2014 Gift Guide: Entertainment and Subscriptions

By Gadjo Cardenas Sevilla

Finding the right gift for that special someone doesn’t always have to mean a physical item. While it is always fun to unwrap a physical gift, there are many intangible entertainment services and subscriptions today that make a lot of sense and offer year-round joy.

NextIssue -

Magazine lovers who also own tablets will find what they need from NextIssue. An all-you-can-read buffet of over 140 magazines which hit your device as soon as they hit the newsstand. Downloading the latest issue of Details takes around a minute and Wired’s popular interactive features, which only used to be available  via their app, are all there for $9.99 a month.

Spotify -

There are music streaming services and then there’s Spotify. For the music lover or anyone who is serious about their sounds, a Spotify subscription fills the void of silence nicely no matter what device they are using.

For only $9.99 users get access to unlimited music, they can download songs to listen offline, have access to playlists by genre and can easily share songs with friends over social media platforms. Spotify is also a great gift for someone if you’re unsure of their taste – with over 30 million songs, there is something there for everyone. 

Netflix - Sort of a no brainer, Netflix subscriptions are really one of the better gifts anyone can receive. You get access to a growing library of TV shows, movies, documentaries and even specific content just for kids. Netflix is also uber ubiquitous being made available on all relevant smartphone platforms, video game consoles, SmartTVs and even on handheld devices like the PS Vita and the Nintendo DS. 

Steam - If your have a PC, Mac  or Linux gamer in your life who isn’t on Steam, then getting them access to this leading game service will definitely be appreciated. Steam offers a wide range of games many of which are free to try. Steam also has crazy sales where games are heavily discounted which means more gaming year round.