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> No, the subscription model has been the basis for the industry for the past 100 years. Not in the UK, FWIW. I know the American magazine industry is subscrip
by Doctor_Fegg 8y ago
> No, the subscription model has been the basis for the industry for the past 100 years.
Not in the UK, FWIW. I know the American magazine industry is subscription-based but the UK magazine industry has historically made most of its sales on the newsstand. UK publishers have been pushing to move readers to subscriptions for 20-plus years, though - not so much because of the advent of the internet, but because of the intermediaries who take their cut (wholesalers, distributors) and, most of all, the sheer avarice of WH Smith, historically the UK's biggest magazine vendors. Everyone I knew in publishing _hated_ Smiths with a vengeance.
(writing as a former UK magazine editor)
- ksec 8y agoI always wish people when commenting on the Internet state where these basis are. This is the first time I heard subscription model were used before in US. Everywhere else I lived and travel operate similar to UK industry; Newsstand.
- saltcured 8y agoI think it goes with suburbia and sprawl. Newspapers and magazines were delivered to homes by "paper boys" or the mailman via monthly subscription. In this culture, the morning edition papers were the bulk of the news, followed closely by evening television. There is no village street with newstands nor any other vending. Many going to work were driving their car from their suburban house to a factory with a giant parking lot. Even the suburban professionals who would commute into the city by train were likely to receive their paper at home and read it there with their morning coffee or carry it with them to the train station to mostly read before they even arrived in the city.