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PPA backs Swedish firm aiming to launch Spotify for digital magazines in the UK

By Dominic Ponsford

Sweden-based company Readly has announced plans to a launch Spotify-style product for UK digital magazines.

Like Spotify does for music, Readly offers readers unlimited downloads of digital magazines for £9.99 a month.

It launched in Sweden in 2012 and in the US last year and is now courting UK publishers with a view to launching in March.

The Readly app offers access to PDF-style page-turning digital editions of magazines – with active weblinks if readers are online.

Readly takes 30 per cent of sales and shares the remainder of the revenue with publishers according to how much time readers spend with each publication. Subscriber names are not shared with publishers, but Readly does offer in-depth anonymised analytics which include demographic information.

There is no up-front cost for publishers and Readly claims that typically there is a two per cent cross over between those who access titles on the new app and existing readers.

Some 80 publishers representing 3,000 titles are said to have signed up to Readly in Sweden and the US.

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Readly UK managing director Ranj Begley said: "Readly offers an additional revenue stream, general profile-raising and really granular consumer insight."

Chief executive of magazines industry trade body the PPA Barry McIlheney said: "Readly offers UK consumers a new proposition for magazines; one which has the potential to add real scale and presence to what publishers are already doing themselves.

"We are delighted that Readly has come to the UK and we welcome them as our key digital partner for the year ahead."

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