Scribd to change from unlimited to credit-based subscription model

The US-based reading subscription platform Scribd—which offers formats including magazines, ebooks and audiobooks through its Everand reading platform and announced its Australian launch in 2021—is moving away from its unlimited subscription model, reports Publishers Weekly (PW).

PW reported that the platform will launch a credit-based system, ‘offering expanded access to titles from all five major trade publishers’.

The new service, set to roll out in the US today, will provide access to more than 1.5 million ebooks and audiobooks through two subscription tiers: a ‘standard’ plan, priced at US$11.99 (A$18.20) monthly (for one premium title), and a ‘plus’ plan, priced at US$16.99 ($25.80) monthly.

Scribd head of global content partnerships Greg Voynow said the platform will now receive new releases simultaneously with their market release, eliminating previous windowing restrictions. Voynow said the company felt the move to the new model was better for publishers overall. ‘We want publishers to understand that we are truly pivoting to a model that respects the value as they see it of all their content.’

Category: International news