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a1 acquisition channels add-on subscriptions adobe agentic commerce ai commerce ai content licensing ai shopping agents amazon american express angel studios antenna anthropic apple at&t audience development automatic renewal automatic renewals bank of america blue apron boku bumble butter payments cancellation character.ai chatgpt chewy churn circana click-to-cancel cnn cognition compliance consumer protection cookunity costco customer journey customer lifetime value customer trust customer value dazn deepseek delivery hero discover disney disney+ distribution partnerships dollar shave club doxo duolingo edreams edreams odigeo eharmony engagement espn family plans fox free-to-paid conversion freemium general motors goodrx google google play harvest hims & hers hubspot hulu incremental revenue intuit ipsy jcb juniper research keeps klarna legalzoom lens.com lg lifemd linkedin madrona mailchimp marketwise marvel mastercard maxio mcgraw hill membership benefits membership models membership pricing membership tiers mergers & acquisitions meta microdramas microsoft minnesota timberwolves ms now nbcuniversal netflix new york city notion nurx nuvei openai opodo oura paramount payment authorization payments paypal peacock peloton plex politico pricing packaging & offers pricing strategy prime video quickbooks reach recurring payments recurring revenue regulatory risk rent the runway restaurant.com retail distribution retention & subscriber value reuters revenue quality revolut rocket money roku sales tax salesforce sam's club scribeup sequence similarweb snap spotify square enix starlink streaming streaming subscriptions stripe subscriber acquisition subscriber churn subscriber expectations subscriber experience subscriber experience & service operations subscriber retention subscriber value subscription benefits subscription billing subscription bundles subscription compliance subscription economics subscription entitlements subscription growth subscription management subscription migration subscription monetization subscription packaging subscription partnerships subscription pricing subscription renewals subscription strategy subscription technology subscription trials substack suno supernatural target the guardian the journal the new york times the washington sun thirty madison tiktok tiktok shop trend micro truecaller truly beauty turbotax uber uber one unifirst unionpay usage-based pricing usps vat vendor partnerships vercel vimeo visa walmart walmart+ warner bros. discovery webtoon wework wild alaskan workday worldpay x xbox youtube
If Something Happened Today, What's Your Plan?
An unexpected security emergency, a technology provider's sale, or a company facing bankruptcy. Recent news raises questions about what happens when something your subscription business depends on suddenly changes.
Signal of the Week:
When something a subscription business depends on unexpect...
by Kathy Greenler Sexton —
Oct 26, 2026
butter payments
character.ai
cookunity
disney
meta
netflix
sam's club
scribeup
spotify
square enix
supernatural
the guardian
tiktok shop
walmart
Will Your Subscribers Come Along for the Change?
Marvel, Microsoft and HubSpot are changing their subscription offerings. What happens to the customers they already have may be just as important as what's new.
Signal of the Week:
A new subscription offering can make good business sense and still put existing recurring revenue at risk.
...
by Kathy Greenler Sexton —
Oct 26, 2026
automatic renewals
bumble
cnn
google
hubspot
intuit
marvel
microsoft
recurring revenue
restaurant.com
sequence
subscriber experience
subscriber retention
subscription benefits
subscription billing
subscription migration
subscription pricing
subscription strategy
subscription technology
substack
unifirst
webtoon
x
Can Your Subscription Keep Its Promise Everywhere?
As more companies influence what subscribers receive and pay, operators face new questions about responsibility and control.
Signal of the Week:
More of the subscription experience depends on systems outside the company selling it. That can make a subscription more useful, but it can also mak...
by Kathy Greenler Sexton —
Oct 26, 2026
ai commerce
chatgpt
chewy
cognition
google
hubspot
lens.com
membership benefits
membership pricing
notion
openai
paramount
sales tax
spotify
streaming subscriptions
subscriber experience
subscriber retention
subscription billing
subscription compliance
subscription entitlements
subscription management
subscription partnerships
subscription renewals
subscription technology
substack
the journal
usage-based pricing
vat
vercel
warner bros. discovery
Who Gets the Better Deal in a Bundle?
Bundles promise stronger retention, new customers and wider distribution. But how much of that business is truly incremental, what does it cost, and who captures the financial benefit?
Signal of the Week:
Subscription bundles can improve retention, bring in new customers or create revenue f...
by Kathy Greenler Sexton —
Oct 26, 2026
acquisition channels
agentic commerce
ai content licensing
ai shopping agents
amazon
antenna
boku
consumer protection
costco
disney
disney+
distribution partnerships
hulu
incremental revenue
mastercard
maxio
membership models
membership tiers
mergers & acquisitions
meta
microsoft
openai
payment authorization
recurring payments
revenue quality
roku
streaming subscriptions
subscriber acquisition
subscriber churn
subscriber retention
subscription bundles
subscription compliance
subscription economics
subscription pricing
subscription technology
subscription trials
vendor partnerships
Your Next Subscriber May Not Start With a Subscription
The recurring relationship can begin in a store, through a partner, with a free product or long before the customer ever sees a subscription offer.
Signal of the Week:
The subscription may no longer be the first step in the paid customer relationship.
We still tend to picture subscription ...
by Kathy Greenler Sexton —
Oct 24, 2026
acquisition channels
angel studios
apple
at&t
audience development
circana
customer journey
customer lifetime value
distribution partnerships
free-to-paid conversion
google
lifemd
linkedin
membership models
meta
politico
reach
recurring revenue
rent the runway
retail distribution
reuters
subscriber acquisition
subscription growth
subscription monetization
target
the washington sun
wild alaskan
Subscriptions Have Boundary Issues
Subscription companies are redrawing the lines around price, access, usage and benefits. This week’s Signal looks at what happens when those boundaries move.
Signal of the Week:
Moving a boundary can change what customers believe they are buying, what the relationship is worth and the risks...
by Kathy Greenler Sexton —
Sep 14, 2026
adobe
chewy
compliance
customer value
dazn
family plans
fox
freemium
goodrx
membership benefits
mergers & acquisitions
microsoft
minnesota timberwolves
netflix
nuvei
payments
recurring revenue
regulatory risk
roku
streaming
subscriber expectations
subscription bundles
subscription packaging
subscription pricing
usage-based pricing
xbox
Ready or Not, Here It (AI) Comes
AI is moving deeper into pricing, payments, fraud, customer accounts and the basic mechanics of recurring revenue.
Signal of the Week:
AI is becoming an operating issue across pricing, payments, account security and customer authorization.
We did not start this week expecting to cover quit...
by Kathy Greenler Sexton —
Sep 07, 2026
american express
anthropic
apple
bank of america
discover
dollar shave club
edreams
edreams odigeo
ipsy
jcb
madrona
mastercard
meta
openai
opodo
oura
peacock
salesforce
truly beauty
unionpay
usps
visa
Who’s in Control? (Hint: It’s Not You.)
Customers have more ways to shape what happens after they subscribe, and they are not the only ones gaining influence.
Signal of the Week:
More players have a say in what happens once someone becomes your subscriber.
Subscription businesses are used to setting a lot of the rules: what cu...
by Kathy Greenler Sexton —
Aug 31, 2026
a1
delivery hero
disney
eharmony
espn
hims & hers
intuit
keeps
mailchimp
nurx
quickbooks
rocket money
thirty madison
turbotax
uber
uber one
visa
workday
The New Rules of Pricing?
Companies are changing what customers pay, how they pay, and what they get in return.
Signal of the Week:
The price itself is no longer the whole pricing story.
Pricing certainly had a week. We saw day-part pricing, usage added to the bill, subscribers required to accept a price increase, ...
by Kathleen Greenler Sexton —
Aug 24, 2026
apple
blue apron
deepseek
doxo
harvest
lg
ms now
nbcuniversal
peacock
trend micro
walmart
walmart+
worldpay
youtube
Terms and Conditions May Apply.
The fine print had a busy week. Across AI, streaming, fintech, and software, subscribers were reminded that the product, price, or benefits they agreed to can continue to change after they click Subscribe.
Signal of the Week:
The subscription may start with your customer's yes. What happens a...
by Kathy Greenler Sexton —
Aug 17, 2026
adobe
anthropic
apple
goodrx
google
juniper research
klarna
mcgraw hill
microsoft
openai
paypal
revolut
similarweb
spotify
stripe
suno
wework
Your First Dollar Is Just the Start
This week’s news shows why more of the growth opportunity is moving to what happens after the customer says yes.
Signal of the Week:
Your first dollar is opening the door to more ways to earn the next one.
A recurring payment has traditionally done a lot of the economic work in a subscript...
by Kathy Greenler Sexton —
Aug 10, 2026
disney
duolingo
general motors
hubspot
legalzoom
marketwise
paramount
peloton
roku
snap
starlink
the new york times
tiktok
Growth Needs an Asterisk*
*In this week’s earnings results, the numbers beside growth often told more of the story.
Signal of the Week:
Subscription growth is getting harder to read.
A good growth number is hard to resist. It fits neatly in a headline, looks terrific on a slide, and gives everyone something to cele...
by Kathy Greenler Sexton —
Aug 03, 2026
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