Amazon is in the process of launching a new digital and print magazine subscription service. The new pilot program is called “All Access” and will allow readers to use their Amazon accounts to easily purchase, manage, and renew their print and digital magazine subscriptions. The first publisher to commit themselves is Condé Nast and will start off with Vogue, Glamour, Bon Appétit, Lucky, Golf Digest, Vanity Fair and WIRED, with the remaining brands joining later in the year. For a limited time, customers will get introductory deals for “All Access” content – just $6 or less for 6 months of issue.
“Combining Condé Nast’s must-have content with Amazon’s 1-Click shopping platform is a huge win,” said Bob Sauerberg, president of Condé Nast. “Our influential and loyal customers want to be the first to know, purchase and share, which is why we wanted to be the first to develop a service like ‘All Access’ with Amazon, the world’s most trusted and proven e-commerce platform.”
“Customers are increasingly consuming magazine content in both print and digital formats, and ‘All Access’ allows them to subscribe to both in a very easy way, and read content digitally on whatever device or platform they use,” said Russ Grandinetti, Vice President of Kindle Content. “Condé Nast is known for creating some of the best content in the media industry, so we’re excited to start this new program with them.”
Being able to combine print and digital is often relegated to the newspaper industry, and magazine companies are all looking for the right strategy. Many publishers have told us the Holy Grail is being able to offer lower introductory prices and increase the prices once they have people locked in. Being able to combine both print and digital with an online entity like Amazon is the right play for Condé Nast. Likely other publishing companies will monitor sales and customer acceptance before committing themselves.
Michael Kozlowski is the editor-in-chief at Good e-Reader and has written about audiobooks and e-readers for the past fifteen years. Newspapers and websites such as the CBC, CNET, Engadget, Huffington Post and the New York Times have picked up his articles. He Lives in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.