The Latest Trends in Media, Streaming, and Subscriptions
Kick off your weekend with the latest issue of Friday Five! In this edition, we review Spotify offering audiobooks to premium subscribers, TikTok partnering with News publishers, Google introducing a new all-in-one subscription, Amazon placing ads on Prime Video, and publishers shifting away from Facebook.
Spotify Offers Audiobooks to Subscribers
For their premium subscribers, Spotify will be offering 15 hours of audiobooks each month in the UK and Australia, with plans to expand to the US in the winter. The plan is to pay publishers for the amount of time that customers listen to books, rather than for each audiobook, which has raised concerns among some authors and publishers. Read More on New York Times.
TikTok Partners with News Publishers
TikTok is introducing a new ad program called Pulse Premiere, which allows publishers to sell ads alongside their posts and earn 50% of the revenue. The program is launching with a select group of publishers, including Condé Nast, BuzzFeed, and Dotdash Meredith. Read More on INMA.
Google’s New All-In-One Subscription
Google is reportedly working on a new all-in-one subscription service that would bundle many of its popular products and services, such as Nest Aware, cloud storage, Google Drive, and Gmail. This service would be similar to Apple One, which offers multiple tiers for services at several price points. Read More on Subscription Insider.
Amazon Will Introduce Ads on Prime Video
Amazon will start showing ads on Prime Video in early 2024 in the US, UK, and Canada, followed by other countries later in the year. Amazon said it will show fewer ads than traditional TV and other streaming services. An ad-free subscription tier will be available for an additional cost. Read More on Reuters.
Publishers Shift Away From Facebook
Publishers are struggling with declines in referral traffic from Facebook since the platform shifted its focus away from news. This has led to a significant loss of revenue for publishers, who are now looking into other social media platforms and their own websites to drive direct traffic. Read More on Digiday.