it is about two things - licensing as well as market size. in the case of the latter, big media companies just don't care about small markets, as the cost of o

it is about two things - licensing as well as market size. in the case of the latter, big media companies just don't care about small markets, as the cost of operating them is greater than the potential profits realized. in the case of the former, i work in media and you are absolutely right - media licensing is stuck in a 1985 model, which only serves to sustain a few middlemen kind of players, but in the bigger picture sucks for both consumers and the companies that own the content. one particular result of this is that many people who can't legitimately get what the want (in terms of downloads, streams, etc.) will just pirate it, having tried unsuccessfully to do things the right way and been frustrated.