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Dana E. Neuts

Dana Neuts is Subscription Insider's Editorial Director, covering our daily subscription news as well as member features, case studies, premium content, and reports. Dana is also a writer, editor, marketer and communications professional. Her work has appeared in AARP Bulletin, The Seattle Times, Seattle Business, 425 Business, 425 Magazine, South Sound Magazine, Northwest Travel and more. Her specialties include business writing, community news, senior issues, travel and, of course, subscriptions!

Dana E. Neuts

YouTube to Launch New Streaming Music Service: YouTube Music

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While Google has been busy readying itself for GDPR, YouTube has been busy refining its new music streaming service, YouTube Music. According to a May 16 blog post, YouTube explained that YouTube Music is a reimagined mobile app and desktop player with thousands of playlists, including official versions of millions of songs, albums, artist radio, music videos, covers and more. Rollout of the new services began May 22, ‘making the world of music easier to explore and more personalized than ever.’

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Subscription Newsletter theSkimm Raises Nearly $12 Million in Series C

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TheSkimm, a digital media company known for its witty, daily newsletter, raised $12 million in Series C funding from mostly female investors including TV producer Shonda Rhimes (Grey’s Anatomy, Scandal, How to Get Away with Murder) and supermodel-actress Tyra Banks, reports Variety. The total raised by the privately-held, New York-based company to date is $29 million, says TechCrunch. TheSkimm will use the money to grow its free and premium offerings and to expand the company’s No Excuses political-engagement campaign.

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Weekly Subscription News: Rackspace, Revamp and Royalties

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In this week’s subscription headlines, New Media agrees to acquire the Akron Beacon Journal for $16 million, streaming music service Tidal is allegedly behind in its royalty payments to artists, and the Supreme Court approves sports betting, a boost to the sports media business model. Also this week, Rackspace acquires RelationEdge, Google has revamped its YouTube music subscription, and subscription box Wantable raises $1.44 million in funding.

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Five on Friday: Recurring Revenue, Content Overload and Paywalls

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Before you head out for the holiday weekend, weve got a feature-packed Five on Friday for you. In this weeks edition, Salesforce shares best practices for recurring revenue businesses, Light Reading talks about the challenges of content overload, Quartz explores the streaming TV battle between Apple and Amazon, Reynolds Journalism Institute explains how tight meters are winning the paywall wars, and Hubspot offers advice on the two numbers you need to focus on when it comes to customer acquisition.

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Four Thousand Publishers Protest Google’s GDPR Policies in Standoff

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Today’s the big day – the day the European Union’s Global Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) officially goes into effect to protect personal data from being misused by data collectors or data processors. The new regulations apply to companies who have customers in the EU, like Google. While Google has been working on its GDPR policies, it has not been making friends around the globe. In fact, Ad Age reports that four major trade bodies representing 4,000 publishers around the world are in a standoff with Google and Google CEO Sundar Pichai.

Four Thousand Publishers Protest Google’s GDPR Policies in Standoff Read More »

Salt Lake Tribune Cuts One-Third of Newsroom

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The cuts keep coming. The Salt Lake Tribune is the latest newspaper to drastically cut newsroom staff. On May 14, owner Paul Huntsman announced that the 147-year-old newspaper was cutting 34 newsroom employees out of 90, including well-known writers like political reporter and columnist Paul Rolly, who had been with the Tribune for 44 years. Other layoffs include 14 reporters, seven editors, five support staff, three photographers, two web producers, a graphic artist and an opinion writer. Employees who lost their jobs will receive severance pay and buyouts of unused vacation time.

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Snapchat Redesigns App After 1.2 Million People Complained

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Six months after launching a major redesign that 1.2 million users hated, Snapchat (NYSE: SNAP) gave in and revamped the popular social media app. It started last November with the release of a more personal Snapchat that separated personal content from friends from the content provided by publishers, creators and influencers. That redesign was a big bust. In fact, more than 1.2 million users signed a petition on Change.org to protest the redesign.

Snapchat Redesigns App After 1.2 Million People Complained Read More »

Lyft Launches Rideshare Subscription for $200 a Month

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Lyft is testing a new all-access subscription plan in select markets, reports The Verge. For a $200 flat fee per month, frequent riders can save $15 off 30 rides. If the ride is less than $15, it is free. If the ride is over $15, then riders pay the difference. Lyft made the announcement it was expanding the program two weeks ago when it invited heavy users in major cities to join a waitlist for the “next wave of plans.” The Verge reports there is no charge to join the waitlist, but you have to be invited.

Lyft Launches Rideshare Subscription for $200 a Month Read More »

Match Reports Highest Quarterly Revenue Growth Since 2015 IPO

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Online dating pioneer Match Group (NASDAQ: MTCH) is looking for love in all the right places. In fact, the parent company of Tinder, Match.com, OKCupid and other dating sites continues to grow. On May 8, in the company’s first quarter earnings report, Match Group reported total revenue of $407.4 million, a 36 percent increase over the first quarter of 2017. The company also reported net earnings of $100 million, or $0.33 per diluted share, representing growth of 397 percent.

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Weekly Subscription News: Apple, Incognito and The Economist

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In this week’s subscription news, Apple Music boasts more than 50 million subscribers, Netflix says it is spending 85 percent of its budget on original content, and Snapchat rolls out unskippable, six-second ads. Also this week, YouTube TV tests voice control and incognito mode, Luminary Media raises $40 million in funding, and The Economist launches a new subscription app for readers.

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