Folio reports that Time Inc. is starting a new magazine-subscription service called Maghound that sounds a bit like Netflix’s movie model:
Maghound.com allows consumers to choose titles from a variety of publishers for mix-and-match “subscriptions” where they pay one monthly fee and have the ability to switch titles at any time. Unlike traditional subscriptions, members aren’t locked in their memberships and can cancel whenever they wish. Ventresca says that Maghound.com offers “flexibility, choice, control, and personalization.”
Will it work? Here’s what’s interesting to me about this model:
1. One magazine publisher has built a distribution channel to sell not only its own magazines but those of other publishers as well. There’s an obvious efficiency at work but will Conde Nast, e.g., really be happy to put an extra dollar in Time Inc.’s pocket for every Conde Nast subscription it sells?
2. I don’t sense that magazine readers are dying to swap subscriptions very often. Part of the appeal of receiving a magazine is knowing your way around its format, its style, its idioms. Of course I may be totally wrong about that; I order new magazine subscriptions all the time and inevitably hate them after four issues. Also, the model doesn’t suffer if people don’t swap: they pay the same regardless, and it’s less work for Maghound if they don’t swap.
3. The magazine industry is hardly a world-beater these days, but magazines seem to be holding up far better than newspapers in the face of the internet. According to the Magazine Publishers of America, circulation at the top 100 magazines rose 1.9 percent from 2006 to 2007. Newspaper circulation, meanwhile, is falling — in some cases hard and fast.
This disparity probably makes sense when you consider that a lot of magazine content is more appealing on glossy paper than newspaper content is on newsprint, which means that a computer screen is a worse substitute for magazines than for newspapers. Also, newspapers are far more dependent than magazines on classified ad money, and that’s one form of revenue that’s been making a fast and furious migration to the internet.
To me, one of the biggest advantages of something like Maghound is far more prosaic: having one channel through which to handle all your magazine subscriptions, rather than having to hassle with that constant flood of mail from every magazine, reminding you 4 or 6 times that your subscription will be expiring in a mere 12 months.
(Hat tip: Romenesko.)
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An excellent idea. My interests tend to run in streaks influenced by whatever is going on around me. For a few months maybe I want to dig into Writer’s digest, then maybe Flex, or Money, or This Old House. A catalyst for me was my kids’ school fundraiser – selling magazines. I had been inoculated; an option to shift around would be great. Real men read from dead trees.
If it’s really like Netflix, that means when I’m done reading I can send the magazine back!
I don’t like to have the clutter of magazines piling up, and I hate to send them to the landfill.
With regard to the Netflix comparison, you might want to consider the number of magazines that will be available. Netflix allows users in the hinterlands to get zillions of movies. Perhaps this service will allow the same folks to get magazines heretofore unavailable.
That’s so 2007!
Just put it all online and we will browse it as we wish.
Sir – another great advantage is that it might finally circumvent the long hunt for the obscure magazine you love but don’t want to subscribe to for some reason. The dealers always stock the mass market magazines but the others are hit and miss.
Would be great if service gave preview of an issue so you might know in advance whether you want it…. E.g. Columnist X appears once a month in Magazine Y and I only want those not the other issues.
The real value add would be to rip out all of the blow-ins that clutter magazines.
For those of you looking to manage your magazine subscriptions online, here’s a tip: order all your mags from Amazon! They keep track of what needs to be renewed and send you an email (OK, maybe 2-3 emails)when it’s time. Their prices are pretty competitive, too.
I rather like the idea, and #1′s suggestion. It would be a great tool for me to test out a lot of magazines that I’m interested in but aren’t commonly available in the places I shop and hopefully avoid the high, non-subscription price.
But after thinking about it, I would much prefer if magazines put all their content online and charged a subscription fee.