Welcome back to Subscriptions Weekly! This time, we review the future of digital payments and the importance of well-structured, secure, and personalized experiences. We also check on Spotify’s Q3 results, Apple’s price increase, Netflix’s gaming strategy to improve acquisition, and X’s upcoming premium tiers. 

Payments innovation starts with infrastructure and ends with personalized experiences

The payments landscape is undergoing a profound transformation, driven by ongoing digitization and shifting behavioral expectations. This modernization is increasingly taking place on both sides of the transaction. But the sharing of data, both as it relates to the payment itself and to the identity of the payer and payee, needs to be sensitively and securely handled. Learn more on PYMNTS.

Spotify turns a profit in Q3 as total users, gross margins beat expectations

The streaming service turned a profit in the third quarter with a net income of 65 million euros. This was the company's first quarterly profit in over a year. It follows recent price hikes coupled with lower-than-expected costs related to personnel and marketing spend. Profit was also boosted by strong margins, with the company delivering gross margins of 26.4%. Read more on Yahoo!

Apple TV Plus is getting a price hike—and other Apple subscriptions are, too

Apple is raising the prices of several of its services. Apple TV Plus is going from $6.99/month to $9.99/month. Instead of $4.99/month, Apple Arcade will now cost $6.99/month, Apple News Plus $12.99/month. With all three services getting price increases, that means the Apple One bundle is going up as well. Read more on The Verge. 

Netflix leverages fan enthusiasm to sidestep gaming’s subscriber acquisition challenges

The streaming giant is taking advantage of its subscribers’ affinity for many of its content to create an audience for its gaming business in an effort to sidestep players in the space’s typical difficulties acquiring consumers. Netflix had previously announced that it was rolling out a limited beta test of games to a select number of members. Learn more on PYMNTS.

X to launch two new premium tiers soon

X owner Elon Musk tweeted that the company plans to launch two new tiers of Premium subscription. It's unclear whether these tiers will replace its current paid subscription tier, or if they'll be added as a second and third option. Learn more.

📣 Last chance to register: The secrets to profitable subscription growth

Join industry leaders from @Conde Nast, @CNBC, @WBD, and more world-renowned brands in this multi-session virtual summit. Uncover the latest strategies to unlock profitable growth and long-term subscriber relationships. RSVP now.

📅 Subscription gifting: Everything you need to know

Our latest survey shows that 53% of gift givers and 51% of recipients are considering subscriptions as presents this year. How much will they spend? How can you turn one-time gift recipients into long-term consumers after a gift subscription expires? Check out the report.

From the Recurly blog

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