Maghound.com: Think Netflix, but for magazines

For a flat monthly fee, the upcoming service will let you sign up for three or more titles at once, which you can swap out or cancel at any time. Sound familiar?

Folio reports that the Time Inc.-owned Maghound.com is set to go live in September (you can see the placeholder site here) with about 300 titles, plus about 100 more by year's end.

So here's how it'll work, according to Folio: You'd pay $3.95 a month for three magazine, $7.95/month for five titles, $9.95 for seven, and a buck a book per month for eight magazines or more.

Pretty nice—although if you chose a magazine with a standard subscription price of more than $19 a year (think weeklies like Sports Illustrated, The New Yorker, and People), you'll have to pay $2 extra per title.

Don't expect to save much cash using Maghound.com—after all, some monthlies charge as little as $10 a year. Then again, you'll be able to switch out subscriptions willy-nilly, a la Netflix, and you're free to opt-out of the service at any point.

Overall, it's an interesting concept—especially for those of us who still read physical magazines. (I gave up on actual newspapers long ago, but I still subscribe to—and, yes, even read—magazines like Esquire, New York Magazine, and The New Yorker.)

And while I can't say I've often had the urge to switch out subscriptions once I've settled on my favorites … given the chance, I just might (I'm looking at you, Esquire).

Now, if MagHound's really smart, it'll offer features like this: Free removal of all those annoying subscription cards stuck between the pages. That drives me nuts.

Related:
Time Inc.'s Maghound Set to Debut in September [Folio]