this post was submitted on 06 Nov 2023
121 points (99.2% liked)

Australia

3620 readers
212 users here now

A place to discuss Australia and important Australian issues.

Before you post:

If you're posting anything related to:

If you're posting Australian News (not opinion or discussion pieces) post it to Australian News

Rules

This community is run under the rules of aussie.zone. In addition to those rules:

Banner Photo

Congratulations to @[email protected] who had the most upvoted submission to our banner photo competition

Recommended and Related Communities

Be sure to check out and subscribe to our related communities on aussie.zone:

Plus other communities for sport and major cities.

https://aussie.zone/communities

Moderation

Since Kbin doesn't show Lemmy Moderators, I'll list them here. Also note that Kbin does not distinguish moderator comments.

Additionally, we have our instance admins: @[email protected] and @[email protected]

founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS
all 33 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[–] [email protected] 52 points 1 year ago (1 children)

You mean constantly bumping the prices for lower quality content is causing subscription numbers to go down? No way... Who could have thought that? /s

[–] [email protected] 32 points 1 year ago (1 children)

To be fair, I'm spending more on VPN's and HDD space...

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago

Yarr, same here.

[–] [email protected] 28 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I find the age data really interesting here. Millenials went in hard and then bailed hard.

[–] [email protected] 23 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Probably because they grew up on the high seas, then found a more legal and convenient alternative, only to see it turn to shit. Old habits die hard.

[–] [email protected] 15 points 1 year ago

The moment we learnt how to wear the skull n bones hat, it was tattooed into our brain.

We grew up from Napster, Limewire, edonkey, mIRC bots, mega upload, torrents... The list goes on. It was intoxicating the feeling of finding the newest, more reliable, faster, better way of pirating. We never forgot. But we started living on land because it was easier.

So once the land living came with advertising, and 15 different taxes wanting a cut...

The hesitation to set sail once again never existed.

[–] g0nz0li0 23 points 1 year ago (1 children)

The report shows 48 per cent find it hard to know what content is available and where, 70 per cent wish they could manage multiple subscriptions in one place and 73 per cent wish they could search and discover content across all their subscriptions in one place.

Streaming platforms make it hard to find their content outside of their apps because they don't want to be a service, they want to be a destination. Just one of the many ways they are anti-consumer but expect they can demand premium pricing.

People want to pay a reasonable price for a reasonable service, and that's increasingly no longer the case.

[–] [email protected] 12 points 1 year ago

Yeah. Why should anyone pay more money for less content? Streaming should get cheaper. Competition is supposed to lower prices not drive them up.

[–] [email protected] 18 points 1 year ago

We've gone full circle. When streaming became mainstream I was on board. At one point I had 4 simultaneous streaming subscriptions; I now have 0.

These people found the breaking point and leapt right past it. I pay a fair price for video games, ebooks, music, and software. There is nowhere that offers a fair price for films and TV shows.

[–] Son_of_dad 14 points 1 year ago (2 children)

I did the math and if I subscribed to all the major streaming services, games, plus YouTube, plus news sites, other subscription/paywalled sites I've wanted to check out, I've be paying around $700/month on subscription services

[–] [email protected] 11 points 1 year ago (2 children)

The thing with even legitimately subscribing to all this is that there are some old shows and movies that aren't even on any of these platforms.

But I'll be nice and say I want to watch something that's on one of these platforms, which one is it on? Say I want to watch Curb Your Enthusiasm, Seinfeld, Rick and Morty, etc. Am I gonna look it up to a site that shows which service it's on? Then I gotta log into the website, but wait, the ip address needs a verification. I could already be watching the movie or show through a grey streaming site or if it's on my Jellyfin server in the fraction of the time.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 year ago

"Piracy is a service problem." - Gabe Newell

[–] Son_of_dad 2 points 1 year ago

Lately it seems every movie or show that pops into my head and I feel like watching, is on yet another streaming channel or service I don't have. The content is spread so thin that we barely get any content on any one platform. Netflix out here saying they have new content, as if I give a damn about random Korean soap operas they added.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Yeah, like I said earlier on a YouTube adblock post, they are the same problem as piracy.

It's a service problem, not an adblock/piracy problem. Gabe Newell hit that nail on the head so perfectly.

I used to watch and listen everything pirated, because:

  • Most content I wanted to consume took years if not decades to be shown on TV or be available on VHS or DVD in my country.
  • Most music I wanted to consume was on CDs that had 1 or 2 good songs with the rest being filler.
  • When video media was broadcast, it was at times I wouldn't be able to watch.
  • When music was broadcast, it was all radio edits and constantly interrupted by annoying radio hosts.
  • All this cost 100+ a month for TV, 25-30€ for every movie I wanted to watch, 20-30€ for every CD I wanted to buy totaling several hundred Euro a month.

Then Netflix and Spotify came along and changed all that. All of a sudden, 99% of what I wanted to watch and listen to was available for 25-30€ a month combined.

Now, if I want to watch everything I want to watch, I'd have to pay multiples of what it cost before streaming services came along.

So, yeah, I'm almost completely back to sailing the high seas and while I have no affinity for collecting anything, supplemented my viewing and listening habits buying Merch where I know the merch is handled by the artists and go to conventions where shows I like are represented and buying merch and signatures directly from actors and crew of those shows.

[–] [email protected] 12 points 1 year ago

we had Netflix, Amazon, Disney and Binge for nearly a year simultaneously.

Binge just hit us with a 20%+ price increase so its gone. Amazon is likely to stay as the video is just an added bonus. We watch netflix and disney a lot but any silly increases and they can say good bye too. I guess its only a matter of time

[–] [email protected] 10 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

This is honestly hilarious to me. The streaming companies actually had it right to begin with. They delivered on-demand content at a much lower cost than DVD distribution, without having to negotiate with cable companies to deliver it. They had a working system that delivered value for money, and kept the profits in their own pockets.

Then they shit the bed. Classic case of killing the goose that laid the golden eggs. Greedy dickheads.

[–] Bulletdust 9 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

Considering that Netflix are planning on dumping their popular midrange plan in favour of either the more expensive and less popular 4k plan, or the ad ridden cheaper plan - This almost sounds like an attempt at swaying the masses, by making them believe that most Australians are somehow 'happy' to pay for the cheaper ad ridden plan.

Bend over Netflix, I'll show you what you can do with your ad ridden bullshit, and I'm not paying more for the 4k plan.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago (1 children)

when the 'cheaper ad ridden plan' becomes the only alternative to the overpriced 4k shit, it will no longer be as 'cheap', either.

[–] Bulletdust 1 points 1 year ago

Precisely, because we have to look after the shareholders.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 year ago

I'll just leave this here...

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

This is the best summary I could come up with:


Australian households are cutting back on subscription services and turning to free or cheaper ad-based content for entertainment, a new report has revealed.

The Deloitte Media and Entertainment Consumer Insights annual report, released on Monday, shows how Australians are spending less across all generations as they feel the cost-of-living crunch.

Major drivers leading to cutting back include the rising cost of living, growing popularity of ad-supported subscriptions, and increase in free content, according to the report.

Deloitte lead partner for the telecommunications, media and entertainment sector, Peter Corbett, said while this reflects the impact of the rising cost of living, it also shows that in 2023, time is the new currency.

"With a formidable influx of media options, we're not just untangling the web of competing subscription video-on-demand services," he said.

"Our choices are also oscillating between social platforms, music, gaming, reading, and even in-person interactions."


The original article contains 382 words, the summary contains 137 words. Saved 64%. I'm a bot and I'm open source!

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

Same story as everyone else.. I used to have Netflix, Spotify, Disney+ and Tidal, now I only have Tidal. I have always owned a NAS and that is my main source of media consumption now. I just cant justify the $100 or so a month it costs to keep all these services and I struggle to find anything I am interested in. The worst thing about streaming services is the disruption to the movie industry.. movies these days either feel like a couple of $200m+ productions or straight to streaming.. there is no in between, and the straight to streaming stuff feels half cooked

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

How is the piracy scene in Australia? Can you guys torrent without VPNs?