Yep, that's fine by me.

I just subscribed (again).

The blog/podcast combo here is so valuable to me. I'm amazed I've got it all for nothing so far!

It's such a fabulous treat of inspiring communication with loopy absurd and passionate people who all recognise that apart from the drudge and routine rigmarole of our existence, whether it be work, kids or dealing with people who like U2, we need to share our stuff and talk about it.

That's all I have to say.

I understand the business rationale. But I have to 'fess up and say I'm a little peeved.

I live in the States - it isn't 50 quid, it's 64; which is about $100.
I've bought most issues over the last few years - but I always had the option to NOT get one if the material inside didn't appeal.

I've got, and listened to, all the Podcasts. I used them as my "you should listen to this and buy the magazine sometime" tool occasionally.
My reactionary, um, reaction is that I can't see the return on the technology investment. The Podcasts are high quality - but they always were. Nothing's changed for me in terms of the Podcast, and now I'm going to have to subscribe. Not going to lie, not entirely happy about that

My previous post notwithstanding.

I paid for the subscription.
I look for the information to make sure I can update to get the podcast.

New magazine, with the required information will arrive 6 - 8 weeks.
But I don't want to wait that long to be able to update my details to be able to get the podcast. Account number and subscriber number would appear to be different things

Does this mean I have to wait for my first subscription copy to arrive?

*gets prepared to seethe*

Couldn't go without the Word podcast..so I'll guess I'll subscribe to the mag..seems fair to me..

This, to me, makes perfect sense. Far more than the owners of the app getting it 24 hours early. Hear hear, frankly. As you were.

No probs with that as I haven;t got an app type phone so couldn't get it early.

Let's hear it for the subscribers!

(as they are probably saying in France). The change in podcast availability makes perfect sense to me.

Now, when can I get a discounted rate on a three year subscription?

...so it makes no difference to me. Happy with whatever you want to do.

Can I just check though, will the link we get still work with as a right-click-save-as option? I find iTunes a bit clunky so I just download the mp3s direct from the feedburner in my browser (the link via the 'Podcast' tab - http://feeds2.feedburner.com/WordPodcast )

Cheers.

Expect a robust email enquiry.

*flounces off in huff*

and I'm a subscriber, so no complaints from me.

Would I be right in thinking the app will only give the free 15 min version - any plans to develop it with subscriber content as well? I have to say I don't find the app a convenient way to listen to the podcast, just wondering what its place is in the new scheme of things.

It's 80 quid to have it sent to where I live... Local postal service is unreliable. Chances of actually receiving the magazine are 50/50; and that's being optimistic.

Do not own an iPhone, iPad, or iPod Touch... so no Word app for me.

As I've suggested several times before: why not offer another option to purchase the podcast? I wouldn't mind paying the same amount that you charge for the app...

Oh well... it was fun while it lasted.

I've bought every issue since No2 but don't subscribe simply because I have a tiny postbox and I'm sick of schlepping to the Hornsey Road sorting office to pick up parcels no bigger than a spider's top hat. And my feckless postman sometimes just leaves parcels on the doorstop.

I have to say, I really enjoy the podcasts. Still wading through them since last year, I'm up to the Brits 2007 autopsy show but fast forward to the recent ones.

I entirely understand, with all the effort that goes into them, why they have made this decision. If the app doesn't work out, I'll subscribe and get a bigger postbox.

Will all the old podcasts still be available to download free?

...you generated - it says it doesn't appear to be a valid podcast URL.

I'm going to have to get this bigger postbox, aren't I?

I subscribed to the podcast via Blackberry Podcast. Do I input the subscription number on my Blackberry or if I do it on my laptop will the info register the Blackberry subscription?

The podcasts have been offering up a far greater ratio of guests to just Word staff shooting the breeze. Kind of felt it was leading to something and fair play, you are a business and it's a business decision. Subscriptions are THE lifeblood of the magazine industry as Dave has said on many occasions.
I have never subscribed to a magazine before but what you are offering is value for money for my lifestyle. I have an iPad now and listen to podcasts regularly and for a tenner every three months, I will go for it.
I can understand why it will feel like a cheap shot to other loyal listeners but you can't please all the people all the time and for the sake of the magazine and the community it engenders I hope it works out.

...with this. Preferable to some heavy handed sponsorship approach and hopefully it'll boost the subscriber numbers a bit. I've always seen my subscription as a membership to Club Word and not just a magazine plopping on the mat each month. I may not always read the mag from cover to cover, I rarely play the CDs but I really enjoy the blog and always listen to the podcast so I still feel my money is well spent each year. Far more than the outlay on weekend papers that I ditched 18 mths ago anyway.

The only downside for me is that I'm not sure how I will be able to download the podcast to my iPhone should I choose. Usually it goes via iTunes on my PC to my iPod but I am increasingly bypassing my PC and getting the iPhone to pick it up off iTune Music Store directly. Any thoughts?

Why should you give away hours of wittertainment? You're not the BBC.
There's plenty of free stuff out there for those that want it, including this lovely website.
Yours, happy subscriber in Brum

..I immediately had nightmare flashbacks to when the favourite comics of my youth had "exciting news" on their final cover which usually meant the mag was effectively over due to merging with an inferior sister comic, but with only 2 of it's original strips being briefly kept on. So I should be grateful Word isn't merging with the NME I guess...

Sketchily employed former public sector work I am a bit dismayed by this move can' t blame you for trying to earn a shilling but for various reasons can't run to subscription at the moment. Will add it to the list of things I use to enjoy before the recession.

I used to be a subscriber, then when I tried to renew my subscription on line it wouldn't go through for some reason. Then there was a run of Words I didn't much like (...best quiz show hosts FFS) and I just didn't get around to doing it. So this has prompted me to do it, finally. I think the package of mags, CDs, podcast, website etc is a bargain really. Just not too much shite TV coverage, eh!

...about the likelihood of our producing the magazine for Kindle or iPad in the near future. The short answer is not in the immediate future. It would be costly to produce these kind of versions and at this stage the user base would be very small.

We have limited resources and can only spend them on a limited number of things: we've chosen to make those the magazine, the site and the podcast because we know that people like them. If we were to start doing more of something else we'd have to do less of the things we already do.

We'd love to think we could do things another way but that time isn't now.

I've bought every issue of your excellent magazine since it launched. Although I buy several others, yours is the only mag that I read from cover to cover every month. Likewise I listen to every podcast and other than the equally great AnswerMeThis you're the only one where I wait for it to be released and listen to it religiously.

I can see that costs (both time and resource) must be an issue for the podcast and I've got no problem at all with paying, but my concern relates to the subscription-only model. I can see from your perspective that subs must be by far the easiest to manage from a budgetary point of view (fixed income with no returns, etc.) However, I live in a small, East Yorkshire village where the local shop struggles to survive. As such, I try to buy my magazines and newspapers from them. I know that I can save money by subscribing (this has always been the case), but I choose not to in order to support the local economy. I see it as no different to buying from a local bookshop/record store where possible (although admittedly both of these are becoming increasingly difficult as they all die out.)

Is there genuinely no chance of a podcast-only subscription? I'd happily pay a tenner a year just for that and carry on supporting the local guy as well.

Either way, thanks for a brilliant mag and podcast. Whatever the response to this I will carry on reading for as long as you carry on producing.

Cheers,
Mark.

Understand your rationale for this move and hope that the new subscribers that you pick up fund it.

In years gone by I bought every issue, but like a lot of people I find that I have had to cut back on life's little luxuries (even ones that sometimes feel as compulsory as Word). So I now have to be judicious in my purchasing on your mag (to put it into perspective I can just about stretch to either a new cd or a copy of Word each month, rarely both). Whilst a subscription is a tempting thought, I'm afraid it's out of my financial reach at present.

Oh well. It was fun whilst it lasted.

I have cut back my magazine buying by subscribing to the periodicals I enjoy (Word, M*jo, Big Uns Monthly) and stops me impulse buying stuff that I really don't need. Yes the local WHSmiths has lost a customer but my bank balance and groaning magazine racks are better off.

Do you cut down on beer or the The Word you hear? Its a big decision in a town called Malice

Actually very disappointed.

I have bought every magazine form the off. Currently they are hiding from the GLW in a corner of my attic.

For 2 years I was a subscriber and my rationale was to directly support Word as it was the kind of magazine I wanted to continue to read, and I was very much aware of the difficulties in keeping a niche product on the shelves.

I even bought your iphone app. Again to support The Word. (I like what you do obviously).

However,

I live in Dublin. And as with any of the Rep Of Ireland subscribers I got my magazine 2/3/4 weeks later or, sometimes not at all.

Despite many notes on the blog on this issue, to this day (3 years later)nothing has changed.

This is the reason I STOPPED being a subscriber.

Which is a real bugbear when the magazine is actually in the shops here the same day it goes on sale in the UK.

So for me to listen to the podcast I will have to revert to getting my issue 3 or 4 weeks late or as I said previously not at all.

If you can confirm that the subscriptions issue has been sorted I'm in, however if not, unfortunately I will be pod-casting elsewhere as I would rather picking up the magazine when it comes out rather than the so called speedy subscriber way.

That is all.

Sorry, but where in Itunes do I paste the URL?

It's a quality podcast and a valued enhancement to the Word experience. A good business move that should turn waverers into subscribers and expand the Massive (and your income).

Of course, you'll need to hire a bigger boat next time...

I don't get my podcast via desktop iTunes, I do it direct on my iPhone using the iTunes store app, which doesn't have anywhere to enter a URL. How can I continue to do this under the new regime? Or can't I? iPhones are going PC Free tomorrow y'know, I don't want to have to start syncing with the blimmin' thing every week.

Carrying on with the lag-related questions above, are there any Canadian subscribers who can report the turnaround time for subscription copies? Currently, my local shop on the East Coast (who I'm still keen to support) gets the magazine four- to six-weeks after the cover appears online.

I can understand the business rationale here - costs versus direct returns etc. but I can't help thinking that The Word is breaking what has been a good promotional vehicle for the magazine.

I subscribed for a bit but, like many commentators above, ultimately preferred to buy the mag on an ad-hoc basis and I won't be subscribing simply to get the podcast - surely the magazine has to justify its subscription on its own merits.

However, I've lost count of the number people I've introduced to The Word via the free podcast and the (currently) free "Something For The Weekend" email.

I hope that this strategy works out for The Word as I'm still a big fan of what you do and represent but also hope that you increase your subs enough via this route to cover the word of mouth sales/subs you won't now get the old way.

Tried to get the podcast on HTC wildfire using my subscription number. I am fraid it does not work. Even searching for 'Word Magazine' does not produce a result. However I have got the podcast via itunes and Lemon. But I did like the idea of staight to phone.

I have the URL so please tell me where it goes in itunes?

I have been both a purchaser of the magazine and a listener to the podcast since the very first editions of both and over the years they have been a very big part of my life.

I have never subscribed for the following reasons:
* Initially at least the cost for overseas (Irish) subscribers did not amount to a saving on the price from the newsagents.
* Possibly naively I felt that if I (and people like me) did not purchase Word at my local Easons they might cease to stock it and so new readers would never have the pleasure of the mag that I care so much about.
* Not so naively I feel that we should (particularly here in Ireland and particularly now) support our City Centres. As the retail sector is under such pressure that my hometown at least is in danger of becoming a ghost town. For that reason as well I rarely use online retailers for items that are available locally.

I don't see those reasons changing and while I understand the commercial realities that have forced you to make this decision I can't help feel slightly resentful as a long-standing and loyal supporter of Word.

I don't expect that the 15min tasters will be an adequate substitute as I expect it will like tantalizing glimpses of a party to which we are no longer invited. It seems that for the first time in the magazine's history a barrier has been placed at the heart of the community between the subscribers and those of us who prefer to publicly buy our favourite magazine.

Sorry if I seem ungrateful I'm not but I wouldn't be human if I wasn't a little fed up.

but I understand completely. I always wondered how so many podcasts (Grauniad Football Weekly) etc could be provided free and I think your move will ultimately be followed by others. Don't, and won't subscribe because of a)above-mentioned postbox inadequacy and b)I don't necessarily want to buy every single issue. Thanks for what's been (in the main) some very enjoyable listening.

I buy about four issues a year, I listen to the occasional podcast usually the guest ones
I would view the podcast as primarily a promotional tool for the magazine and for whatever your guests are selling, on the strength of those guest podcasts i've bought Alex Ross book and the feel goods DVD , I prob wouldn't have otherwise. I'm not going to ever be a subscriber (for various reasons, mostly to do with time) so now your guests will not be able to promote their product to the likes of me. There's plenty of other places to go for similar broadcasts/interviews for no charge, I just think you're overestimating the value of the podcast and if you're going to put a price on it you might lose the spontaneous nature of it, isn't one of the podcast's jingles "it's not supposed to be professional"?
Anyway, hope it goes well for you , i'll still be dipping in to your excellent mag and blog, thanks

Could anyone clarify how I get the podcast on my i-phone.
Having scanned the thread above do I have to do anything or, as I paid for my app earlier, do I carry on receiving the app without doing anything else?
(when I follow the instructions from the word website it refers to clicking on the 'blue +' which I can't see!)

I am a long time subscriber and have paid for the app

any chance of a podcast only subscription in the future?

I have no problem with it being subscriber only but in the week when iPhone finally went PC-free it seems like a rash approach to expect people to plug in their phone each week to a PC. Really unhappy. How about making a subscriber only app? BUT it must have downloadable podcasts. Streaming in the big city doesn't work. I'm happy to pay you guys money but this is a step backwards for loyal customers who will have to mess about to get their podcast (that they are now actually paying for!)

I've just re-subscribed (after a period being podcast only - bad, bad me...)

It says it'll be around 8 weeks or so before I get my first issue - does this mean that in the meantime I can't keep up to date with the podcasts?

Cheers!

John

I'm a subscriber and I've rallied others into subscribing.

However there will still be the people who only buy the mag when they browse the contents at some railway station or don't have the cash for a sub and buy two or three a year when funds allow.

We seem to be excluding these people from an essential part of the magazine.

It's also another kick at the retail industry, I was in the news trade at the beginning of the Mag's life and promoted it rampantly and was delighted when it had a great month.

Whilst understanding the need to get a regular revenue stream, even less sales in the retail trade will just have a reverse effect to what you are trying to do.

Less Sales, less people stock it, less chance of converting new readers.

The podcast was really popular with non buyers I assume, but if only a percentage of these are hooked into buying the magazine for just one issue, it's done it's job, it's one issue at street price.

Is there not a way to allow buyers of any issue from a shop to get that month's podcast/s.

Maybe email and get an automated question about something in the mag and then a temporary code.

That way they may get hooked to either podcast or value of the mag and you can push the subscription of the mag again, you've paid blah blah blah and you can get it on subscription for way less etc etc.