Welcome back to Subscriptions Weekly! We've got some piping hot updates in the world of subscriptions and streaming. Twitch is cranking up its prices for the first time ever, Meta finds itself at odds with privacy advocates, the average person in the US is shelling out close to a grand each year on streaming platforms, and Amazon Prime Video subscribers are pushing back against broken promises of an 'ad-free' experience.​​

Some folks are about to feel a little twitch in their wallets

For the first time ever, subscription fees are going up for friends in the UK, Canada, Australia, and Turkey. Twitch, now under Amazon's wing, is trying to keep up with ‌rising costs and currency changes. Here's the silver lining: even though prices are going up, streamers will still get the same cut in ‌revenue. Read more on Engadget.

Should access to privacy be a luxury only for those who can pay?

28 organizations are challenging Meta's new move, a subscription service in Europe that puts a price tag on privacy. While Meta says they're just meeting users' wishes, privacy advocates worry we're splitting the digital world in two. It's privacy vs. profit—what's your take? Read more on Reuters.

Some of us are spending nearly a grand a year to binge-watch 

Bango recently did a survey and found out that the average American spends about $77 a month on streaming services; that adds up to $924 a year! Nearly half of those surveyed wish they could hit pause on their subscriptions; people want options and flexibility. Read more on Forbes.

Ad free…not really

Prime Video subscribers signed up thinking it would be ad-free, but Amazon showed ads  anyway. Now, users have to pay extra to skip those ads, which they didn’t see as part of the deal when they signed up. Read more on Fast Company.

📣 Save your spot! Let’s talk about subscription packing and pricing with the experts

Join us on March 7th as leading consumer pricing experts share tactical strategies to maximize subscription revenue. Learn how to strategically set prices for both new and existing subscribers—while adopting a flexible pricing approach—and explore the power of technology to enable personalization within pricing and packaging. Register here for the Subscription pricing & packaging virtual event.

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Uncover benchmarks and predictions drawn from Recurly’s database of more than 2,200 global brands and 58 million unique subscribers in our The 2024 State of Subscriptions report, crafted to provide unique insights and trends to guide your growth strategy in 2024. Download the report.

From the Recurly blog