Tomáš Bella, CEO of Piano Media, started out as a reporter, editor-in-chief and deputy director of Sme.sk at Slovakia’s biggest broadsheet newspaper and most popular online news portal “SME”. In May of 2011 he launched the world's first nationwide paywall system in Slovakia. After persuading most of Slovakia's major media outlets to sign up to a single-payment system, Piano Media has now also reached the Slovenian market and Bella expects to expand into 2-3 more countries during 2012.

The model can be compared to cable-TV. The users subscribe via a monthly fee in for free access to an increasing number of shared sites. In other words, this means that the major news sites of Slovakia (and now also Slovenia) share a common paywall and split the revenue between themselves and Piano Media.  Piano Media aims at offering the customer an easy pay plan and reducing resistance towards paying for news online. The paywall made 40,000 Euro in its first month of operation and is now expanding, so it seems to be a successful solution considering both customer and market responses. Take the chance to see Bella present Piano Media’s methods, visions and challenges at DagsVara 2012.

Find the full conference program and information about the other speakers on: http://www.wan-ifra.org/events/dagsvara-2012

Read more about Piano Media on: http://www.sfnblog.com/launches_and_closures/2012/01/publishers_start_singing_to_pianos_tune.php