Apple promoting and rewarding magazines which conform to app-sub model

Apple's iTunes store is having a significant impact on sales of compliant U.S. magazine brands and appears to be rewarding titles which opt into the app subscription model that Apple prefers, according to a post on minonline. There is a rotating marquee of such titles as Glamour, Vanity Fair and Bloomberg Business Week, all of which offer app-based sub models from which Apple takes a commission.

We wondered whether this higher visibility on the App storefront is connected in any way with sales success. "Absolutely," says Chris Wilkes, Hearst's VP of digital editions. "Promotion by Apple can drive significant spikes in volume. Clearly Apple is putting muscle behind magazine brands and the in-app subscriptions they rolled out earlier this year. They'll go even further later this year when they roll out the Newsstand they announced at their WWDC earlier this month."

Minonline tallied some of the top grossing apps for U.S.magazine publishers as of June 22 as a "rough approximation" of performance:

11. New York Post ($1.99)
14. The Daily ($.99/week)
30. Marvel Comics (in-app comics purchases ~$1.99/issue)
33. Comixology (in-app comics purchases ~$1.99/issue)
35. The New Yorker ($59.99/year, $4.99/issue)
44. Wired ($19.99/year, $3.99/issue)
65. DC Comics (in-app comics purchases, ~$1.99/issue)
85. People ($3.99/issue)
90. Food Network ($3.99)
91. GQ ($19.99/year, $4.99/issue)
95. Cooking Light Recipes ($3.99)
104. Self ($19.99/year, $3.99/issue)
108. Vanity Fair ($19.99/year, $4.99/issue)
124. Popular Mechanics ($19.99/year, $3.99/issue)
136. Popular Science ($14.99/year, $2.99/issue)