Music venue hits out at new Facebook subscription
The Robin in Bilston says it will not pay to be able to promote its events on Faceboook.
Music venue criticises new Facebook subscription
Jack Heffernan of The Robin said Meta was "selling back" the free features from the platform
An independent music venue has said it will "absolutely not" pay for a new subscription service to promote its events on Facebook.
Meta, which owns the platform as well as Instagram, has launched a new subscription called Meta One, which restricts the number of website links that can be posted - more than two - unless a fee is paid.
Jack Heffernan, marketing manager for The Robin in Bilston, said the venue would need to pay £370 to continue posting as it currently does.
He said it would not be a problem for large businesses but would hit smaller ones hard.
Heffernan said he knew changes were being made by Meta and that the idea had been "floated around" since December, but he did not feel they had been very transparent about it.
The venue used other social media platforms and had a large mailing list, Heffernan said
"We came in, began clearing up from the weekend, started scheduling some content and videos from the shows over the weekend and then all of a sudden 'you can't post this link'," he said.
"I thought 'oh, that's confusing?'. Looked into it and looked at the overall costs so I know what I'm dealing with, then when I came to see how much we would have to pay to post all of our links that we post... we'd have to pay for the largest package which is $500."
He said the change would affect many people and could "see it being the standard going forward", with individuals also being affected in future.
The venue would "absolutely not" pay the £370, he added.
"The average UK small business already pays between £500 to £3,000 per month of Facebook ads, so why should we then be forced to pay more?"
He said it was a matter of "wait and see" what effect it would have on them as everyone "was in the same boat".
Matt Navarra, a social media analyst from Geekout Newsletter, said the fees were not yet universal, with subscriptions currently aimed at professional creators and businesses who get the option of posting links on Instagram, a new feature.
The venue opened in 1998 with capacity for 700 people
"But it is going to hurt smaller businesses - the likes of Coca Cola isn't going to be bothered about paying $300 or $400 a month whereas somebody who has got a corner shop or hair salon is going to feel the pinch."
He said Meta was testing whether the ability to post more links makes its paid subscriptions more valuable, while also seeking new recurring revenue streams as it has been spending an "extraordinary amount" of money on AI "to keep up in the race to win the AI war" which amounted to almost $145bn so far.
Heffernan said the venue was well established and had a large following across other social media platforms, but Facebook and Instagram worked best for its audience.
"It's quite a scramble for people to find out 'is there a way round it?" he added.
"Essentially they've taken out free features from the platform, including verification posts and links, and they're just selling it back to you."