Digital subscriptions on the rise but can you save money?

How much are we spending on digital subscriptions and is there an easy way of cutting back without making sacrifices? Maybe!

At the back end of last year, the Central Statistics Office (CSO) published figures on the prevalence of digital subscriptions in Ireland.

And it will be no surprise that a lot of us are paying for them.

The stats found that seven out of ten internet users here use streaming services, such as Netflix, Amazon Prime, Disney+ and Now TV.

According to the CSO, almost six in ten (57%) internet users subscribe to a music streaming service such as Spotify or Apple Music.

But younger people – in the 16-to-29 age group – are much more likely to pay for digital music subscriptions, with 78% of them doing so.

There is a good chance many of us are paying multiple providers for these services, and the cost can easily mount if you don’t keep an eye on it.

Background spending trap

There is also the trap of ‘background spending’ to avoid. That is where we sign up to subscription services, but then forget about them although we keep paying the subscription.

But you might be able to save some money, without really giving anything up – and it is fairly straightforward … just try and cancel.

Most of the time this process is not complicated, and simply involves logging in to your account through an app, but sometimes you will have to do it on a desktop computer.

Some providers can make it trickier than others to cancel, but you just need to stick with it.

RTÉ Brainstorm has looked into how companies can make it hard for you to cancel.

In many cases, when you eventually go to cancel, you will actually be offered considerable discounts not to.

For example, Now TV was offering a monthly subscription for one of its sports packages for €17, and when trying to cancel, that fee was quickly reduced to €10.

But it is not just TV streaming. The audio-book service Audible’s ‘Premium Plus’ plan costs £7.99 (c. €9.50) per month, however, it regularly offers either three months at half price or a free credit worth around €10 to members who are cancelling.

Those are just two examples, but numerous other audio and video streamers are well known for offering similar incentives to stay with them.