Amazon has launched a new marketplace that allows publishers and other digital creators to sell subscriptions directly within its platform.
Rather than buying a digital subscription directly from a publisher’s website, readers can now buy a digital subscription from Amazon’s site or apps.
It's currently a US-only service but with Amazon's Australian launch imminent, it could follow here giving publishers a new distribution platform.
On the webpage promoting the new service, 'Subscribe with Amazon', it says: “Subscribe with Amazon is a self-service solution that allows you to make your digital subscription purchasable to millions of highly qualified shoppers who trust Amazon to be their primary shopping destination.”
In addition to digital publishers, the service also applies to streaming services and other businesses selling recurring subscriptions.
A trial version of the program launched in August with established media publishers, including The New Yorker, The Wall Street Journal and the Chicago Tribune. Online providers have come on board too, including Dropbox.
Amazon will take a 30% cut of revenue in the first year, then 15% of all revenue earned after the first year. Those terms are identical to the ones offered by Apple’s App Store and similar to Google Play, which takes 15% in the first year and every year afterward.
While the move may be welcomed by some publishers as news stands and bookstores continue to close, many media companies are wary of pushing their services and content outside their own platforms. This was recently seen with The Guardian moving away from Facebook’s Instant Articles, which takes a piece of the ad revenue.
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