this post was submitted on 26 Sep 2023
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With the simultaneous rollout of restrictions on account sharing and price increases/addition of advertising, I’m cutting back severely on streaming services.

I allowed my streaming subscriptions to grow without thinking about it. Without trying to remember the constant merging and bundling, I was subscribed to probably a dozen services at one point. They ranged from Netflix and HBO and Hulu to Shudder and Showtime. I had Paramount, Criterion, Disney, Peacock, and others. I’d do the typical thing where I’d search for a movie, find it is exclusive to a platform, and grab the free trial and forget to cancel. I excused it if I found a movie even every couple of months on it. There were still nights where it’d take an hour to find something I wanted to watch. I was probably closing in on $200/month all told, and I don’t have sports subscriptions.

I’m interested in learning what other people are doing regarding the price hikes and service compromises. Are you cancelling? Are you taking advantage of bundles with your internet services? Are you rotating on some interval? Or are you not changing at all?

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[–] Ekis@beehaw.org 1 points 1 year ago

I cancelled my Netflix and Spotify subscriptions long ago after content would get taken down for whatever reason. This reminded me that I'm only renting the content from these services; I don't actually own them.

Fast forward to now, I selfhost a Jellyfin server and pirate all the content I want. Feels good to have total control and ownership over my music and movie collection.

[–] redballooon@lemm.ee 1 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

I'm usually subscribed to at most 2 at a time. Over a year or so I cycle through 4 or 5 of them.

I will not accept ads in my paid subscriptions.

I just have one or two at any given time. At the moment I just have Disney+ (which over in the UK is more than enough cause we get the hulu/fox stuff) and Amazon because I pay for prime.

When Scott pilgrim comes out, we'll either cancel Disney+ while we get Netflix for that, or just get Netflix for a month without renewal.

Spotify with spotube and SoundCloud for music hulu, disney+ and Nebula (mabye even Netflix) for movies

[–] joemo@lemmy.sdf.org 1 points 1 year ago

I'm not changing my habits, but I probably should. My girlfriend and family use the streaming services more than I do. If there's something I need to watch, there's always ways to watch it online. However it's easier for them to use the legit streaming services ha.

[–] stsquad@lemmy.ml 1 points 1 year ago

Not currently but I'm sure one of them will push me over the edge soon.

[–] Arethusa@lemmy.world 1 points 1 year ago

The error message "this account cannot be used in this location," finally hit my account after I've been subscribed to Netflix for over 10 years. I've cancelled permanently and will be emailing their privacy dept for immediate account deletion as I will never subscribe to them again. I don't need 10 months. I've described some of my experience in another recent comment on an older Netflix crackdown in Australia post. My account was North American however.

Netflix was the only streaming service I kept up consistently month to month. I did fall into the same trap you did after allegedly "cord cutting" several years ago. Too many "Gos" and "Nows" and a "Sling." Stupidity really. I realized my mistake and corrected it then, only subscribing to streaming services when there was a season I wanted to binge and then cancel after a month.

But Netflix was flexible in that I could travel and use it unlike a Hulu or HBO Now etc. It was annoying when movies and series disappeared but there was always something else to watch.

Now I'm done. Companies like Netflix and Reddit (and other social media sites), and even Playstation with their insane Playstation Plus hike, count on and thrive off of the addict mentalities of their customers. Just like McDonald's and credit card companies. Recognizing that allows people to stop feeding these greedy corporations if they have the willpower to do so (some people would rather be addicts and serve as money cows).

Any program I haven't finished watching on Netflix, I have the means to do so without subscription and once that's done, I won't know or be aware of what programming they have because I'm not a subscriber any longer.

Netflix is heading for a death spiral if they aren't already there. Their revenues are dropping. It's just a matter of watching the fall until they hit 0% and then negative. They are intent on this change regardless of if it will destroy the very thing they're trying to maximize. Money. They really have the wrong of it by increasing subscription price and taking away the features that made them attractive as a service to begin with. They've waved subscription numbers around for the ignorant as a smokescreen while they continue to lose money and the subscribers who were paying $16 - $20 versus markets where they sell Netflix subscriptions for as low as $10 or lower.

[–] regbin_@lemmy.world 1 points 1 year ago

I've only ever subscribed to Bilibili. I think it's still fine so I'll keep my subscription for now.

[–] Panda@lemmy.world 1 points 1 year ago

Yeah it's insane how expensive everything gets. I'm subscribed to a bunch of streaming services (like Netflix, Disney+, HBO Max, etc) and sometimes I use them a lot but HBO, for instance, I've only used a few times and it's just sitting there on our smart TV taking up space and draining our bank account. But I got it when there was a really good deal and if I cancel and resubscribe I have to pay the full amount. Then again, I'm probably wasting more money with it now than I would've if I'd just cancelled and then resubscribed when I actually used it. Oops.

But yeah, I'm definitely not going to pay more for those services than I am now, so if the pricing gets even more ridiculous I'm out.

[–] Sabakodgo@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 points 1 year ago

I still have youtube premium, but using turkish price, which is dirt cheap (1eur/mon)

[–] BobbyBandwidth@lemmy.world 1 points 1 year ago

I recently cut most of mine. Don’t miss them as much as I thought.

[–] EuroNutellaMan@lemmy.world 1 points 1 year ago

Cancelled long ago. Now only subscriptions I still pay for are Spotify and Proton Plus. The rest I just get it from the high season.

I can't really cancel Putlocker and it's free and has every movie and show that are on the other streaming services.

So no.

[–] 1984@lemmy.today 0 points 1 year ago

Yes I cancelled almost all of them. Had quite a few also but did a proper cleanup. :)

[–] HouseWolf@lemm.ee -1 points 1 year ago

I still use my family plan for Spotify but Netflix isn't even worth it these days.

There's a bunch of services I feel I would have happily paid for years ago, but most "features" they offer nowadays are just fixes for problems they introduced (looking at you Youtube).

[–] PowerCrazy@lemmy.ml -2 points 1 year ago (3 children)

I never subscribed to the scam of streaming services to begin with and no one should.

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[–] Clbull@lemmy.world -4 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (2 children)

Not really.

My parents use Netflix and I'm in the same house as them so the whole account sharing crackdown is moot. I wouldn't want to share my account with them otherwise.

Spotify I'm keeping for lack of a better service. It has improved by leaps and bounds.

I really don't like this argument that the TV streaming market is too pricey, too complicated and is starting to turn back into cable. Maybe if you're too fucking lazy to go through a cycle of cancelling and reinstating subscriptions based on what new shows are on or whatever old show you feel like watching.

Cable is multitudes more expensive than your typical streaming service, while giving you little to no video-on-demand catalog. Streaming is nowhere near as bad.

Oh and another thing, have you ever tried to cancel a cable service and spent hours on the phone to reps whose job it is to ensure you don't cancel and waste your time upselling you shit you don't want? You don't get that with a streaming service, and cancelling is as easy as going to a menu, disabling auto-renew and waiting for expiry, so not setting yourself a reminder to cancel the service is honestly on you.

It's like everybody is fucking entitled and think it's their God given right to steal TV shows when it's not available on a singular $9.99/month service.

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