Al McWilliams

Al McWilliams has collected all of the componets of his media business and is now driving toward execution.

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Filed under: Al McWilliams | Ann Arbor, MI | Finding Gaps | Publishing | Quack Media | Twelve Month Goals

In this 6 minute segment (download iPod compatible, 38MB), Al McWilliams describes how Quack Media became the mini media conglomerate it is now and what he would like to do with it in the next twelve months. Up until two years ago, Quack was focused on educational videos. Then, it signed the band Tally Hall two years ago. Six months later it started distributing Found Magazine, adding the final leg to its mix of video, music, and print. The idea is that there will be synergies between the three, e.g., people who like the print publications Quack produces will also like its artists' music.

Al now feels he has the right mix of media. In the next twelve months, he would like to strengthen the current base. He aims to refine his new music distribution model and augment his traditional print distribution model.

Al McWilliams is reconciled to the fact that the music industry can no longer support itself through the sale of CDs. He is currently experimenting with different business models that recognize this fact.

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Filed under: Al McWilliams | Ann Arbor, MI | Defining New Markets | Digital Distribution | Quack Media | Web 2.0

In this 10 minute podcast (download iPod compatible, 51MB), Al McWilliams describes Quack Media's role in the multilayer filtering system that brings musical acts to the public's attention. Currently, Quack plays the role of an indie label, discovering local bands and then signing them to recording contracts where Quack pays a royalty on record sales.

A central issue in the music industry is that it has become harder to make money. In part, large record labels may have lost touch with their public and no longer provide music the public wants. In part, the rise of the mp3 (a free digital music format) may have taken the bottom out of prices in the music business. At any rate, Al feels that the classical model of monetizing music through record sales no longer works.

Al is currently experimenting with something he calls a music partnership and has signed a prominent local band, The Hard Lessons, to one such contract. At the time of the interview, Al would not go into details because the contract was still pending. Based on a read of Quack's website, the contract seems to be based on a fuller promotional package oriented toward events.

Al discusses how Quack ensures that artists get paid for the work they do.

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Filed under: Al McWilliams | Ann Arbor, MI | Digital Distribution | Finding Gaps | Publishing | Quack Media | Web 2.0

In this 9 minute segment (download iPod compatible, 47MB), Al McWilliams, Master of the Universe at Quack Media describes his role in making the business end of his small media conglomerate work. Al remarks that all entertainment media (e.g., publishing, video, and music) are "smashing together". This convergence is visible in retail and appears to be the motivator in large conglomerates like Time Warner with whom Al does business. However, the issue with large conglomerates is that the individual units do not always coordinate well.

As for Quack, it started by doing educational videos targeted at high school students. Now, he is moving on to the Internet doing videos for the online version of the Cartoon Network's Adult Swim. However, Al is unconvinced of Internet business models. Entertainment companies are putting in more money than they are getting out, and advertising revenues are adequate for only a few focused niches. There is a great mass of mediocre content.

Al believes that ultimately media, be it traditional or on the Internet, has to rely on trusted filters to separate the wheat from the chaff. In future segments, he will discuss how he is positioning Quack to be one of those trusted filters.

Al McWilliams, Master of the Universe at Quack Media, describes his approach for economically distributing art magazines.

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Filed under: Al McWilliams | Ann Arbor, MI | Finding Gaps | Publishing | Quack Media

In this 10 minute segment (download iPod compatible, 51MB), Al McWilliams, Master of the Universe at Quack Media, describes his strategy for marketing Found Magazine. Found, created by Davy Rothbart, might best be described as an art magazine with an edge. Unlike the Michigan Business Review or Metro Parent, also covered on this site, Found's main source of revenue is not advertising, but the cover price, "Always 5 bucks".

The main question then is how to make money. Al's approach has been two pronged. First, via a remarkably simple process he describes in the video, he has convinced distributors that Found Magazine is not a magazine but a book. Having the publication classified as a book means that distributors will keep it on the shelves more than the sixty days typically allotted to periodicals. This added time is important for an art publication, since the back issues tend to sell as well as the current one.

Second, Al has renegotiated Found's distribution deals to keep retailers at around a 50% margin, allowing him to at least break even on the project. As Al notes at the end of the segment, margin is what the distribution business has always been about.