several years ago i bought some candles, etc. from a girl as a fundraiser for her school band. in return i got a subscription to a magazine of my limited choice. i chose time magazine. so it's years later and they keep sending it even though i don't pay anymore. that's got to be the sign of a failing magazine. in any case the october 29th issue is about "reinventing college." reinventing college TIME Magazine - Search Results
I subscribed to the Economist once because they gave me a sharply discounted rate. Then when it was time to renew the rate wasn't discounted and I didn't renew. They kept sending issues for a while, but not more than a few months.
Many magazines actually make most of their money from advertising; any subscription revenue that they can collect is simply a bonus. In such cases, they may be reluctant to end your subscription, even if you stop paying for it -- they want to keep their circulation number up, so they can charge more for advertising. They will particularly want to keep you on their mailing list if you live in a high-income neighborhood, or can otherwise be identified as a member of a demographic group valued by advertisers. Other magazines, like the Economist, really do get most of the revenues from subscriptions; any advertising revenue collect is a bonus. In this case, the Economist tried to hook you with a low introductory offer; you didn't bite when it was time to pay the full subscription rate, so they cut you off. The Wall Street Journal is also well known for using this approach.
