SPIN Magazine and Spin.com have launched a digital subscription based magazine for the iPad that offers all the news and reviews from Spin.com - but also adds subscription based content from the magazine, pairs it with streaming music to add the experience, and gives you the ability to listen to songs straight from the app itself.
These are the sorts of innovative ideas that will launch New Media into the future, a fantastic concept from a music magazine. Instead of simply offering a digital version of the print magazine, or offering exclusive content which isn't particular interactive, they've gone a step further, an interactive and user-based experience, which is built perfectly for the iPad environment.
The free app will feature a steady mix of news and articles from Spin.com for no cost, which is what you'd expect from any basic app. For $1.99 an issue (or $7.99 annually), you'll receive your SPIN Play subscription which gives you all the content of the print version, however you'll get something that the print users wont, 60-plus songs and 30-plus exclusive videos.
Boosting the popularity and notoriety of the bands and artists that they interview and feature is obviously paramount to the magazine. Moving forward into digital content delivery like this will definitely help. It also sets a benchmark for websites, magazines and newspapers from here on out. The possibilities to feature digital media content on a monthly subscription basis certainly isn't a new concept, but pairing it with the ease of use of the iPad, the want for instant-media delivery, and to do it at a price point that competes with the print version is definitely setting a new standard.
I for one look forward to the new digital playground that this could start, and hope that most other publishers who are thinking of launching digital versions, or even current publishers looking towards the next best upgrade for future versions, should look to Spin Play as an example of 'doing it right'.
