I love Swedes. Not the turnips, but the nation. I love Ikea, I love Volvos, I really love Saabs and I don’t even mind Roxette, but my favourite Swedish invention is one you may have heard of; Spotify. Yep, the $26b music streaming service kicked off in Stockholm in 2006 and now has over 200 million subscribers. 

Well, here comes the next awesome idea from the Scandis – Readly. Spotify for magazines! 

I’m a massive fan of magazines. I am forever grateful to the patient newsagency owner of the small town I grew up in. He would carefully walk around me as I read the display stock for hours and hours. I look back and wonder why on earth he didn’t just turf me out. I mean, I bought as many of his magazines as I could, but I was hardly a big spender. My budget would reach to just copies of Car Australia (remember that one!) and Wheels. I alternated between the titles a month about. 

When I got older, I collected every magazine I bought. They are still in my house now. I will often dig out old copies to reminisce about different makes and models of cars, but also to remind myself of how well some of my favourite writers turned phrases. I have my favourites, and still follow various writers as they move publications through their careers. 

You can imagine my pain then when my beloved newsagency became nothing more than a lotto desk and a source of Beanie Boos. Critical mass took over. Less sales meant less titles to choose from. Less titles to choose from meant that people like me stopped buying from them. I still really miss the feel and scent of a fresh magazine; the thrill of learning a bit more about my hobbies. 

I was skeptical about ‘Spotify for magazines’ when Readly sent me an invite to check out their platform. I thought that it might be clunky to use, it wouldn’t have the magazines I want, it would take forever to load… Well, I was wrong. This thing is awesome. 

Launching this month at $14.99 (with a special .99c introductory month), Readly has the magazines that I want to read, PLUS back issues! $15 per month! I spend that per week on magazines! 

The reading format is exactly the same as your normal digital magazine subscription. Look, for me, it’s not anywhere the same experience as having a print magazine, but digital editions are much, much cheaper and more environmentally friendly. I’m slowly getting more used to reading online. Besides, this is no fault of the Readly platform – I’m just an old man trying his best to get with the times. 

Just quietly, I haven’t slept for over 48 hours – I have been frantically catching up on back issues of Bike, Top Gear, MCN, Octane, Enzo, Practical Sportsbike, Car, Cars Report, frankie, Woodsmith. You get the idea. 

Each subscription allows up to five devices and with something for everyone among the titles, Readly, is not only Flipsy Approved, but has secured my own hard earned for a personal subscription. Well done Readly. 

Web: Readly