I think the simple reason why we have so many subscription-only services is that few people would buy it at the LTVs that these companies hope to (and often do

I think the simple reason why we have so many subscription-only services is that few people would buy it at the LTVs that these companies hope to (and often do successfully) extract via the subscription. And people who see through it hate it because they realize how ridiculous the actual price is.