The Economist Group, a leading global digital journalism organization with 1.2 million active subscribers, aimed to expand digital subscriptions by introducing a modern in-app audio experience. The project focused on enabling users to listen to articles, create custom playlists, access offline content, and explore podcasts, while integrating a scalable paywall/subscription system. The solution included a refactored, reliable audio codebase, analytics integration, and flexible monetization features, enhancing user engagement, reducing technical debt, and driving subscription growth.

Source

https://economist.com

Challenge

Lack of in-app audio, offline listening, podcast ecosystem, scalable paywall, and maintainable audio codebase

Solutions

Custom audio player, offline download manager, editable tracklists, podcast section, and flexible paywall/subscription system

Client

The Economist Group — a globally recognized leader in digital journalism, with 1.2 million active subscribers and a fast-growing digital audience. The organization delivers trusted analysis, storytelling, and reporting through mobile, web, and print channels.

Challenge:

The Economist aimed to increase digital subscriptions by expanding audio offerings. Key challenges included:

  • Lack of in-app audio experience; users could only read articles
  • No offline listening support
  • Absence of a podcast ecosystem
  • Need for a scalable paywall/subscription model
  • Existing audio codebase was unstructured, hard to maintain, and prone to technical debt

Solution:

We joined The Economist’s Audio Squad and delivered a complete transformation of the in-app audio experience:

  1. Custom Audio Player + Listening Experience
    • Redesigned mobile audio flow, enabling listening to any article
    • Increased session duration and repeat engagement
  2. Smart Offline Download Manager
    • Users can download custom queues or playlists
    • Reduced storage and bandwidth consumption for offline use
  3. Editable Audio Tracklists
    • First-of-its-kind editable tracklist builder
    • Users can create personalized playlists from multiple articles
  4. Dedicated Podcast Section
    • In-app podcast experience with categories, queueing, and playback
    • Enhanced content diversity and engagement
  5. Customized Paywall + Subscription Architecture
    • Flexible paywall supporting full digital subscription and podcast-only subscription
    • Dynamic A/B variants configured via Firebase without code changes
    • Faster implementation for future monetization experiments

The whole flow is presented below:

Operational Improvements:

  • Refactored, standardized, and optimized the audio codebase
  • Added analytics with Conviva and Sentry
  • Reduced technical debt, improved app reliability, and enhanced audio performance

Result:

Digital-only subscription revenue became the majority of total subscriptions

Digital-only subscriptions grew from 56% to 61% in 2023

13% increase in digital subscriptions in a single year

Subscriber count remained strong at 1.18M+ active users

Improved UX, engagement, and monetization opportunities through modern audio features

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