Many Digital Publishers are facing distribution problems when their files go beyond the sizes that most online ebook stores can accommodate. High-resolution images tend to go beyond 8 MB just for the cover and the entire file can sometimes get to over 600 MB for the entire issue. If publishers try and sell the digital content directly, often they will spend a copious amount of money on bandwidth and servers to handle the web traffic. Enter Microsoft Skydrive.
Microsoft Skydrive is a cloud storage solution that gives users around 7 GB of storage and maintains heavy server clusters to deliver content fast and effectively. This has promoted Complex Magazine and Live Nation to deliver content via Skydrive in a new partnership with Microsoft.
This marks the first time SkyDrive has formulated a direct relationship with a digital publisher. Complex has broken its magazine into two digital files, which are hosted in the cloud. Complex has also added some bonus content to the digital repository, including past covers. Instead of keeping issues nice and small so companies like Zinio, Apple, and other distributors can host them, the publications don’t have to be strangled by limitations and can deliver high quality content. This is often why PC video games provide a better experience than consoles.
”For those of you who have been reading Complex since our inception back in 2002, there has always been a bit of a difference between what arrives in your mailbox and what you were able to read online,” Complex said in a note to readers. “While we love to keep you updated 24/7/365 with the latest and greatest on Complex.com, we still find solace in being able to step back from the Web and deliver a tangible magazine.”
Live Nation isn’t exactly publishing a digital magazine, but it is delivering pictures and video via Skydrive. Artists by the likes of Ke$ha, Pitbull, Rascal Flatts, Big Time Rush, and Victoria Justice by their new Skydrive accounts.
The financial terms of the Complex and SkyDrive partnership have not been revealed. However, it’s possible that Microsoft is trying to get more print magazines to use SkyDrive as a way to have more control over the distribution of free content.
Michael Kozlowski is the editor-in-chief at Good e-Reader and has written about audiobooks and e-readers for the past fifteen years. Newspapers and websites such as the CBC, CNET, Engadget, Huffington Post and the New York Times have picked up his articles. He Lives in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
