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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[–] JackbyDev@programming.dev 2 points 2 years ago

I'm trying to get better about canceling services we don't actively watch and only having two at a time. We already have Prime so I don't count it but we have Max and Hulu right now. We swapped Disney+ for Hulu when What We Do In The Shadows released and my wife is an Our Flag Means Death stan so we will probably permanently have Max (but the new season comes out soon anyways).

[–] quams69@lemmy.world 2 points 2 years ago

Canceled everything and now I use smarttube to watch youtube on my tv, soon will pay for vpn to start torrenting again. πŸ‘

[–] z2k_@lemmy.nz 2 points 2 years ago

Cancelled my Netflix account when they announced the password sharing crackdown (even though I wasn't password sharing), and recently cancelled my Spotify family account when they increased the price.

[–] YoBuckStopsHere@lemmy.world 2 points 2 years ago (2 children)

Nope, we pay for Netflix and Disney+. Our friends pay for Hulu and HBO so we swap passwords so we all benefit.

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[–] Natal@lemmy.world 2 points 2 years ago (3 children)

I have tidal for music and I really want to drop it since their price hike. The only thing still blocking me is that I don't have a decent way to listen to music in my car without a subscription service. It sucks.

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[–] regbin_@lemmy.world 1 points 2 years ago

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

[–] stsquad@lemmy.ml 1 points 2 years ago

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

[–] redballooon@lemm.ee 1 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years 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.

[–] EuroNutellaMan@lemmy.world 1 points 2 years 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.

[–] BobbyBandwidth@lemmy.world 1 points 2 years ago

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

[–] Ekis@beehaw.org 1 points 2 years 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.

[–] PhlubbaDubba@lemm.ee 1 points 2 years ago

I'm only on Crunchyroll since other services are through family accounts, I am considering dropping some of my Patreon subs because of belt tightening I might have to do though.

[–] SinkingLotus@lemmy.world 1 points 2 years ago

I've been meaning to. It's just that I got my current Netflix subscription as part of a bundle with my ISP. I have to phone them to cancel it. I don't really have the energy to do so.

Though, I'm in the process of being kicked out of my home. If I'm able to find somewhere to go, I'll likely cancel it once I change my address with the ISP.

Other than that. I use YouTube with an adblock on both my PC and FireStick.

[–] vodnik@lemmy.world 1 points 2 years ago

I've cancelled them all and started sailing the high seas since the beginning of the year. I'm considering picking up Crunchyroll, though. It's just easier to pay for One Piece than pirate it.

[–] MrScottyTay@sh.itjust.works 1 points 2 years ago

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.

[–] Panda@lemmy.world 1 points 2 years 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 2 years ago

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

[–] fox@beehaw.org 1 points 2 years ago

I'm a Criterion early subscriber and am still on their early subscriber yearly pricing. Get gift certificates a few times a year for their physical disk web store.

I knew about the Disney+ price hike and plan to add ads last year.

I was able to get Hulu (with ads) for $1.99/month for 12 months (then $7.99 per month) then add on Disney+ for $2.99/month during last year's Blacks Friday discount. Which was cheaper than just Disney+ by itself with ads.

Not sure what I'll do once I hit my head mark with Hulu.

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

[–] Arethusa@lemmy.world 1 points 2 years 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.

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