to things like subscriber demographics and other inside information that they'd have if they ran subscriptions themselves.

All fair points. Apple definitely doesn't want to "lose control" of any possible in-app subscriptions, and since it already controls access to the App Store, these publishers are at Apple's whims anyway. If publishers try to run a subscription scheme Apple doesn't agree with, their apps likely won't stay on the App Store for long.

Of course, the real meter here is The Daily -- while it got a nice reaction at launch, if that model doesn't prove itself to be profitable or workable, publications may not bother with the App Store anyway. Even if they don't run apps through Apple's subscription channels, there's still Mobile Safari and conventional paywalls.

[via App Advice]