Subscription sites are growing by the month (if not week), and here are some interesting launches and acquisitions we thought you’d want to know about:
- The Indie label Stones Throw just launched a subscription service by which members would get ever song/album they released delivered to their Inbox
- Hitch.me lets singles date by ‘hitching’ into their LinkedIn profile. The site has only three questions: two about finance and one about what type of car you drive (which, as a native New Yorker, I found to be a curious litmus test of net worth).
- Rhapsody just acquired Napster International in order to compete with Spotify.
- Meredith Corp just bought AllRecipes.com from Reader’s Digest.
On the other side of the equation, a number of sites are experiencing growing pains:
- Gods & Heroes is dropping its subscription service in favor of a flat $9.99 fee.
- Netflix is keeping its subscription service but phasing out its DVD rentals, moving more to a SaaS Model with streaming movies.
- AOL, the original online subscription service, seems to be going down the rabbit hole with their resistance to subscription services and rapid growth of the Huffington Post abroad.
- Slader.com, a new service to help kids with math homework, downgraded from a promising subscription Model to free!
Of course, there’s no one algorithm to success. But recently, Lynda Weinman of Lynda.com fame went on Big Think to give her opinion on the matter. We just love how she emphasizes getting to know the daily workings rather pondering abstract business Models. Perhaps that’s why Paywall Times readers are finding success in the subscription industry?
