10 Hot Subscription Companies in the News

The subscription industry is constantly changing. Subscription Insider tries to keep you up-to-date with daily news blogs and social media posts, but it is

Subscription News: 10 Hot Subscription Companies in the News

Source: Disney

The subscription industry is constantly changing. Subscription Insider tries to keep you up-to-date with daily news blogs and social media posts, but it is impossible to share all of the subscription and membership news. We’ve gathered the latest headlines from 10 top subscription companies to give you the 4-1-1.

Google Play: Last week Google announced the coming launch of Google Play Music’s family plan. With the new family plan, subscribers can add up to five additional members to their Google Play Music account for just $14.99 a month. All family members get unlimited, ad-free access to more than 35 million songs and they can all stream simultaneously. No official date was given, but an Android post says people can sign up in “the coming days.”

Spotify: The Wall Street Journal reports that Spotify is considering putting certain artists behind the paywall, allowing its 20 million subscribers access to the music temporarily. According to the report, Spotify would only hold back music that is kept off other free sites like YouTube. This compromise may attract stars like Taylor Swift who pulled her music from Spotify last year.

Amazon Prime: Amazon is beefing up its Prime video offerings with the addition of streaming channels via its new Streaming Partners Program. Prime will include TV streams of Showtime, Starz, A+E, AMC and other popular channels, but these aren’t freebies. Prime subscribers will get access to a free trial, after which, they must subscribe to that “channel.”

Scribd: Scribd subscribers will notice a few new additions to their all-you-can-read e-book subscriptions: sheet music, Sesame Street titles and textbooks form Elsevier. With the closing of Oyster Books, Scribd is now the primary player in the e-book world, and it is taking advantage of the opportunity to get new content in front of its 80 million unique monthly visitors.

Vevo: Vevo, the world’s largest music video platform, has acquired Showyou, a subscription-based video streaming platform that helps users discover new video content, says TechCrunch. This acquisition will allow Vevo to more directly compete with premium video services like YouTube Red and Spotify and to help Vevo detach from its dependence on the YouTube platform.

Microsoft OneDrive: Microsoft has egg on its face…again. After announcing that it will drop unlimited storage options last month, Microsoft is apologizing for “poor communication,” says ZDNet. While it isn’t restoring unlimited storage, Microsoft will grandfather some OneDrive users and their existing storage, allowing them to keep their previous limits. Those grandfathered users must opt-in by January 31, 2016.

Netflix: Thanks to a recent proposal by the European Commission, Netflix will be portable across Europe…in 2017. The proposal is expected to be approved in 2016 and implemented the following year. It is part of the European Commission’s attempt at overhauling copyright laws which have limited the portability of services like Netflix to date.

New York Times: Not one to sit on its hands, the New York Times is working on yet another digital product, says Ad Age. Based on the Times’ success with the NYT Cooking app, the Times is creating a TV and film product based on its popular Well blog.

Condé Nast: Business of Fashion reports that the media empire continues to make significant changes, bigger than just the shutting down of Details magazine and the repurposing of Style.com. Among the changes are the replacement of key editors, layoffs of staff, and a significant shift toward digital. What’s next? It seems anything is up for grabs.

Disney: Walt Disney Co. and Alibaba have struck a deal. The companies signed a multiyear licensing agreement to develop an over-the-top (OTT) content delivery system available in China, says the Wall Street Journal. The device will be shaped like Mickey Mouse and cost $125, including a one-year subscription to content. Customers will have access to Disney films, cartoons and games as well as help them plan trips to the Hong Kong and Shanghai Disneyland theme parks. What will the Mouse come up with next?

 

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