| Weekly News Roundup |
| 1. Schibsted closes down their car subscription service Honk – Honk Honk, a Schibsted-owned car subscription which launched in Sweden last year, has shut down. According to an earlier pressrelease Honk’s Norwegian site had over 100 000 visitors per month. “Om du har ett aktivt abonnemang kommer det inte att påverkas av nedläggningen. Om du har några frågor om ditt abonnemang, eller vill ändra eller säga upp avtalet, vänligen kontakta leverantören du har abonnemanget hos.” Read more 2. Spotify hikes subscription price in France by 1.2 % to match new music-streaming tax – Techcrunch Spotify has increased the price for its premium subscription in France by €0.13 in response to a music-streaming levy imposed by the government at the start of the year. “At €11.12 per month for an individual subscription plan, the new price is 1.2% higher than the previous amount — the same as the 1.2% levy that France imposed on music-streaming companies including Deezer, Apple, Google and Spotify starting from January 1 this year.” Read more 3. Hollywood’s Nightmare? New streaming service lets viewers create their own shows using AI – Hollywood reporter Fable, the studio behind the viral AI-generated ‘South Park’ clips, has announced a streaming platform – Showrunner – that allows users to create their own content. ““The vision is to be the Netflix of AI,” says chief executive Edward Saatchi. “Maybe you finish all of the episodes of a show you’re watching and you click the button to make another episode. You can say what it should be about or you can let the AI make it itself.” Read more 4. Spotify to introduce more expensive subscription tier for “music lovers” – Bloomberg The plan will cost at least $5 more per month and include access to high-fidelity audio and new playlisting tools, according to a person familiar with the plan – writes Bloomberg. “The new tier’s pricing will vary depending on each user’s base plan but will average out to about a 40% markup, said the person.” Read more 5. Swedish SaaS company Zebrain gets a new owner – an investment company that want to invest in AI – Breakit Zebrain aims to provide coaching opportunities to all employees and has developed a digital platform based on proven methodology. Now, Zebrain has acquired a new major owner – Dahlgren Capital – which plans to develop the product further with the help of AI. “AI is the next major industrial revolution that will transform industry after industry. With the help of AI and digital coaching, Zebrain has the potential to fundamentally change the learning industry.” Read more 6. The New York Times passes 2 million international digital subscribers – Press Release The New York Times Company has surpassed two million digital subscribers outside the United States, more than a third of which are in Europe, including the United Kingdom. The total number of subscribers is 10.55 million. “The Times reached the milestone ahead of target, having set an ambition in 2019 to attract two million international subscribers by 2025.” Read more Weekly Analysis Roundup 1. Spotify has one big advantage on every other streaming service – Bloomberg Netflix is the biggest paid streaming company by just about every metric. But its biggest competitor, as measured by customer loyalty, isn’t another video service. It’s Spotify. “Spotify listeners are the least likely to cancel among the major video or audio streaming services in the US, according to the research firm Antenna. Fewer than 1.5% of Spotify users did so during the month of April, and the company’s monthly churn rate has hovered around 2% all year.” Read more 2. Quality over quantity: The Subscription Economy shifts its focus – Forbes Subscription-based companies are focusing more on generating revenue from their current customers in 2024 rather than acquiring more customers, according to a report by Chargebee, a revenue growth management platform for subscription businesses. “The report is based on a survey of 318 subscription professionals from companies with over 50 employees and annual revenue exceeding $5 million. The report paints an optimistic picture for the subscription economy, with 96% of surveyed industry leaders anticipating substantial growth in subscription revenue for 2024.” Read more 3. Can the Starbucks card model work for publishing? – Subscribed Subscriptions and micropayments are two tools publishers can use to monetize their content. But there might be a third one, muses Zuora’s CEO Tien Tzuo: The Starbucks Card model. “Subscriptions are a revenue bedrock for media companies, but they’re a one-size-fits-all approach that doesn’t satisfy each consumer’s needs. Not all customers want the commitment of a full subscription, which is contributing to the current market shakeout. The key to survival lies in giving them flexibility and control, especially in how they pay.” Read more Image source |
