Publishers unhappy with Apple News+ revenue, calling it an ‘unfinished’ product
Apple is reportedly working to improve its pay-monthly magazine subscription service, Apple News+ according to a report by Business Insider who claims publishers are unhappy with the revenue generated by the platform, calling it an ‘unfinished’ product.
Apple News+ is currently available in the United States and Canada, priced at $9.99/$12.99 CAD per-month. The service brings 300 magazines across multiple categories like fashion, news, lifestyle, health, travel, food, and more to the Apple News application on iOS and macOS, which are all available as part of the monthly subscription fee.
Citing publishing sources in contact with Apple, Business Insider claims the company is working with publishers to refine the service and to address common concerns.
The biggest issue publishers are raising is money. “It’s one twentieth of what they said,” a publishing executive said, according to the report. Another said “I don’t think they’re putting their full effort behind it,”.
Apple has provided publishers with tools and templates to turn their respective content offerings into a format digestible in News+, but some say support is lacking.