Why The Information’s Subscription Model Outshines the Rest

My accountant said I can probably deduct my news subscriptions as a business expense. That’s nice because I spent nearly $3,000 on that last year, so that I can read what the reporters I'm working with are writing about.

In the process, I learned a bit about the software news sites use to get my money. My favorite news subscription software is the one they use at The Information , a trade outlet for the technology industry based in San Francisco.

There are three things I like about The Information’s subscription software: it’s clear, easy, and effective.

By clear I mean that you subscribe by visiting www.theinformation.com and clicking the big red button on the top right, then picking one of the subscription options, entering your name and email, creating your account, and paying.

This is a refreshing change. The Information is 100% unapologetic about subscriptions. Unlike most other news sites, there are no free articles until you hit a monthly limit and then a “paywall,” that odious term.

The only way to read The Information without paying is if a subscriber shares an article. Which is very easy, the second attribute I like about their software—and the key attribute of any software product.

As a subscriber, you can also give anyone a 25% discount on their subscription. Just as easily, you can make everyone in your team a subscriber at a discounted price.

The Information also offers Android and iOS apps. The app is the easiest way to read The Information, with an appealing design (freshly renovated) that brings up new articles but also lets you follow the sections and writers you like over time.

I’ve been a subscriber of The Information for years and something different from my other subscriptions is that the software tries to upsell me to a “pro” version of their product featuring the org charts of dozens of tech companies and other benefits.

My subscription is not cheap, so I haven’t taken the upgrade yet, but I do know the benefits of the Pro version. If I ever have a pressing need to know the names of anyone in those org charts, I know where to get them.

Ben Cohen of the Wall Street Journal recently wrote that Americans are spending billions in subscriptions they forget to cancel. The Information reminds me to spend more instead. That is why I called their software “effective,” its third and final feature I like.

Founder and CEO Jessica E. Lessin said on her podcast last month that prospective news startup founders keep asking her for advice. That speaks about her leadership of a business that has had a tough time going online.

When Lessin started The Information ten years ago, it was not obvious that subscriptions were a viable business model for news media. As you can see on the chart on top, The New York Times’ subscriptions revenue had only just crossed 50% of their total revenue, and that counted print subscriptions.

Ten years later, her business model choice looks prescient. To take one example from publicly available data, subscriptions now account for 68% of the NYT revenue, and almost all its growth: 50% since 2013. Today the NYT has over 10 million subscribers, nearly all digital only.

Meanwhile, their advertising revenue has continually decreased and last year accounted for 21% of NYT’s total revenue. Lessin said that it’s not clear that The Information’s approach can work for other media outlets, but she built the ideal software for it.

This was issue 4 of Else, a weekly newsletter with alternative software reviews. I’ll be back next week with a review of Expedia. Was this message forwarded? Subscribe!