We’ve got updates for you on subscription companies we’ve covered in the past. Here’s the latest on Ashley Madison, Amazon Prime, Angie’s List, SoundCloud and Piano:
Ashley Madison: Last summer subscription adultery site Ashley Madison was hacked and private data from millions of users was released on the dark web. A class-action lawsuit has been filed against Ashley Madison, alleging the company did not wipe user data clean as promised with the purchase of its $19 per user “full delete” option. If you want to sue though, you’ve got to use your real name, says U.S. District Judge John Ross. Unnamed plaintiffs have until June 3 to disclose their names or be dropped from the suit, reports Ars Technica. Also in question is whether the plaintiffs’ attorneys can use private communications between Ashley Madison executives and their attorneys to establish that the company created fake female profiles to attract new subscribers.
Amazon Prime: Last week Amazon announced that it would unbundle Amazon Video from Amazon Prime and offer monthly payment options. For subscribers who want the full deal – Amazon Video plus cloud storage, photo storage, streaming music, free shipping, etc. – can still pay $99 a year for it. If they prefer to pay monthly, they can now do so for $10.99 a month ($131.88 annually). Want just Amazon Video? No problem. Amazon is offering that now too for $8.99 a month, a $1 less than Netflix’s new customer subscriber rate. According to Parks Associates data reported by Media Post, Amazon Prime Video has 22.5 million customers and a churn rate of 19%, compared to Netflix’s 43 million U.S. users and estimated churn of 9%.
Angie’s List: In March, we reported that Angie’s List was abandoning its membership model in favor of tiered subscriptions, after finishing the fourth quarter of 2015 in the black for the first time in the company’s 20-year history. As Angie’s List begins the transition of removing its paywall, the company reported a loss in the first quarter, due to higher spending to facilitate the change, said MarketWatch. Paid memberships increased 7% in the first quarter of 2016 to 3.3 million, while retention remained about the same. The number of participating service providers increased by 1% to nearly 55,000, and service-provider revenue grew 2% to $67.5 million. At the same time, membership revenue dropped 5.8% to $16.3 million, reported MarketWatch.
SoundCloud: Earlier this month, we reported that SoundCloud launched Go, its new streaming music subscription service. Now SoundCloud has announced that it is expanding into Europe, thanks to a “multi-territory agreement” with Sony/ATV, the world’s largest music publishing company by market share, said Billboard. In addition to offering streaming music from mainstream artists, SoundCloud offers user-generated material and material uploaded directly by independent artists.
Piano: Earlier this month Piano, a monetization and intelligence platform for media companies, announced the launch of Composer, a visual rules engine that enables personalized experiences and business models for an unlimited number of unique audience segments. Using a simple drag-and-drop interface, media clients can use Composer to define audience segments based on factors such as geography, page views, ad blocker usage, device attributes and more. CEO Trevor Kaufman said the new title makes it much easier for media companies to identify and implement the right monetization strategy for their audiences based on actual market performance.
Piano is used by more than 1,200 clients including Time Inc., NBC Universal, Hearst and News Corp. Last August Tinypass merged with Piano Media, becoming Piano, an SaaS company specializing in advanced media processes and paywall optimization software.
