Readly Is like Netflix for Magazines and Papers
Not all content was born to be free. Major magazine and newspaper publishers have experimented with various digital subscription models over the past few decades. Paywalls have gone up, been torn down and built up again. Several generations are now accustomed to all things gratis, so it’s getting difficult to find a formula that might work, but the success of iTunes, Spotify and Netflix indicates that people will pay for convenient access to the content they want.
A service called Readly hopes that these subscription models will translate to the world of magazines (and potentially daily newspapers) by offering all-you-can-eat content for a $9.99 monthly fee. Readly currently includes almost 600 magazine titles including Climbing magazine and Kloka Hem (it’s a company that’s headquartered in Sweden, after all). The catalog includes content from the US, UK, Sweden, India, France, and the Philippines, but is still a long way away from being the Spotify of the print world. However, the general model stands a chance if Readly can find more content partners including major international newspaper publishers and local sheets.
Readly says it wants to be the “news-stand in your pocket” but, despite this similarity to Apple’s Newsstand application, Readly’s all-you-can-read concept is quite different. Readly supports a number of platforms, with an application available for Android, iOS and Windows 8 and even Amazon’s Kindle Fire. One account can be logged in on five different devices, meaning that content can be read on tablets, smartphones and laptops.
The content market is still feeling its way forward, looking for a replacement for print. Most publishers have found that paywalls failed to generate substantial revenue and that online ads haven’t made up the difference. So-called “hard” paywalls that allow minimal access to free content have worked for several business-centric publications like The Wall Street Journal, but most general news publishers have taken a softer approach. The large number of alternative sites including blogs and social media mean that even the most venerable newspaper publishers are looking for fresh ideas.
Whether Readly becomes the Spotify of newsprint will be a matter of offering something above and beyond. It’s an interesting content reader, but needs more mainstream content to reach mainstream acceptance.
Twitter
Facebook
LinkedIn
Email