D. Eadward Tree at Publishing Executive:
For magazines, a subscription sale is far more valuable than a single-copy sale. A subscriber can be renewed (at higher rates), sold other subscriptions, signed up for newsletters, and lured to events. And her name can be rented to other publishers and marketers. (Shhh, don’t tell.) […]
There are many reasons to distribute copies for retail sale, and most have little to do with actually selling copies. One of the main benefits of newsstand distribution is finding new subscribers for a magazine, both from newsstand buyers and newsstand browsers.