It’s been interesting – and depressing if you’re in the magazine industry – to watch as many magazines have become less and less costly to subscribe to over the past few years. As more people do their reading online, subscription bases have shrunk, and many magazines are rapidly sliding toward become free and purely ad-supported vs. subscriber supported. I find this quite sad, as quality journalism is worth supporting, but it’s hard to be upset with incredibly cheap prices as a consumer. I know what this means for the future of the magazine though…
I subscribed to Popular Photography a few years back, but let my subscription lapse because I wasn’t reading all the issues. I was surprised when I received an offer in the mail to get the magazine for only $7 for the whole year. SEVEN DOLLARS. At that price even if I only read a few issues a year, that would be worth it. I’ve seen similar, though not quite as deep, discounts from Maximum PC, the only magazine I’ve maintained a subscription to for over a decade.
I truly will mourn the day when most magazines fold and things are purely digital…I enjoy the non-distracted, deep reading that magazines can bring a reader.