Now that Apple has become a lot more flexible about how it works with magazine companies, the giants of the print world are starting to experiment with how best to sell their wares on the iPad.
Publishers balked at the lack of subscriptions for iPad editions, but are now finding more complicated consumer expecations. While single issues have proven too costly for many readers, year-long subcriptions might be too much of a committment for certain consumers. What’s a publisher to do?
For Conde Nast, it means offering a discount. In a first, Conde Nast has begun offering six-month subcriptions of Brides, its iconic magazine aimed at the soon-to-be-wed, for $9.99. That represents a solid discount compared to the $5.99 per issue price that Brides began offering last month when it debuted on the iPad. It also has the potential to help those rushing to the altar avoid an unneeded long-term subscription, which runs $19.99 per year.
Brides print subscribers new and old will have access to the new iPad app, free of charge. The new half-year-sub offering kicks off with Brides July issue.
Conde Nast, of course, was the first major magazine publisher to start selling subscriptions on the iPad, wtih Hearst and others quickly following suit. Starting with The New Yorker, the company has gradually added Vanity Fair, Glamour, Golf Digest, Allure, Wired and others, as the detente between Apple and the publishing institution has gradually thawed.
The first Brides issue available on the iPad featured a bridal song playlist as part of an editorial feature tied to the movie Bridesmaids.
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