“Spotify for News”? User Perception of Subscription-Based Content Platforms for News Media
Subscription-based news platforms (such as “Apple News+” or “Readly”) that bundle content from different publishers into one comprehensive package and offer it to media users at a fixed monthly rate are a new way of accessing and consuming digital journalism. These services have received little atte...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2022-12-01
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| Series: | Journalism and Media |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2673-5172/4/1/1 |
| _version_ | 1797858374681886720 |
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| author | Christopher Buschow Christian-Mathias Wellbrock |
| author_facet | Christopher Buschow Christian-Mathias Wellbrock |
| author_sort | Christopher Buschow |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Subscription-based news platforms (such as “Apple News+” or “Readly”) that bundle content from different publishers into one comprehensive package and offer it to media users at a fixed monthly rate are a new way of accessing and consuming digital journalism. These services have received little attention in journalism studies, although they differ greatly from traditional media products and distribution channels. This article empirically investigates the perception of journalism platforms based on eight qualitative focus group discussions with 55 German news consumers. Results show that the central characteristics these platforms should fulfill in order to attract users are strikingly similar to the characteristics of media platforms from the music and video industries, in particular regarding price points, contract features, and modes of usage. Against this background, the potential and perspectives of a subscription-based news platform for journalism’s societal role are discussed. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-09T21:13:22Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-c3a5fd9e6a6a4893984c82978f38b3b2 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2673-5172 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-09T21:13:22Z |
| publishDate | 2022-12-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Journalism and Media |
| spelling | doaj.art-c3a5fd9e6a6a4893984c82978f38b3b22023-03-28T13:59:35ZengMDPI AGJournalism and Media2673-51722022-12-014111510.3390/journalmedia4010001“Spotify for News”? User Perception of Subscription-Based Content Platforms for News MediaChristopher Buschow0Christian-Mathias Wellbrock1Faculty of Media, Bauhaus-Universität Weimar, 99423 Weimar, GermanyHamburg Media School, 22081 Hamburg, GermanySubscription-based news platforms (such as “Apple News+” or “Readly”) that bundle content from different publishers into one comprehensive package and offer it to media users at a fixed monthly rate are a new way of accessing and consuming digital journalism. These services have received little attention in journalism studies, although they differ greatly from traditional media products and distribution channels. This article empirically investigates the perception of journalism platforms based on eight qualitative focus group discussions with 55 German news consumers. Results show that the central characteristics these platforms should fulfill in order to attract users are strikingly similar to the characteristics of media platforms from the music and video industries, in particular regarding price points, contract features, and modes of usage. Against this background, the potential and perspectives of a subscription-based news platform for journalism’s societal role are discussed.https://www.mdpi.com/2673-5172/4/1/1audience studiesjournalism productscontent platformsuser perceptionqualitative focus group discussions |
| spellingShingle | Christopher Buschow Christian-Mathias Wellbrock “Spotify for News”? User Perception of Subscription-Based Content Platforms for News Media Journalism and Media audience studies journalism products content platforms user perception qualitative focus group discussions |
| title | “Spotify for News”? User Perception of Subscription-Based Content Platforms for News Media |
| title_full | “Spotify for News”? User Perception of Subscription-Based Content Platforms for News Media |
| title_fullStr | “Spotify for News”? User Perception of Subscription-Based Content Platforms for News Media |
| title_full_unstemmed | “Spotify for News”? User Perception of Subscription-Based Content Platforms for News Media |
| title_short | “Spotify for News”? User Perception of Subscription-Based Content Platforms for News Media |
| title_sort | spotify for news user perception of subscription based content platforms for news media |
| topic | audience studies journalism products content platforms user perception qualitative focus group discussions |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2673-5172/4/1/1 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT christopherbuschow spotifyfornewsuserperceptionofsubscriptionbasedcontentplatformsfornewsmedia AT christianmathiaswellbrock spotifyfornewsuserperceptionofsubscriptionbasedcontentplatformsfornewsmedia |