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Plus Article - By Thomas Baekdal - February 2023

The problems with password sharing

This is an archived version of a Baekdal/Plus newsletter. It is sent out about once per week and features insights for journalists, editors, and audience engagement managers. If you want to get the next one, subscribe to Baekdal/Plus.

I was listening to an episode of the Media Voices Podcast (always a delight), and they talked about the problems of password sharing. This is, of course, a topic that has gained much awareness lately because of Netflix. After they started experiencing a drop in subscribers, and also realizing that a massive number of their users were sharing their passwords with friends and family, they have been on a quest to try to fix this.

The most interesting part about this is what is called a sub-account where, if Netflix detects that a password is being shared, they give the account owner the chance to buy a lower-price sub account for those they share it with (at about 25%-43% of the normal cost).

As Netflix said:

Buy an extra member: Members on our Standard or Premium plan in many countries (including Canada, New Zealand, Portugal and Spain) can add an extra member sub account for up to two people they don't live with - each with a profile, personalized recommendations, login and password - for an extra CAD$7.99 a month per person in Canada, NZD$7.99 in New Zealand, Euro 3.99 in Portugal, and Euro 5.99 in Spain.

Now, it's still way too early to tell whether this model will actually work. The initial signs are promising, and I also note that it is very interesting that just asking people to pay is an important part of getting people to do this (something we as publishers have also learned).

 
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Baekdal is a magazine for media professionals, focusing on media analysis, trends, patterns, strategy, journalistic focus, and newsroom optimization. Since 2010, it has helped publishers in more than 40 countries, including big and small publishers like Condé Nast, Bonnier, Schibsted, NRC, and others, as well as companies like Google and Microsoft.

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This is an archived version of a Baekdal/Plus newsletter. It is sent out about once per week and features insights for journalists, editors, and audience engagement managers. If you want to get the next one, subscribe to Baekdal/Plus.

 
 
 

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Thomas Baekdal

Founder, media analyst, author, and publisher. Follow on Twitter

"Thomas Baekdal is one of Scandinavia's most sought-after experts in the digitization of media companies. He has made ​​himself known for his analysis of how digitization has changed the way we consume media."
Swedish business magazine, Resumé

 

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