Whilst streaming has undoubtedly made our lives easier by allowing us to consume a huge amount of entertainment at our fingertips, we\u2019re paying for this privilege. Depending on preferences, the amount of money spent on streaming services is on the up \u201d\u201c and that\u2019s for services alone.<\/p>\n
If you\u2019re a music fan, it\u2019s more than likely you\u2019ll pay for your streaming site of choice. Spotify for example, offer a free tier but you\u2019ll be bombarded with adverts amid your playlists and you\u2019ll have a limited number of skips for your tracks. You can go forward on your mixes but not backwards \u201d\u201c sounds a little annoying, right? To avoid this, you\u2019d need to pay for the Premium service.<\/p>\n
Spotify Premium tier will set you back \u00a39.99 a month (there are student rates available which will make it a little cheaper if you\u2019re studying) but this isn\u2019t uncommon for streaming sites. If Apple Music is your platform of choice, you\u2019ll pay the same \u201d\u201c Google Play Music and Amazon Music are \u00a39.99 a month too. TIDAL\u2019s top tier service, HiFi will set you back even more, costing \u00a319.99 a month.<\/p>\n
What do you do when your favourite artist boycotts streaming services? Pay for a second or third service? It was a real issue for Taylor Swift\u2019s followers when she pulled the plug on Spotify and Apple Music due to payment issues. As you can imagine, Swift feels she should be paid for the work she puts into her albums; offering free streaming services doesn\u2019t match her beliefs. Taylor said:<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m not willing to contribute my life\u2019s work to an experiment that I don\u2019t feel fairly compensates the writers, producers, artists and creators of this music.\u201d\u009d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
You can see Swift\u2019s point when you crunch the numbers. Irrespective of the fact she\u2019s a global star, there are plenty of other artists relying on streaming to get their names out there \u201d\u201c but the payoff is minimal. Whilst Spotify\u2019s popularity continues to soar and more customers decide to pay for the service, the money made isn\u2019t going to the artists themselves. Per stream, Spotify pays $0.00397. For artists below Swift\u2019s stature, it\u2019s a pretty dismal way to make money for your art.<\/p>\n
Songwriters make pennies:<\/h3>\n
For the songwriters of hit tracks, the money earned is incredibly low too. As the New Yorker reported, Michelle Lewis who co-wrote Little Mix\u2019s stand-out track Wings<\/em>, earned $17.72 for around three million streams of the song. Unless the streaming industry wants to change this, songwriters will continue to earn pittance for their contribution.<\/p>\n
Accessing the services:<\/h3>\n
In order to use these services, you\u2019re going to need some kind of internet connection. Not a problem, as the majority have this at home and some kind of data plan on their phone. Depending on the quality of the stream will affect how much data you use for your entertainment needs. A handful of songs might not make a dent but if there\u2019s any additional content like video, you\u2019ll see your data allowance diminish pretty quickly. This\u2019ll leave you with the rest of your month to go through without your favourite tracks or pay a fee to get back online. It all adds up.<\/p>\n
Aside from the music:<\/h3>\n
We haven\u2019t even looked into movies and TV yet! These options are spread across a wide range of platforms too, with original content coming from the likes of Amazon and Netflix. Netflix especially has gained notoriety from their smash-hit shows like House of Cards<\/em>, Orange is the New Black<\/em> and Stranger Things<\/em>. As Netflix continue to pump money into their original shows, customers will have to help foot the bill.<\/p>\n
A monthly subscription to Netflix will set you back \u00a35.99 for their basic package meaning you can only have it on one screen, or \u00a38.99 for their Premium plan. This will allow you to watch your shows and movies on four devices so it\u2019s perfect for the family. There is a download option available but not everything on the site is downloadable so you can watch offline.<\/p>\n
One of the biggest players for Netflix\u2019s streaming crown is Amazon Prime video; also \u00a35.99 a month for video only or Amazon Prime will set you back \u00a37.99 a month. Now TV offer a \u00a36.99 entertainment package but if sport is your thing, a Sky Sports package will cost a whopping \u00a333.99 a month on top of that.<\/p>\n
If you don’t want to commit:<\/h3>\n
There are rental options too, if you don\u2019t want to commit to buying a show or film. Apple\u2019s iTunes Store allows for this, starting at just 99p for rental and from \u00a37.99 to buy video content. Google Play are similar but it\u2019ll cost you \u00a32.49 to rent a movie from them. Sky Store offer the same prices as Apple but have around 1,000 films and shows to choose from compared to the 45,000+ films and 190,000 TV episodes that iTunes boast.<\/p>\n
Before using the service, you’re gonna need these:<\/h3>\n
If you\u2019re planning on watching your favourite shows and movies through your TV rather than a device, you\u2019re going to have to invest in a streaming stick. Prices vary depending on which you go for; Amazon\u2019s Fire Stick which will allow you to add on the likes of on demand services, Netflix and YouTube costs \u00a339.99, whereas the Google Chromecast will set you back \u00a330. Apple TV retails at \u00a359 whereas a Roku streaming stick can cost up to \u00a379.99.<\/p>\n
All-in-all, hundreds of pounds a year will be going to your streaming services of choice through a number of channels. The content on each is subject to change at any time \u201d\u201c rights are lost, artists change their minds and shows aren\u2019t renewed.<\/p>\n
One way to avoid this is to invest in physical media! You can buy CDs<\/a> and buy DVDs of the artists and shows you love from musicMagpie<\/a>. It\u2019ll cost you a fraction of your monthly streaming cost and delivery is FREE!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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