Articles about Streaming

For the second time in a year, Spotify has announced a hike in prices for US customers. The increase in subscription fees are significant in their own right (rising by up to 17 percent), but the fact that the company has already increased prices in the last year makes this latest announcement sting.

The new pricing structure also comes on the back of Spotify's recent announcement of record profits, increased revenue and a jump in subscriber numbers. The higher pricing applies to new subscribers with immediate effect, and will be implemented for existing users in July.

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In a letter to shareholders, Netflix says that it is to stop reporting quarterly membership numbers. The company will, mostly, keep details about subscriber numbers to itself from Q1 2025, it announced.

Although Netflix will instead start to report the amount of time users spend on its platform as well as information about revenue growth, the company says that it will still share "major subscriber milestones as we cross them". In its shareholder letter, Netflix also boasts that it is generating very substantial profit and free cash flow.

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Disney CEO and Elon Musk nemesis Bob Iger has said that the company is ready to start clamping down on Disney+ subscribers from sharing their passwords to give other people free access to their account.

Netflix has already taken steps in this direction, and now Disney has revealed that it is going to start tackling the matter in earnest this summer. Speaking on CNBC, Iger indicated that measures to prevent password-sharing would begin In a handful of countries and markets in June before applying to all subscribers in September.

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In 1959, a doll came onto the market that was saturated with them. It shouldn’t have been a big deal; a ho-hum moment. Something about it caught on, though, and it became bigger perhaps any toy and things went forward from there. Barbie had every occupation from doctor to architect and even met a boyfriend, Ken. 

Dolls had been around forever, but Barbie caught on for some reason. Inventor Rauth Hadler had noticed something with her daughter, who played with paper dolls -- she gave them adult personas. It’s amazing where ideas can come from. Hadler ran with it and went to Mattel with the idea. The rest we all know. 

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The hitherto cheapest means of accessing Apple Music is no more. Apple has announced that it is killing off the $4.99 per month Apple Music Voice Plan.

Introduced back in 2021, this tier allowed for access to the entire Apple Music catalog, but only via Siri, and the discontinuation of this plan means that the cheapest generally available Apple Music subscription is now $10.99 (although students have a $5.99 option). So, what does this means for anyone currently on the Apple Music Voice Plan?

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Today, Linksys launches its first Wi-Fi 7 Mesh System. Called "Velop Pro 7," it's all about making your home internet experience a breeze. Whether you're streaming movies, working from home, or gaming, this system has got you covered. And guess what? Setting it up is a piece of cake -- it takes less than 10 minutes!

Nowadays, every house has at least ten gadgets like phones, tablets, or smart TVs all connected to the internet. And with things like virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) becoming more common, having a strong internet connection is key. The Velop Pro 7 is Linksys’ newest and best system that helps you make the most out of these cool new technologies without any hassle.

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As Netflix revealed its quarterly earnings, the company also announced a couple of subscription price hikes for its customers in the US, UK and France. The price increases come despite Netflix's recent password-sharing crackdown which it says has resulted in millions of new revenue-bringing subscribers.

Both the Premium plan and the Basic plans will increase in price, but the Standard and ad-supported plans will remain as they are. Although Netflix's Basic plan is no longer available to new customers, users who have been grandfathered on this tier face the largest price jump.

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New research from Bitdefender reveals a rise in 'stream-jacking' attacks against high-profile accounts in order to spread fraudulent messages.

The attacks may involve a full account takeover or simply luring followers to a mimicked channel with the promise of rewards using various techniques including livestream pop-ups, QR codes, and malicious links.

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Streaming music service Spotify has announced Jam, a group playlist feature that can be used by up to 32 people. Spotify describes the new social feature as a "personalized, real-time listening session for your group to tune into together".

It is, in many ways, an amalgamation of several existing features of Spotify, such as Blend, personalized playlists and collaborative playlists. All users of Spotify -- free and paying -- are able to contribute to a Jam, but the ability to create them is limited to Premium Subscribers.

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Spotify has launched a new personalized playlist option which gives users a unique way to create mixes to suite any mood, occasion or activity.

The company describes Niche Mixes as "a set of personalized playlists that combines all that our Mixes offer in a playful way". What this means in practice is that you can search for an "activity, vibe or aesthetic" (running, 80s, meditative, for instance), add the word "mix", and you'll be provided with a custom playlist to suit.

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Having already test driven its paid-for account sharing in Latin America, Netflix has expanded its efforts to end password sharing to four other regions.

Now, users in Canada, New Zealand, Portugal and Spain will no longer be able to share their Netflix account with friends or family outside of their household without paying to do so. The company is pushing the move as a way to give "members greater control over who can access their account", but the reality is about money.

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Netflix recently announced a crackdown on the sharing of account details and has introduced a paid sharing option to allow multiple users. It isn't surprising then that there's a thriving Dark Web market for streaming account details.

Research from AtlasVPN shows that account logins for popular streaming services are being sold for an average of $11.

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At the same time as sharing its Q4 2022 earnings report, Netflix has revealed that its much-hyped crackdown on password sharing will roll out before the end of this quarter.

In a letter to shareholders, the company reveals that more than 100 million households currently share their accounts with others, pointing out that this "undermines our long term ability to invest in and improve Netflix". Having already tested charging for account sharing in Latin America, the plan is to expand this to a much larger proportion of the subscriber base.

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Netflix has announced a new feature that makes it possible to log out of any logged-in devices from Account Settings.

While the company is suggesting that is something that would be useful for things such as forgetting to log out of your Netflix account on a hotel TV, it is also likely to be used to give freeloaders the boot. Additionally, it serves as a helpful security feature, giving Netflix subscribers a way to remotely log out of unrecognized devices.

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We found out a while back that the NFL will not be renewing its DirecTV Sunday Ticket deal, after a years-long run. The top-viewed sports league has decided to move on and no longer require its viewers to get a satellite dish installed just to watch their favorite team in action. Instead, the NFL is moving on to something that it hopes will attract an even broader viewership. 

For a while, it seemed that Apple TV+ was the lead streaming candidate, but a new survey indicates that is no longer the case. According to The Streamable, Apple TV+ actually trails its major competitors in terms of viewer choice. 

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