Why are you paying so much for streaming content exclusives?
Have you been waiting for years to hear the new Frank Ocean album? Did you have to wait even longer because you aren’t an Apple Music subscriber?
If it feels like you’ve heard this one before…well, it’s because you have.
First it was Rihanna’s Anti back in February. Then it was Beyonce’s Lemonade and Life of Pablo by Kanye, all exclusive to Tidal for some reason. Chance the Rapper’s Coloring Book was stuck on Apple music for a while. Now it’s Blonde.
Are you going to pay for both? What about a Spotify subscription on top of that? Then you get into video streaming…
I don’t want to have to pay for HBO Now, too. Why isn’t it on Netflix? Or Amazon Prime, which already has a lot of HBO shows…but not the current ones.
You don’t want to be the only one not watching Netflix’s Luke Cage or Narcos, right? Oh, and Mozart in the Jungle won a Golden Globe earlier in the year, so you have to have Amazon Prime. And Hulu’s Casual is getting good reviews, plus now they have The Mindy Project and you’ve always liked that show so…
It’s the sort of thing that spurs piracy online. You’re already paying $9.99 for Spotify and you’re not going to pay double just for Rihanna, so you find a torrent instead. It’s the justification that makes Game of Thrones the most pirated show of the year (again): “I don’t want to have to pay for HBO Now, too. Why isn’t it on Netflix? Or Amazon Prime, which already has a lot of HBO shows…but not the current ones.”
There are other, better ways for streaming services to win your dollar: streaming quality, cost, ease of use, availability of platforms, customer service, and extra benefits like Spotify’s Discover Weekly and Release Radar playlists. These all make for a better customer experience without making you have to choose what you’ll enjoy, and that’s what you should be paying for.
That’s a killer on your wallet. If you paid for the lowest-cost streaming subscription from the most popular services, you’re looking at:
- Tidal: $9.99/mo
- Spotify: $9.99/mp
- Apple Music: $9.99/mo
- HBO NOW: $15/mo
- Netflix: $7.99/mo
- Amazon Prime: $10.99/mo
- Hulu: $7.99/mo
That’s over $70 a month. At some point you have to ask exactly how much it’s all worth.
How many subscription services are you signed up for? How much are you willing to pay per month? How great is Blonde? Let us know! Drop us a line by leaving a response here on Medium.
