By Raju Mudhar Staff Reporter Sat., Nov. 10, 2018 Every company dreams of being the next Netflix or Spotify, but it can be hard out there for an app. Lured by the promise of monthly payments coming in forever, they may not realize how difficult it is to make the all-you-can-consume subscription model work. The perfect example: going to the theatre to catch a flick. Moviepass is the cautionary tale here. Only available in the U.S., the company has popularized the idea of an all-you-can-watch plan for cinemagoers but has also showed how hard it is to actually execute. Moviepass tried different plans, like a $99-a-month deal, which gained some traction and customers. Then a new executive took over and cut prices to just 10 bucks a month. Membership exploded, as did the company’s debt — because Moviepass still paid the full price of every customer’s ticket to theatres. Users started facing resistance from several theatre chains, and restrictions on what movies they could watch and when. The company continues to struggle, spun out last month for potential sale by its parent company. While all this was happening, Sinemia, which originated in Turkey but now is headquartered in Los Angeles, was offering a similar product, but it has tried to keep a more sustainable path. It mostly stuck to tiered plans, like $17.99 for two movies a month. Like Moviepass, Sinemia is on the hook to theatres for the full price of the ticket. Article Continued Below In September, Sinemia… [Read full story]
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