Is the time right for a single purchase content option to take off?

With media advertising rates and subscription propensities under pressure, the founders of the Acast podcast company believe the time is right for publishers to explore new pay-per-piece options. 

Why it matters

Subscriptions, whether for video or written content, only make sense for consumers who are heavy users of a product or service. Per Byron Sharp, brands grow by attracting light users – an alternative pricing model is needed for these consumers for whom, as Digital Content Next notes, a subscription might not be a worthwhile long term investment, but a specific piece of content might be highly valuable at a given moment.

Takeaways 

• For all the marketing talk of consumer-centricity, it’s evident that a simplistic model of putting everything behind a paywall accessible only by subscription or allowing only limited metered access, is failing to meet consumer needs 
• Publishers have optimised what they can for subscribers, and economic pressures mean they can’t depend solely on this source for future growth – they need to explore incremental revenue from one-off buyers.
• Micropayment options haven’t worked before but Acast co-founder Måns Ulvestam believes his new venture, Sesamy, could be an opportunity for publishers to put a fair price on features, investigations and other long-form content.

The big idea

“If you read a magazine every day, you should be a subscriber. This should not replace subscriptions, it should be a complement. Everyone can relate to having encountered a paywall where they don’t pay, because they don’t want to be a subscriber. It happens every day. Obviously, the consumer need is there” – Måns Ulvestam, co-founder, Sesamy.

Source: Digital Content Next