Insight to drive subscription growth

Join

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

Scribd Offers Unlimited Subscription Model – Again

Auto-renew Subscription, Business Media and Publishing, Business Operations, Business Strategy, Consumer Services, Industry Announcements, Magazines, News, Revenue and Sales, Subscription Apps /

In an on-again, off-again romance with its readers, Scribd has adjusted its subscription model yet again. This time it returns to its original premise – unlimited reading for a flat monthly fee. Effectively immediately, Scribd subscribers can enjoy an unlimited number of books, audiobooks, news, magazines, documents and sheet music for $8.99 a month, following a 30-day free trial. But there’s one small catch: “restrictions on some titles may apply.” To find out what Scribd means by that, you have to read the tiny print in the Scribd Paid Access End User License Agreement.

Scribd Offers Unlimited Subscription Model – Again Read More »

Tableau Posts Subscription Annual Recurring Revenue of $195.5 M for 2017

Auto-renew Subscription, Business Operations, Business Services, Business Strategy, FInance, News, Product Development, Revenue and Sales, SaaS and Cloud Services, Subscription Apps /

Last week, Tableau Software Inc. (NYSE: DATA), a Seattle-based data visual software developer, reported strong 2017 financials, including total revenue of $877.1 million, a 6 percent increase over the prior year’s revenue of $826.9 million. More impressive, however, was the company’s total annual recurring revenue of $596.2 million, a 45 percent year-over-year increase over $411.2 million at the end of Q4 2016, and subscription annual recurring revenue of $195.5 million, a 235 percent year-over-year increase over $58.4 million at the end of Q4 2016. Ratable license bookings were 41 percent of total license bookings, compared to 17 percent for 2016.

Tableau Posts Subscription Annual Recurring Revenue of $195.5 M for 2017 Read More »

The Atlantic Replaces Reader Comments with Reader Letters

Auto-renew Subscription, Business Operations, Consumer Services, Customer Service, Industry Announcements, Magazines, News, Revenue and Sales, Subscription Business Marketing /

Last Friday, TheAtlantic.com replaced reader comments with a new Letters section, similar to the print version of the magazine. According to editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg in the February 2 announcement, the new Letters section ‘will feature the smartest, most compelling responses to our journalism. It will be a venue for respectful dialogue, criticism, meaningful observations, and challenging ideas.’ In his column, Goldberg assures readers their input is important, and the magazine believes Letters will be a better, more civil way to share thoughts and opinions.

The Atlantic Replaces Reader Comments with Reader Letters Read More »

Facebook Reports Net Income of $4.27 Billion in Q4 2017

News /

Last Wednesday, when reporting Facebook’s fourth quarter and year-end 2017 financials, CEO Mark Zuckerberg said 2017 was a strong year for Facebook (NASDAQ: FB), but admitted the company experienced plenty of challenges too. Financially speaking, the social media platform is on solid ground, reporting revenue of nearly $13.0 million, a 47 percent increase over 2016 revenue of $8.8 million. Advertising revenue represented the majority of revenue at $12.8 million. The company also reported net income of $4.3 million, of $1.44 diluted earnings per share, a 20 percent increase over 2016.

Facebook Reports Net Income of $4.27 Billion in Q4 2017 Read More »

Weekly Subscription News: Apple, Ads and Amazon

Auto-renew Subscription, Business Services, Business Strategy, Consumer Services, Entertainment and Streaming, News, Product Development, Revenue and Sales, SaaS and Cloud Services, Subscription Apps, Subscription Gaming /

We don’t have any celebrity gossip or red carpet news from the Grammys, but we do have some interesting subscription headlines for you this week. Facebook is letting gamers tip live streamers, AMC questions whether or not MoviePass is really making money, and Amazon launches a subscription-based Pokémon channel for all the Pokémon fans out there. Also this week, we’re reading about Google’s new controls for muting and blocking online ads, the battle between Salesforce and Adobe, and the App Store’s domination over Google Play.

Weekly Subscription News: Apple, Ads and Amazon Read More »

Five on Friday: Gated Content, Conversion and Facebook Feeds

Auto-renew Subscription, Business Strategy, News, Payment Processing, Regulation and Compliance, Revenue and Sales, Subscriber Acquisition, Subscription Business Marketing /

This weeks Five on Friday wont be as watercooler-worthy as the 60th Grammy Awards, President Trumps State of the Union or Groundhog Day, but weve got some interesting subscription tidbits for you to mull over this weekend. In this weeks edition, DMN News questions whether gated content is a suitable workaround for GDPR, PYMTS shares three tips for converting users into subscribers, DiMA teases us with digital music revenue statistics ahead of their forthcoming report, Facebook promises to prioritize local news content as they make changes to their news feeds, and Adweeks Justin Kline tells us what influencer marketing trends to watch for in 2018. Enjoy!

Five on Friday: Gated Content, Conversion and Facebook Feeds Read More »

Microsoft Drops Monthly Cost of Azure Standard Support from $300 to $100

Auto-renew Subscription, Business Operations, Business Services, Business Strategy, Industry Announcements, News, Paywall, Product Development, SaaS and Cloud Services, Subscription Apps /

Microsoft Azure Standard customers got a pleasant surprise last week when Microsoft announced two major changes to its cloud support plan. The changes, based on customer feedback, include a significant price cut in monthly support costs, lowering them from $300 per month to $100 per month and offering a faster initial response time for critical cases (1 hour vs. 2 hours), except for Azure Germany, who is already receiving additional benefits.

Microsoft Drops Monthly Cost of Azure Standard Support from $300 to $100 Read More »

FICO Reports Net Income of $27.3 Million for Q1 FY 2018

Auto-renew Subscription, Business Media and Publishing, Business Operations, Business Services, Business Strategy, Consumer Services, Customer Service, FInance, News, Product Development, Revenue and Sales, SaaS and Cloud Services /

FICO (NYSE: FICO), an analytics and decision management software company, reported revenue of $235.3 million for the first quarter of fiscal year 2018, for the period ended December 31, 2017. Revenue for the same period last year was $219.6 million. FICO also reported GAAP net income of $27.3 million, or $0.86 per share. While impressive, this was $10.6 million less than net income of $37.9 million, or $1.16 per share, for the same period last year.

FICO Reports Net Income of $27.3 Million for Q1 FY 2018 Read More »

New York Daily News to Put Up Metered Paywall February 1

Auto-renew Subscription, Business Strategy, Consumer Services, Metered Subscription, News, Paywall, Product Development, Revenue and Sales, Subscriber Acquisition /

Online access to the New York Daily News will no longer be free. Effective February 1, Daily News is putting up a metered paywall. Print subscribers will get free digital access to Daily News. Everyone else can access up to 10 free articles per month before being required to pay to access additional content. To start, Daily News will offer digital subscriptions for $0.99 for 13 weeks. Then the subscription rate goes up to $1.99 a week, billed every four weeks, with no long-term commitment. Other offers will also be available.

New York Daily News to Put Up Metered Paywall February 1 Read More »

Streaming Music Services Ordered to Increase Royalties by 43.8 Percent

Auto-renew Subscription, Business Services, Business Strategy, Entertainment and Streaming, Freemium, Industry Announcements, News, Product Development, Regulation and Compliance, Subscription Apps /

Just as streaming music services like Pandora are struggling to become profitable, they received another blow, this time by the Copyright Royalty Board. This weekend the CRB of the U.S. Library of Congress decided that streaming music services like Spotify, Apple, Pandora, Tidal and Amazon must increase their royalty payments to songwriters and music publishers for the next five years, reports Reuters.

Streaming Music Services Ordered to Increase Royalties by 43.8 Percent Read More »