Apple has announced the start of a subscription service which will be available to all publishers of content-based apps sold though the iOS App Store.
The service was first introduced with the release of “The Daily,” a collaboration between News Corp and Apple available on the iPad.
Publishers can now sell subscriptions to publications weekly, monthly, bi-monthly, quarterly, bi-yearly or yearly.
Apple takes its customary 30 percent from all app and content sales made through iTunes.
Says CEO Steve Jobs (via PR):
Our philosophy is simple—when Apple brings a new subscriber to the app, Apple earns a 30 percent share; when the publisher brings an existing or new subscriber to the app, the publisher keeps 100 percent and Apple earns nothing. All we require is that, if a publisher is making a subscription offer outside of the app, the same (or better) offer be made inside the app, so that customers can easily subscribe with one-click right in the app. We believe that this innovative subscription service will provide publishers with a brand new opportunity to expand digital access to their content onto the iPad, iPod touch and iPhone, delighting both new and existing subscribers.
Result for: subscriptions
Spotify has revealed their 2009 financials today, and it appears that the company saw a hefty loss for the last year.
Revenue grew to £11.32 million but costs rose to £18.82 million, not including distribution costs of £608,711 and administrative expenses of £8.29 million.
Overall, the company saw a £16.4 million loss.
Revenue came mainly from subscriptions, with £6.81 million coming from monthly subscribers. The rest of the revenue came from advertisements, to the tune of £4.51 million.
Spotify had seven million users in Europe by the end of the financial year, but only 250,000 paying subscribers.
“2009 saw us focus on establishing a new and innovative music service and bringing it to millions of people across Europe. The groundwork laid in our launch year has been crucial to the significant achievements made in 2010. Further strengthening and expansion of the service remains our top priority,” says the company.
Result for: subscriptions
Netflix has started their long-anticipated streaming-only plan in the U.S., while also raising the price of its other mixed media subscriptions.
Shares of the company have exploded $15 dollars today following the news, good for an 8 percent gain.
The streaming only plans will be $8 per month, giving users unlimited access to the company’s “Watch Instantly” catalog.
All other plans, those that include access to physical discs, as well, will see a price jump, however.
Those price jumps are immediate for new subscribers or will go into effect in January for current subs.
User with a $9 subscription (1-DVD-out) will see their subscription now cost $10. Prices for other plans are seeing similar increases.
Over the years, Netflix has spent close to $1 billion on putting together a streaming catalog that now encompasses 20,000 movies and TV shows.
