Have you sat down recently and worked out how many subscriptions your family are paying for on a monthly basis and then annualised it - I have and on top of all my other utility bills, council tax etc it's quite scary how subconsciously I've lost sight of how all these outgoings has crept up?
I'm pretty sure there's a software house out there currently working on an App that helps you monitor usage and value from each of these subscriptions - if not there should be!
It's obvious that the rights and license owners of the content we all want to consume from Movies, TV shows, and Sport need to be able to support the cost. After all we still pay for Cinema,Theatre, and Match Day tickets so why not?.
Personally speaking I pay for a family package for 'Netflix', 'Spotify' and even 'mobile phones' and just for those I'm paying circa £120 a month - £1440 per year. If I add in all the other stuff that seems to just go out of the bank account I'm sure I would be a lot more vigilant.
Have you also noticed how many companies use headline clickbait to get you to to view 'gated' content. This is the stuff that draws you in, gives you free access to a few articles and then blocks you out unless you pay the subscription demand.
We still see brands and companies who choose to promote the latest 'white paper' on 'how to boil your kettle quicker than ever before' - does this still work today - not the kettle thingy but the 'White Paper'?.
In exchange for access they require your personal info in the form of e-mail, title, number of employees, inside leg measurement and where you went on holiday with Auntie Beryl when you were twelve - this is the currency exchange that we're all sleepwalking into and many of us are totally unaware of the real cost.
Here's a few tips that might help you to change behaviour, save you and your family some of that hard earned income and in turn might just nudge these companies to consider an alternative way forwards.
1) Cancel ahead of time: Many of us wait until the last minute to cancel a subscription, but there is generally no drawback to ending payments ahead of time.
2) Audit your subscriptions: Subscription charges can easily be overlooked when they carry generic labels like “Amazon” or “Google.”
Opportunity?
How big a ‘Star Wars’ & 'Indiana Jones' fan are you?
Here's something that caught my attention and whilst is still in need of fine tuning provides a glimmer of hope for all of those brands and streaming companies wanting to remain 'front of mind', add value, involve the consumer, and NOT be intrusive......
If you want to see how it all started long before 'Episode One' or 'The Temple of Doom', this is one way to get the kids (and you) to find hidden content from a short movie spin off from what is a global movie franchise phenomenon..
If you would like to find out more, please contact the author of this blog.
Our spending on digital subscriptions is likely to only rise as more of our possessions become connected to the internet, like our television sets, home security systems and cars. At the same time, it will become harder and harder to keep track of all of the services we pay for.
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