Time Inc.'s Maghound single copy service rolls out, in beta

Time Inc.'s online single copy magazine site Maghound was finally, and quietly, rolled out yesterday, in beta form, and what's interesting is who's aboard and who's not, according to a posting on paidContent.org.

At launch, it has 240 titles, about 40 less that what Time Inc said at a trade show in June, Folio notes. In addition to all Time inc titles, of course, it has titles from Conde Nast (not all), Rodale, and others. Notably missing is any magazine from the Hearst stable, including Esquire, Cosmopolitan and others. Some of the other notables I checked on which are missing are The Atlantic, Business Week, Wired, The Economist, Reader’s Digest, and National Geographic .

No Canadian titles are available on the Maghound site.

A company press release laid out the deal whereby members who sign up can select up to 15 magazines from a range of titles and get one set for a monthly fee, with the ability to switch titles at any time. The titles are all counted as single copy sales and publishers will get a fixed fee for each title sold. The membership pricing is tiered -- three titles for $4.95 a month,five titles for $7.95, seven titles for $9.95, and $1 per title for eight titles or more.

The introduction of Maghound will modernize the traditional circulation model by relieving the constraints of standard subscription contracts and empowering the consumer [said the release].

[Update] In a related story, MediaDaily News reports that Texterity has created a new online service called Coverleaf that allows readers to browse magazines by category and see contents, and cover previews.

Then they can buy a single digital issue of a magazine, sign up for a digital subscription, search magazine archives and purchase back issues of the magazine. Once they have purchased the digital edition of a magazine, they can clip pages to share with friends, and store the clips in online folders. The site is also optimized for mobile interaction via Apple iPods and iPhones.

Related posts:

• Time Inc. unveils Maghound, a mix-and-match "consumer-centric" subscription service