As many millennials will clearly remember, there was a time before streaming services like Netflix and Spotify in which crafty (cheeky) folk became fed up with paying premium prices for access to entertainment.
Instead of paying for an album or film, audiences chose to illegally download or stream content online. It was a widespread trend that was seriously felt by the entertainment industry.
Credit: Disney
This is what brought on the age of (legal) online streaming services in the early naughties.
For a while, it seemed this was a genius solution to the issue. Customers were paying comparatively low prices and getting access to a long list of films, shows and music.
In early 2018, reports from the Sydney Morning Herald shared that in Australia, there had been a 25 per cent drop in piracy in the space of a year. The use of blocked sites had gone down by over 50 per cent.
So, less illegal activity. More happy customers. Companies performing well. It wasn’t half bad.
For this reason, assumedly, music streaming services have mostly continued with that model. Film and series providers, not so much.
Since Netflix went completely international in 2016, competitors like Amazon Prime, Apple TV+, Stan and now Disney+ have been popping up all over, taking access to some of our favourite shows with them.
So, instead of paying a minimum of just under $14 per month for a Netflix membership, you’re now looking at $13.99 for Netflix, $10 for Stan, $8.99 for Disney+, $6.99 for Amazon Prime and $7.99 for Apple TV+.
If you want access to each of these platforms, it’ll set you back close to $50 per month (as a starting point). I haven’t even included all streaming providers, here.
Credit: NBC
Long, story short. As Vice and NY Mag have reported, the rise in prices and the annoying nature of needing a billion subscriptions (yeah, I’m exaggerating) are seemingly driving people back to piracy.
Vice writes that according to Sandvine, BitTorrent’s traffic is growing, suggesting that audiences are returning to their cheeky illegal ways.
Can’t really be surprised, though. Can we?