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For creative publishers, micropayments are an invitation, not a cautionary tale
‘Please not another micropayments article,’ you beg. There have been a lot recently. Analysts have got one whiff of a subscriptions slowdown and have all jumped to peg micropayments as the saviour for 2023. Apparently there are even a couple of mainstream publishers lined up to try them ‘properly’ next year.
Look, I would love micropayments to work. But rather than get preachy, I’m going to let this piece from Mark Stenberg explain why – at least for now – they just won’t. But more importantly, there are other ways of paying for content (think day/week/monthly access) that don’t involve readers having to jump straight into a long-term paying relationship with you.
“The gut logic of a micropayment system would suggest that there must be other ways of paying for news content that make more sense than the ones we are trying,” Mark says. “Consumers should have more options than the binary one – subscribe or don’t subscribe – they have now. They should feel empowered in their decision, not cowed into it, and there must be models out there that enable that.”
Research report: Succeeding with subscriptions
Toolkits have released a really interesting report looking at consumer attitudes and behaviours towards publishers’ digital subscription products. Close to three in four people currently don’t subscribe to digital publications, but of those that do, 69% pay for more than one. Lots of growth potential there still.
Housty, is there a way we can attract graduates into magazine publishing?
Peter’s latest column for the International Magazine Centre looks at ways we can tempt the young ‘uns into magazine publishing. In short, we need to get better at telling them about the good bits…oh, and paying interns and entry-level staff decent money.
Media Moments 2022 is live
Our annual report has launched! Media Moments 2022 brings together the key events which have shaped the media and publishing industry this year, from the boom and bust cycles of the advertising market to news fatigue, the increasing prominence of climate coverage, and the impact of shifting trust.
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