How CKBK Built the 'Spotify for Cookbooks'

When Matthew Cockerill left the world of science publishing, he brought with him a crucial insight: traditional industries often miss the transformative potential of the internet. His latest venture, CKBK (Cookbook), proves this point by applying the subscription model that revolutionized music and video to an industry still dominated by expensive print books.

In a recent episode of the Levels Podcast, Matthew shared how he built CKBK into a platform serving over 20,000 users with access to more than 160,000 recipes from the world's best cookbooks. His journey offers valuable lessons for any startup founder looking to digitally transform a traditional industry.

From Science Publishing to Food Tech

Matthew's background in science publishing provided the perfect training ground for disrupting another content-heavy industry. At his previous startup, he helped introduce the open access model that fundamentally changed how scientific research is shared and funded.

"We introduced an open access model that went on to be very, very successful and is now kind of endorsed by NIH and all the big funders. And that's now how scientists mostly share their research, so that there are no barriers to access, but that the costs of publishing the research, which exist, are covered by the funders."

This experience taught him that established players often resist internet-driven disruption, creating opportunities for startups to build better solutions. When he looked at the cookbook industry, he saw the same pattern: publishers clinging to print-only models while consumers increasingly searched for recipes on their phones.

The Business Model That Works

CKBK operates on a straightforward subscription model - $39.99 annually or $4.99 monthly - giving users access to the entire library. But the backend mirrors Spotify's approach more closely than most realize.

"It's very much similar to Spotify or for example Amazon runs a service called Kindle Unlimited and in both those cases there's effectively a royalty pool which is some agreed share of all the subscription revenue coming in goes into the royalty pool and then that is divided proportionately based on usage between the licensors."

Every quarter, CKBK's hundreds of licensing partners - from major publishers to individual chefs - receive statements showing their share of usage and corresponding royalty payments. Usage is measured by content "chunks" accessed, with extended views (like printing recipes or active cooking) weighted more heavily than quick clicks.

This model solved a critical problem for publishers: how to monetize their valuable backlist content that was gathering dust in warehouses or had gone out of print entirely.

Solving the Content Challenge

The biggest hurdle for any content platform is securing high-quality material. Matthew spent 18 months before launch building relationships with publishers, focusing on medium-sized and specialty publishers who were more open to digital experimentation than industry giants.

The breakthrough came through partnerships like the one with Wiley, a professional publisher with extensive culinary textbooks. As Matthew explained:

"They are a professional publisher, but they have this category of professional culinary textbooks. And, you know, they had always seen the opportunity for those digitally... So they recognize that a specialist site like ourselves, taking that kind of culinary market, could do more with their content."

CKBK also rescued valuable content that had disappeared from the market. Many excellent cookbooks get "pulped and thrown away" after five to ten years because it's too expensive to keep them in print. The platform now offers direct licensing deals with authors to bring these lost gems back to life.

The Technical Infrastructure

Converting diverse cookbook formats into a searchable, structured database required significant technical investment. CKBK starts with everything from 19th-century Victorian cookbooks (available only as PDF scans) to modern EPUBs, then standardizes everything into a consistent format.

"We ensure that all those links, all that classification is brought into a consistent format. And that's what allows us to add so much digital integration to the service we provide. That's what allows us to be able to convert from imperial and metric and US cuts measurements."

This structured approach enables features impossible with print books: automatic measurement conversions, cross-book recipe linking, and even integration with smart kitchen appliances. CKBK can send cooking instructions directly to connected ovens through partnerships with appliance manufacturers like Bosch.

Beyond the Home Kitchen

What started as a consumer subscription service has evolved into something broader. Professional chefs use the platform for inspiration, but the real surprise has been institutional adoption.

"It's also now increasingly a big part of culinary education. So in other areas, obviously university, colleges, you have a lot of databases, you have a lot of online journals to support your education. But poor old culinary students, hospitality students pretty much had nothing."

CKBK now serves universities like NYU and UCLA, technical colleges, high schools with culinary programs, and even public library systems. This B2B revenue stream provides stability and showcases the platform's value beyond individual home cooks.

The Community Element

Unlike recipe aggregators that focus purely on content discovery, CKBK emphasizes connection between users and cookbook authors. When users post questions or reviews, they often receive responses directly from the authors within hours.

"It's definitely a bit of a unique selling point that if you post a review or a question you often get within minutes or hours, a response from the author specifically about what you were asking about."

This direct author-reader relationship creates engagement that goes far beyond simple recipe lookup. Publishers report that this visibility helps drive sales of physical cookbooks, proving that digital and print can coexist productively.

Looking ahead, Matthew is building features around cooking achievements and community recognition - think Duolingo streaks meets Strava segments, but for your culinary journey.

Key Takeaways

• Revenue sharing models work: CKBK's success shows that Spotify-style royalty pools can work beyond entertainment, providing fair compensation while enabling comprehensive content libraries
• Focus on quality over quantity: Instead of competing on volume like AllRecipes, CKBK curated the world's best cookbooks, creating a premium positioning
• Institutional markets provide stability: B2B sales to educational institutions offer predictable revenue and validate the platform's educational value
• Author-user connections drive engagement: Direct communication between content creators and users creates stickiness that pure content platforms lack
• Physical and digital complement each other: Rather than cannibalizing print sales, digital discovery often drives physical cookbook purchases

Matthew's journey from science publishing to food tech demonstrates how founders can successfully apply proven digital models to traditional industries. The key is understanding that disruption doesn't mean destruction - it means creating new value for all stakeholders in the ecosystem.

Listen to the full conversation with Matthew Cockerill on The Levels Podcast to dive deeper into his insights on building subscription platforms, managing publisher relationships, and scaling content businesses.