Spotify-style product for digital magazines to launch in UK

Swedish company Readly has announced plans to launch a Spotify-style product for UK magazines next month, offering consumers a range of digital magazines for a low subscription fee.

Backed by the Professional Publishers Association (PPA), the move into the UK follows a successful launch in Sweden in 2012. ‘The New Way to Read’ app offers an all-you-can-read magazine service for £9.99 a month, set to roll out globally through the rest of the year.

Readly streamlines the digital publishing process by utilising the same files that are already prepared for print versions of magazines, allowing for publishers to expand their consumer outreach with no additional infrastructure.

Figures from the PPA, the UK magazine industry’s trade association, suggest that digital magazine sales still account for fewer than 2% of total paid-for copy sales, despite the increasing penetration of tablets and smartphones.

“Readly will offer UK consumers a new proposition for magazines; one which we believe will add real scale and presence to what publishers are already doing themselves individually,” said Barry McIlheney, CEO of the PPA.

“We are delighted that Readly has come to the UK and we welcome them as our key digital partner for the year ahead.”