Subscription models can operate like a freemium model, but they get even more interesting as a two-sided market. In a freemium model, a creator gives away some of their content for free, but restricts other content to those with paid subscriptions. The free content helps creators grow their reputation via public network effects. In a two-sided market, paying subscribers subsidize all of the content for nonpaying readers, under the assumption that creators aren’t actually selling content but a sense of membership and identity. Instead of charging, say, all 100,000 readers ten cents to read an
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