Subscription business model
hideThe subscription business model is a business model where a customer must pay a subscription price to have access to the product/service. The model was pioneered by magazines and newspapers, but is now used by many businesses and websites. Rather than selling products individually, a subscription sells periodic (monthly or yearly or seasonal) use or access to a product or service, or, in the case of such non-profit organizations as opera companies or symphony orchestras, it sells tickets to the entire run of five to fifteen scheduled performances for an entire season. Thus, a one-time sale of a product can become a recurring sale and can build brand loyalty. It is used for anything where a user is tracked in both a subscribed, and an unsubscribed status. Membership fees to some types of organizations, such as trade unions, are also known as subscriptions.
Industries that use this model include book clubs, record clubs, telephone companies, cable television providers, cell phone companies, internet providers, pay-TV channels, software providers, business solutions providers, financial services firms, fitness clubs, and pharmaceuticals, as well as the traditional newspapers and magazines.
Renewal of a subscription may be periodic and activated automatically, so that the cost of a new period is automatically paid for by a pre-authorized charge to a credit card or a checking account.
A common model on web sites, colloquially becoming known as the freemium model, is to provide content for free, but restrict access to premium features (for example, archives) to paying subscribers. In this case, the subscriber-only content is said to be behind a paywall. The razor and blades business model (also called the bait and hook model) is an attempt to approximate the subscription model, but with a formal agreement by both parties.
For more information about Subscription business model, read the full article at
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News tagged with subscribers
Time Warner Cable asks help on rising program fees
Nov 25, 2009 |
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(AP) -- Time Warner Cable Inc. is asking the public for help as it tries to curtail increases in the programming fees it has to pay to carry cable channels and broadcast stations on its systems.
China Unicom eyes one million China 3G subscribers per month
Nov 03, 2009 |
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Mobile operator China Unicom said Tuesday it aimed to boost the number of its 3G mobile phone subscribers in China by one million per month, following its launch of Apple's iPhone there.
Variety trade newspaper to charge for online site
Sep 17, 2009 |
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(AP) -- Ending a three-year flirtation with free online content, Variety newspaper plans to put some of its Web site content behind a "pay wall" that will require a paid annual subscription, its publisher ...
Coming to mobile phones: Wall Street Journal fees
Sep 15, 2009 |
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(AP) -- The Wall Street Journal plans to start charging as much as $2 a week to read its stories on BlackBerrys, iPhones and other mobile devices, expanding the newspaper's effort to become less dependent on its print edition.
Verizon offers small carriers fresher handsets
Jul 17, 2009 |
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(AP) -- Verizon Wireless is offering small cellular carriers a chance to get new phone models faster.
Time Warner, Comcast to start online video trials
Jun 24, 2009 |
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(AP) -- Time Warner Inc. and Comcast Corp. on Wednesday took concrete steps to bring cable television shows to the Internet - but only for paying cable subscribers.
Time Warner to spin off AOL, ending ill-fated deal
May 28, 2009 |
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(AP) -- Time Warner Inc. is dumping AOL after spending nearly a decade trying to build a new-age media empire only to wind up in a weaker position than when the marriage began.
Ex-Rocky staffers plan to launch online magazine
May 14, 2009 |
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(AP) -- Some former staffers of the now-defunct Rocky Mountain News say they plan to launch an online news magazine this summer.
Novel effort in Minnesota seeks ISP gambling block
Apr 29, 2009 |
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(AP) -- Minnesota officials are trying a novel tactic to block online gambling sites - using a federal law that enables restrictions on phone calls used for wagering.
Time Inc. owns up to goofed 'mine' magazine
Apr 16, 2009 |
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(AP) -- Time Inc.'s experimental made-to-order magazine, "mine," shipped out this week, but many subscribers got a version that looked like it belonged to someone else.
Phone company shelves unpopular Internet cap plan
Apr 15, 2009 |
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(AP) -- Time Warner Cable Inc. is testing a new way of charging for Internet use - by the amount of traffic rather than solely based on download speed.
Ex-Rocky Mountain News staffers plan news Web site
Mar 16, 2009 |
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(AP) -- Former Rocky Mountain News staffers plan to start an online newspaper if they can get 50,000 paying subscribers by April 23.
