TGIF. We’ve survived this week’s impeachment hearings and can now head into the pre-Thanksgiving weekend with Black Friday shopping on our minds. Before you go, check out this week’s Five on Friday features. Book by Cadillac car subscription is making a comeback, Meredith expands Coastal Living magazine using a new subscription model, and Patreon creators have been paid $1 billion by more than 4 million patrons. Also this week, Google Stadia suffers through a lackluster launch due to latency problems, and thousands of Disney+ accounts have been hacked and sold online.

Book by Cadillac Subscription Service Is Coming Back! 

About this time last year, General Motors put the Book by Cadillac car subscription service on hold. At Tuesday’s J.D. Power/NADA AutoConference LA, GM’s chief marketing officer Deborah Wahl announced the subscription service’s return, says AutoNews. Though Wahl did not disclose a lot of details, she did say the service would come back in early 2020. The subscription program will be better integrated with the Cadillac dealer network, something that has been an issue for other automakers.

GM launched Book by Cadillac in January 2017, one of the first – if not the first – luxury car subscription. Its reach was limited to three markets, however – Los Angeles, Dallas and New York City. After paying a one-time initial fee of $500, subscribers would pay a flat rate of $1,800 a month which included being able to switch out the vehicle up to 18 times a year, concierge service, roadside assistance, insurance, routine maintenance and repairs, vehicle registration and more.

Wahl said the company learned a lot from the initial experiment and would make changes to the program, including more convenience, flexibility and value for subscribers. Dublin Cadillac in California will be one of the first dealerships to test the new program. The Book by Cadillac website did not share any new information, but there is a place potential subscribers can leave their content information to receive updates as they become available.

After ‘Resounding’ Newsstand Success, Coastal Living Is Now Available by Subscription 

Readers want more of Coastal Living magazine, and Meredith has found a way to give it to them. According to a news release, Meredith is selling subscriptions for Coastal Living online. The first premium quarterly issue available for home delivery to subscribers will be the winter 2020 issue. At $12.99 an issue, Coast Living will continue to be available at newsstands where Meredith said the magazine has found “resounding consumer demand.”

“We are giving the passionate readers of Coastal Living what they want – the opportunity to secure annual and biannual subscriptions to this beloved brand,” said Doug Olson, President, Meredith Magazines. “With a substantial customer base that is looking for premium, high-quality niche content, Coastal Living is a good example of a consumer-driven product with what I’d call an analog paywall.”

An annual subscription to the glossy, quarterly magazine is $20 for four issues. A two-year subscription is $30. In 2018, Meredith shifted Coastal Living from a subscription publication to a quarterly, newsstand-only magazine after buying the brand as part of the Time Inc. acquisition. Coastal Living has a total audience of close to 4 million.

“This direct-to-consumer model is ideal – it provides a high-quality product to passionate enthusiasts and at the same time, it’s a strong, profitable business,” Olson said.

Patreon Celebrates Creators Who’ve Received $1 Billion from 4 Million Patrons – #ThankYouPatrons

It pays to be a patron on Patreon – literally. According to Tubefilter, Patreon’s 4 million patrons have paid more than $1 billion to creators since 2019. That’s double the number of payouts since this time last year when the company had about 3 million patrons. Patreon announced the achievement in a blog post on Monday. #ThankYouPatrons

“Today is, hands down, our favorite day of the year – #ThankYouPatrons Day! If you’re joining us for the first time, welcome to our third year of celebrating this incredibly special holiday (that we happily created ourselves). It’s a day dedicated to the people who are bringing the new creative economy to life,” says Patreon in their blog post.

“Patrons are the driving force behind this new model. They’re choosing to be more than followers and instead, becoming active participants in the creative process. By deepening the connection they have with artists, they’re completely changing the way art is valued. We think that deserves a very enthusiastic tip of the hat,” Patreon added.

The founders of Patreon created a platform where creators can start their own membership and subscription businesses to receive recurring revenue while building a direct relationship with their fans and patrons. That is quite an achievement for a three-year old company who had a dream to help creators achieve their dreams. Congrats, Patreon!

Google Stadia Launch was Lackluster at Best 

On Tuesday, Google’s new gaming subscription service Stadia launched with lackluster results. New York Magazine compared the console-free, cloud-based gaming platform’s launch to a beta rollout. Similar to the Disney+ launch which was plagued with problems from the outset, Stadia has not offered a great experience thus far. According to New York Magazine, many of the $130 founder’s edition kits complete with game controller did not ship in time for the launch. There have also been latency issues, only 12 games were available as of Tuesday, and not all of the promised features are available.

“Clearly, this train is being built as it’s already rolling down the tracks,” writes Brian Feldman for New York magazine. “…everything outside of the core technology is a mess.”

Granted, as with Disney+, a certain number of problems are anticipated with a global launch. However, it seems that a company like Google with a wealth of technology and resources available, it seems unthinkable that they would not have been ready for the launch. They were already well behind the Apple Arcade launch date, so why launch an inferior product? Maybe it is just me, but I will almost always trade fast for good. Read more about Feldman’s take on the Google Stadia launch at NYMag.com.

Thousands of Disney+ Accounts Were Hacked and Sold

Speaking of Disney+, more serious problems have been reported since the subscription service’s November 12 launch. ZDNet reports that hackers have gotten their hands on Disney+ user data and have offered accounts for free or for sale. As this occurred, those users lost access to their accounts. The hackers hijacked the accounts, logging the subscribers out of their accounts, and changing emails and passwords. To make a bad situation worse, people who were hacked had a difficult time reporting the issues to Disney because of the other technical issues Disney+ suffered at launch.

Here are some comments posted by victims to Twitter:

A Best Company article by Alayna Okerlund reveals that similar hacks have occurred with other streaming services, so (sadly) the problem is not unique to Disney. Because Disney does not offer multi-factor authentication, Okerlund offered these tips for subscribers to protect their accounts:

1. Use a unique password for everything.
2. Avoid sharing your password or writing it down.
3. Change your passwords periodically. Okerlund suggests at least once a year.
4. Use a password management service to keep track of your logins and passwords.
5. Report any suspicious account activity immediately.