Twitter to allow publishers to charge users per article basis starting May

(Reuters) - Twitter Inc CEO Elon Musk said on Saturday that the social media platform will allow media publishers to charge users on a per article basis with one click, calling it a win for both the public and media organizations.

The feature, to be rolled out in May, will enable users who do not "sign up for a monthly subscription to pay a higher per article price for when they want to read an occasional article," billionaire owner Musk tweeted.

On Friday, Musk had said that Twitter will take a 10% cut on content subscriptions after the first year, noting that the company will not take a cut for the first 12 months. These subscriptions include long-form text and hours-long video.

Since taking over the social media firm in October, Musk has swiftly moved through a number of product and organizational changes. The company rolled out Twitter-verified blue tick as a paid service and shrunk the employee base by about 80%.

Musk has been bringing in changes to boost revenue at Twitter after the social media platform saw advertising income drop last year in the run-up to his on-again-off-again acquisition that closed.

 

(Reporting by Juby Babu in Bengaluru; Editing by Andrea Ricci)