The new subscriber price is £42 as well.

Looks like the Suits and the Groovers at Word Inc drink in different pubs. Cards are being marked and I'm happy to wait for the dust to settle.

The Man.

of those building society ads. Special offers for first time buyers only! Maybe the extra cash goes on a "bit of bubbly for the shareholders nmeeting"!

..and it was £38 by direct debit.

I don't have any issue with the subscribers' price. I have taken advantage of offers for advance payment and there's great savings to be made that way.

What I don't understand though is the need to produce the Special Edition cover. It looks great and all, but it must have additional cost and frankly it would make zero difference to my decision to subscribe or not. Is it really worth doing it?

Why do Development Hell insist on a mobile phone number? And by insist I mean that it's a mandatory field on the webform with a mask to ensure a valid entry. The only way I could get round it was to start 07 .... then keep filling in '7's until I had the required number of digits.
I don't have a mobile, I don't want a mobile and I actively dislike mobiles, but even if I did have one why would I want to supply the number in order to subscribe to a magazine? What business is it of Development Hell's what my number is, and how dare they be so insistent that it is supplied?

We're able to offer a years subscription for £36 because we are not offering a gift this month. We wanted to see if a better price offer was more attractive than a gift CD.
As retailers are demanding more and more cash from us just to be on the newsstand, subscriptions are becomming our most important way of distributing the magazine.
Each month we try lots of diffent offers to entice people to subscribe for the first time. We hope that, once subscribed, it is recognised that £42 for 12 issues, 12 CD's, a web site, weekly newsletter and weekly podcast is good value. (it saves you 25% on the cover price and we have to at least try and make a buck!)
Subscribers are the most important part of our business and we really REALLY value the support. We constantly need new recruits to protect us from the supermarkets.
Any ideas welcome?

Believe me, we're not trying to rip anyone off. The standard subs price is £42 (see p.62 of issue 68, the Lennon issue) but recruiting new subscribers is a constant struggle for all magazines and we've always made special offers to get new people to sign up.

In past issues this has meant a free album, to new subscribers only. This month we are trying a cut-price offer to see if that works. £36 isn't the standard price: it's a cut price and it costs us money. As you know we are a small publishing company in a sea of well-funded competitors, so we don't have a lot of room to manoeuvre, but we try to make our subs rates as good value as we possibly can.

Regarding the £38 direct debit option which Stan and Ferris mentioned, I have to confess ignorance (I'm one of the "creatives") but if KGB rings our subs dept on 01795 592 853 they will be able to explain.

I hope this helps, and believe me, if you could see the state of this office you'd know we're not exactly spending the proceeds of subs on pet peacocks and expensive Scandinavian furniture.

Okay we have a much needed saving on the cover price. Special edition thanks - but do I need to see more of Guy Garvey's gurning fizzog?

Follow the lead set by airlines or credit card companies. Access to The Word lounge at assorted airports, free use of The Word Club whenever we are down in London and The Word limousine to ferry us between record stores. If we happen to pop into The Word Towers, free lunch and use of The Word masseuse.

Just don't offer us a free Word T-Shirt, I don't suit them. Would I be right in thinking the next issue will be the Christmas issue? Hint hint...

Why is it an extra £26 for a subscription to me here in France yet £30 extra to USA and Canada. Has nobody from Word Towers ever popped down to the Post Office? Do they just make up these figures on the back of a fag packet? They don't make any sense.

Getting quicker and quicker to read, methinks. If time is money, thanks for saving me money. Beginning to weigh up the worth of saving even more time, guys.
And don't get at me, many have been dropping that hint or 3 over the summer......

I called the subscription hot line (0844 one). They didnt know about this offer and wouldnt give it to me. Seems that its only for new subscribers who have a different number to call. The sub hot line does not have the latest version of the Magazine so couldnt confirm the price.

Reminscent of those Nationwide adverts.

As someone said it gives you pause for thought as the quality has been going down over the summer, particularly the CD reviews which are now not much of a guide to buying. Does the average Word reader prioritise reviews of Keane and Kaiser Chiefs (or the mystifying hip hop reviews of Kano (mcuh better when he was with Arsenal)over Bob Dylan. Are we trying to be down with the kids?

KGB

It is so much easier to get the news and wotnot online. While I might not want to read the review of the Kaiser's new CD, in the past such a review would have pointed out there was a new CD imminent. Nowadays I get a newsletter from The Chiefs with competitions, advanced ticket booking, song previews and special releases.

Interesting feature in T'Word about Rob Gretton's notebooks but not exclusive as I was sent a pre-release email from the publishers.

The Word should do what The Word does best; incisive journalism with a great big dollop of banter and good humour. Encore!

Didn't know it was so important until Jerry made it clear earlier. I'll sign up straight away - £40 odd a month for the mag, website, pod, etc. is very good value I believe.

from David Hepworth was good with the latest issue, I have not actually moaned about cover stars and beards since.
Er...that was sent to everyone and not just me wasn't it..!?

....for the company of you lot on the interweb - and a chance to exchange frivolities and serious thoughts with the great and good of The Word. How many other websites let you chat with the editor etc regularly? My musical horizons were pretty broad BW (before Word)but you lot (including Word staff) have suggested stuff that has taken it way further and much pleasure has been had as a result.

.....for my weekly decompression podcast. I always listen on a Friday evening on my way home. Always at least "smile out loud" moment during it (and a laugh is guaranteed if Messrs Ellen & Hepworth are in tandem)and when I leave work its the end of the working week but by the time I'm through the podcast and home it definitely feels like the start of the weekend.

.....for the weekly "something for the weekend" newsletter. There's always something on it I've missed. And it amuses me that it arrives on the Thursday & I like to imagine the Word staff heading for their country estates as its pinged off, broken shotguns across their arms.

.....for a magazine that 1) has a cover letter that I look forward to almost as much as the magazine itself (excellent this month, David), and, which 2) consistently delivers new twists and turns, is well written and is produced with a great sense of interest and fun and 3) lasts me just over a month - the arrival of the new edition always forces me to finish the magazine (I have it next to the loo, which is possibly too much detail but explains my reading patterns. I also tend to read it the most having stumbled in from the pub so most articles have to be re-read in the month!)

...& all for 11.5p a day (11.47p in a leap year).

Come on boys, and occassional girl, you will lose that much down the back of the sofa each day.

Lets get this into perspective - Word is indeed a fantastic magazine, podcast and way of life. Its a snip at those prices. And lawd how we'd miss it if it went the way of those "Found in the attic" titles featured this month.

PS I am not related to anyone at the Word.

I'm a very happy customer too, although the Keane, Kaiser Chiefs bits were a bit worrying - I hope it's not a tatse of things to come! And, as I mentioned above, I'm refusing to complain about Elbow being on the cover...however, I thought the latest issue was excellent.

If I subscribe a couple of days before the new edition hits the shops what's the first issue I get?

and it irks me that people assume that its a rip off. Not just that, but the publisher and writers actually take the time to explain. What happened to manners? Just ask a polite question and then form an opinion based upon the answers.

Unlike the Word team, I bet the BBC don't respond to my question re. George Lamb anywhere near as openly and they're a bloody public service.

I feel better now.

If I don't have a subscription what threat can I dangle in front of them.

"If you don't give a favourable review to the long-awaited CD to be released by Dave Stewart & Barbara Gaskin in March 2009 I will cancel my subscription forthwith..."

Harrumph.

To subscribe here in Oz, I'd have to flog a couple of guitars and my first born.

Its the same here in Singapore. I've dabbled with subscriptions to Q, Mojo and Empire in the past when I first moved out here but in the end it simply wasn't worth it. I found that not only did it take ages to get here, issues went missing in the post, it was could actually work out cheaper to buy in our local HMV !

I would love to subscribe but at £80 for worldwide that works out at $206 in Singapore. I can pick up at HMV for $17.95 an issue - total $215 for 12 issues. I can usually find in HMV within 2 weeks of the publishing date in the UK and so for a saving of $9 (£3.50) a year, its just not worth it to fret about when it will turn up, whether this months will be missing etc etc.

Now if you ever do a PDF downloadable version, then sign me up.....

My Overseas is just to Dublin.

I did have a subscription which was taken out for 2 reasons.

1. To support the magazine when it was getting off the ground because everyone is aware that generating income asap is rather important for a new publication. Now the magazine is fairly well established and that particular reason doesn't really apply any more.

2. For convenience in getting my issues. Unfortunately my local shop had the magazine in stock almost 10 days before mine arrived in the post. I didn't mind that it was going to be later than the UK subscribers but not later that my local shop. Perhaps it was something to do with the issues coming from Switzerland (I think it was.) So when the renewal option came up I passed.

If you are saying that this is no longer an issue then I will happily subscribe again.

I have no problem with issues getting lost in the post as such but a few did go astray during my year and the office were happy to send a replacement.

It's cheaper for me (in New York) to pick it up at my local Barnes and Noble bookstore than pay 72 pounds for it to arrive possibly a few days earlier.

Reading this thread, and seeing the responses of the management to it, has made me take the plunge and, as I have previously intended to do, take out a sub.

Long may the Word survive - and long may the blog be home to curmudgeons.

My renewal letter said subscribe for £40 by direct debit.

I called the subs line and they said it was £38. I didn't complain.

I've been a subscriber since about 2002 but I've never done a direct debit before, not sure why.

Hear hear, ya bloody arselicker

I have been a Word subscriber from pretty much day one, even though I work for the magazine and could, presumably, expect a free copy, especially when I have written nearly all of a particular issue. I joined up because it is a noble cause worth supporting in an age of increasing assumed illiteracy, big-pictures-and-no-words and focus-grouped blandness.

Development Hell, for all your occasional whinges, is a small, young, independent magazine publisher run by people who used to work for the "majors", and really deserves your loyalty - the most loyal act being a subscription. (I can say this, as I am a freelance operative, and do not work for the company directly.) I still subscribe to Mojo and Q, for old times' sake, and although their arrival means "Great! More potential words to read in the house!" there is no frisson any more. (I finally gave up the NME three weeks ago and life seems to have continued much as before.)

What you get with Word - and I speak as a reader - is something that's unlike other magazines. And that's worth paying for. You might not like every cover story or every track on every CD, but you'd fucking miss it if it was gone.

I'm sure The Word is feeling the pinch along with the rest of us. Printing costs up, advertising falling, newsagents cutting back. Hold firm chaps; we can see this through and make it to the other side. Looking at the clutter in your office photos you are in serious need of a car boot sale or, better still, an Ebay clearout.

You do realise it's all your own fault. You will become Music Magazine Of The Year. Now all the competition will be trying to beat you by whatever means possible. I'm sure, as we speak, they have a crack team of operatives rifling through your bins for the latest scoops and diverting the overseas subscriber issues to the nearest skip.

So with all the talent at your disposal in Word Towers I'm confident we loyal readers will be handed the equivalent of the Bush $70bn bailout plan to come to the aid of the good ship Word. Failing that, a celebrity-packed shindig for all your chums to put the smile back on the faces of your overwrought bankers.

I subscribed when Fleet Foxes was the gift CD. I would have subscribed if it had been cheaper or indeed any other CD because I came to a number of realisations.

I too was bored of indie landfill (the Fratelli's did it for me)I found myself buying more and more records from artists on now hear this and picking up records from the distant past based on the magazines articles and reviews. Word has undoubtedly broadened my cultural horizons and well, just opened my ruddy ears

I was on the website just about every day and listening to all the podcasts, The Word is indeed more than a magazine and since I've subscribed, dare I say it, I feel like part of the gang. I too love the fact that DH takes the trouble to write to us and the welcome message from Mark.

As Andrew said, I felt the Word deserved my support. I am a European subscriber and I would have paid more. I want the Word to have my upfront moolah to keep up the good work.

Having said that if it doesnt get to Antwerp by the 14th I will happily join the curmudgeons

I work in t'industry, and yer subs offer is about as good as it gets.

The customer service - namely coming on here and explaining their reasoning - is far, far above it.

Enjoy, or don't, but don't turn into flaming-pitchforked keyboard warriors over it...

As a longtime subscriber I have yet to receive my exclusive Andrew Harrison 2008 mousemat and drinks coaster set.

I am currently drinking tea out of last year's David Hepworth mug and wearing my Mark Ellen slippers from the 2006 special offer. If it was not for the promise of next year's special subscribers weekend in Brighton with Kate Mossman I would cancel my direct debit forthwith.

Keep up the good work. It could be worse. You could have gone to Iceland...

Love the mag, but finding out that new subs got a hefty discount to us renewers pisses me off. Never wanted the subscriber CD (usually already got), just a better deal - especially as I buy two subscriptions. I wanted to add a third for a mate, but was told I'd have to pony up the full whack - bollocks to that - haven't you guys heard of the cost of new customer acquisition? Here am I throwing money and loyalty at you. Oh well. Spleen vented...

How about a Kevin Coyne feature btw? I loved finding out the back story behind the Nick Drakes, Roy Harpers and John Martyns of this world back when as a new fan, facts were pretty scarce and one had to tread carefully round the back catalogues, but it's all a bit familiar territory now, what? KC still v unchartered territory. Got a feeling he wouldn't want the free CDs either...

1. We're only talking a few pounds either way here - but which ever way you look at it the whole package is very good value, and I'm not talking about comparison with other organs. 40 GBP is remarkable value when you think about it for 12 CDs, umpteen pages of features and reviews, 30+ hours of podcast etc etc.

2. Few magazines can boast a demographic that so enjoys debating postal contracts and supply-chain management.

Abso-fucking-lutely

Wise-up ye ingrates!

Has the global downtorun really got SO bad that you must bitch and moan and whine like little girls over a couple of quid? It's a magazine that does exactly what it says on the tin and does it well. If you don't like it, don't buy it, although I'm sure they wouldn't agree with that statment.

The personal input of the high heid-yins to this debate is marvelous and a sign of the true personality of this magazine.

Stop moaning.

Incredibly, this is what my girlfriend tells me she paid to renew my subscription as a birthday present. She secured this absurdly low price through a staff discount scheme offered by her employer.

I therefore hope that by sending The Word to me every month at £1.66 a copy you will not be losing any money. I'm thinking New Order and the 12" single of Blue Monday here..

However, I fully expect this to have been some kind of clerical error, and that she has indavertantly signed me up to puzzlers' bible and renal ward favourite Word Search.

to live in a world where all there is to worry about is whether we can take the CD or leave the CD for the sake of 6 quid. Thats 50p an issue or 1.65 pence a day.

I live in Australia and I am a very satisfied subscriber. My copy arrives about a week after it hits the news-stands in the UK and about 2 months before the local news agents have them.

I wish more of the overseas subs cost went to the very deserving team who put such a great mag, podcast and website together.

Recently I was on a train in Sydney and I spotted a guy in front of me reading a copy of The Word. I was grabbed with a strong urge to tap him on the shoulder and show him my copy to demonstrate some kindred bond (I didn't - just in case he did not feel the same).

I hope that The Word survives and prospers - Thanks.

I usually get to listen to the CDs in the car, in between radio shows. Some cracking tracks as always but I am particularly pleased to hear Henry Priestman's ditty "Don't You Love Me No More?" It will get a great deal of wellie over the coming weeks after yesterday's welcome and timely downsizing announcement where I occasionally work.

Thank you also CD compiler person.

There is a bit of a sugestion here that you need to be a subscriber to support Word. I don't have a subscription, usually buying it in either my local independant Newsagent or in Sainsbury's. I haven't missed an issue for about 2 years. I'd think this supporting the magazine.

I am wondering though, which generates more income for the magazine: Paying less per issue via direct subscription, or paying slightly more via secondary retailers?

First time back on this site for a very long time although I have continued my subscription, read the magazine, listened to the CDs and downloaded the groovy covers for the iPod. I'm really glad I went to the trouble of reactivating my login to be able to comment on this thread full of whining, moaning gits. And my message is: FFS GET A LIFE - EITHER BUY THE MAGAZINE OR DON'T!

October's cover CD was a belter, by the way.....

i agree with previous comments about the cd .I never listen to it and the offer of a free cd of someone i haven,t the time to listen to puts me off subscribing. I buy most months but Eric Crapton or Shit Floyd covers usually put me off and i then look at Uncut or Mojo.[feel old writing that!] What about a free whoopee cushion or a ring that squirts water as a free gift then

I sub to the magazine (it's usually read and tatty by the bog by the time it hits the newsagents), I listen to both podcasts, and I buy music I discover via the cd.

I pay by direct debit, and I dont give a shite how much it is, because it is an integral part of the better side of my life.

Keep up the good work you bunch of cynical, miserable, curmudgenly buggers.

I love this magazine, and there's tracks on the cd that show up in my "most played" playlist on iTunes. It's a bleedin' bargain, so moaning (or using the term "rip-off") seems a tad churlish, to be frank.

Other magazines are available (for the hard-of-thinking)...

Does an overseas subscription still come with the cover CDs? I may shortly need a NZ subscription, but if there's no free music it might be better to keep my UK one going and have someone send them on to me.

not on the pay roll or owt, but I fail to see how Word can be tracued as some kind of rip-off.Gratis(ish) CD, an accompanying webcast and, evidently not leastly, a rather fine magazine.

ps Can I have a mention on the podcast now? Ort is merely limited to people who type something interesting here? Grrrr, what a fraud, etc etc

Firstly, this thread demonstrates what is special about Word - where else do customers and proprietors engage in a proper dialogue about the "product". Somehow , out of a magazine you have created a community.
I can accept the discounting for new customers approach for things like insurance where customers are pretty mobile between products. However £42 is a fair wedge for anyone in these difficult times and perhaps a loyalty bonus may be more appropriate.
I have happily renewed my sub this month - in return I would like to see is a little more risk taking in the content and less playing safe with mainstream cover artists.
Looking forward to another year with Word

I for one think Capello's choice of team and substitutions has been spot on so far. keeping Beckham as an older statesman that can come on late is a gre...what? It's a music magazine?

Ah.

Hooray for Kerry Dixon! More post-punk.

waiting for my copy to arrive in Ireland! That Q magazine in the shop is even starting to look like a good read!!

Well if the sales of T'Word are low in my local Sainsburys you can put it down to positioning. I had to almost call for a ladder to reach it from the top of the magazine racks.

Why did I want a copy? Well to cover up the new issue of Classic Rock that was lower down and in a prominent position. Tempted by their 10th anniversary issue with 4 (that's 4) free gifts, but what would I do with 5 plectrums, a book, a metal badge and a CD of songs influenced by AC/DC. Now come to think about it...

Sorry I'm late and well off topic, but since when has anyone been FORCED to use the Wembley Stadium car park? I've been about 5 times and always used public transport. Okay it takes a age to get from your seat to a train after a match but isn't passing that time in a relaxed state of mind what the Word podcast is for?