There are lots of reasons subscriptions have been rising in popularity as of late. In the past one may have had a newspaper or delivery subscription. Now subscriptions are vital to how media is consumed. Streaming services, both for music and film, are massive. Even new realms like gaming are moving into the subscription based space, but why?
At the center of subscriptions is the idea of convenience. This is something many modern products are aimed at, from phones to cars to the internet at large. Yet subscriptions are becoming particularly good at creating convenience. Amazon Prime, Instacart, Doordash, these can provide things as essential as food. While Spotify, Netflix, and Xbox Game Pass provide media instantly and cheaply. This gets into the other major appeal, price. When Netflix came out it was unbelievable how many TV shows were available instantly in their entirety. Over the years the titles have been spread and prices have increased, but it’s still amazing. The benefit of not owning something is having its cost majorly reduced in the short term.
Finally, subscriptions are just fun, and they’re thought of as so. There are monthly themed boxes that are popular today, providing bunches of small trinkets and decorations. These don’t meet up to their literal cost, but they make up for that with convenience and intrigue. And that’s the base reason behind a lot of subscriptions. They aren’t making people money in many cases, at least not without extensive use, they’re just practical. What’s yet to be seen is how that changes moving into the future.
Infographic by: lexmark
