Why do digital media companies make it so complicated?
Why do we need a unique paywall for every newspaper or magazine that wants to sell its content online? (Ever heard of a little thing called “PayPal”?) And, if you haven’t, you’ve probably heard of Netflix and Amazon Prime, which allow unlimited streaming of video for a monthly fee in Netflix’s case or a $79 annual fee in Amazon’s case and it includes free shipping!
Using that model, NextIssue created a simpler, more effective model. It’s not quite the same as the micropay system, but I think the end result is the same and maybe even better. NextIssue has released an app for Android platforms and Apple, which gives subscribers unlimited access to all the magazines they can eat for a flat fee. NextIssue’s app offers a basic and premium pricing structure. The basic level gets you access to a slew of monthly magazines for $9.99 a month, including:
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All You Allure Architectural Digest Better Homes and Gardens Bon Appétit Brides Car and Driver Coastal Living Condé Nast Traveler Cooking Light Cosmopolitan Country Living Details Eating Well Elle Elle Décor Esquire Essence Every Day with Rachael Ray Family Circle Family Fun Fitness Food Network Magazine |
Fortune Glamour Golf Magazine Golf Digest Good Housekeeping GQ Harper’s Bazaar Health HGTV Magazine House Beautiful InStyle Ladies’ Home Journal Living the Country Life Lucky Magazine Marie Claire Midwest Living Money More O – The Oprah Magazine Parents People en Español People StyleWatch |
Popular Mechanics Real Simple Redbook Road & Track Self Seventeen Southern Living Sports Illustrated Kids Successful Farming Sunset Teen Vogue This Old House Town & Country Traditional Home Vanity Fair Veranda Vogue W Wired Woman’s Day Wood |
The premium level gives you access to weekly magazines for five dollars more a month, including Entertainment Weekly, Golf World, People, Sports Illustrated, the New Yorker and Time.
All I can say is “bravo” and “What took so long?” This monthly flat fee, unlimited access model makes so much more sense than trying to remember a dozen usernames and passwords for a handful of periodicals for which you’re overpaying right from the start.
Throw in the national and regional newspapers and NextIssue would be an even bigger hit.
For the average business person, there are too many apps. We simply don’t need all of them, much less have time to tinker with them and run our companies. Listen to Thoreau and simplify. When an app like NextIssue comes along—one that makes life easier for a flat fee—jump on it and don’t look back.
