Will Page, former chief economist for Spotify and writer of the book Tarzan Economics, has a lot to say about subscriptions. And he had a rapt audience at the INMA Media Subscriptions Summit on Thursday. 

“Nobody wants yesterday’s news, but everybody wants to listen to ‘60s and ‘70s music,” he told a sold-out Stockholm crowd.

The Summit started on Monday with a two-day study tour of Stockholm’s most biggest players in the area of digital subscriptions, continued with workshops focused on the subject on Wednesday, and will finish up with two conferences days. A total of 355 delegates from 171 news media companies in 34 countries are in attendance.

Comparing music industry with the news media sector is relevant, Page said, even though there are important things that differ.

Page highlighted that at Spotify, you pay for whatever song you want while when paying for news, you pick a trademark. You go for The New York Times, The Guardian, or Die Zeit.

This though, does not explain why music has half a billion worldwide subscribers while news media is far behind.

Why can’t the news companies succeed in the same way?

“In music, it all started with Pirate Bay and other torrent sites, in the ‘00s — all here in Sweden by the way. ” he told attendees. “Then some of these guys took their knowledge and moved to Spotify.”

What they wanted was an easy and legal way to reach music from all over the world. One early and important step was to make it as fast as possible. The song you picked was to start playing in 250 milliseconds. It’s instant. It’s easy. It’s totally arranged from a user perspective.

News subscriptions do not always seem to be organised in the same useful way, he said, especially when it comes to the payment.

“Why do you keep shooting yourself in your foot here? Just stop! I think pricing is one of your biggest issues,” he said.

Page is talking about “a charming number,” such as 9.99. It could be dollars or euro or crowns. It’s graspable, clear, and under 10 — apparently a bargain.

Many newspapers got stuck in a clay field of different messages talking about the price of the first month, the price of the second month, the cost after one year, bundled with or without the print product. This makes the decision to make in that second when  you’re supposed to click “buy” too many and too complicated for readers. 

“Music industry and Spotify work with 9.99 and three-for-one. We have done it all along, never changed the numbers,” he said.

Three-for-one could be different things:

• Three months for the price of one.

• Three articles for the price of one.

• Three persons for the price of one.

Page says it’s just good numbers, showing something that gives the vibe of a good deal. A bigger number following a smaller number — an easy lesson for newspapers to learn.

For Spotify, this has been a well-functional converter — statistics showing almost one to one, meaning almost everybody who tried the three-month trial then switched to a full-priced subscription.

Page advises companies in music, books, gaming, and media. He sees the music companies are far ahead also when it comes to winning-back strategies. A former subscriber of Spotify is still in the system and regularly gets pushes to come back while a lot of news media companies seem to let go of the readers as they jump off.

Page also talked about what he calls the gin and tonic — a nicer term for bundling. As in, can you offer a tonic with your gin? Or do you believe in being the best gin among other bottles?

Statistics showing that if you, for exemple, are using one streaming service, you are more likely to use a second one. And Page is convinced bundling is good for everybody.

“The same thing is applicable for news,” he said. “Wall Street Journal has always considered New York Times as their biggest rival, but now it shows that Wall Street Journals subscribers also want to read New York Times … . I you buy one, you might want another one. That’s a new way of thinking. You work together.” 

The INMA Media Subscriptions Summit is March 6-10. Details can be found here. 

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