I caved today and resubscribed to Medium. My rationale is that it’s like paying for a magazine subscription, but you get to choose what you want to read in every issue.
Some of the writers I most enjoy reading are on Medium, behind a paywall. Many of the newsletters that I get share articles from Medium, that are behind that paywall as well.
This got me thinking about premium media and how media companies are putting paywalls on their news sites.
Although I will pay for media, seeing paywalls on certain sites just makes me bounce. Why?
I was attracted to the headline, yes. But I haven’t seen enough of the article (or other articles) to know if a subscription is worth paying for.
And if it’s a media company that’s covering an issue that’s already been covered before, why would I want to pay for a subscription?
Also, why would I want to pay for a subscription to the entire site, when I’m only interested in one topic?
Lately, when it comes to developing my own media businesses, I’ve been more attracted to the idea of small niches, with highly engaged audiences.
Perhaps to be more profitable, media needs to stop being mass.