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Why wouldn't you want free access to all media ever produced at no cost except your internet subscription. The streaming video services are really terrible by c

Why wouldn't you want free access to all media ever produced at no cost except your internet subscription. The streaming video services are really terrible by comparison and the only reason that music piracy no longer exists to a large degree is due to the fact that youtube has a legal form of piracy build in. You can download any song you like and strip the irrelevant video.

expertentipp 8y ago
Streaming services make one to pay over and over, more and more for the same content while actively pursuing new ways to limit the accessibility to the content and to sneak in advertisements. It's a doomed industry.
- krapp 8y ago
  I use several streaming services and I've never had to pay over and over for the same content. Hell, more often than not, I don't have to pay anything for the content I actually want to see, as long as I'm willing to tolerate advertising, which is fine by me as long as it isn't too intrusive. I understand this is a Napster thread and as a result the most enthusiastically pro-piracy, anti-capitalist contingent of HN is going to show up and wave the black flag but at least try to be honest about the pros and cons for both. Streaming services do have their dark patterns and anti-consumer practices but they still offer something of value to the consumer, and despite what people want to believe, are more convenient than piracy for many people.
  - vict00ms 8y ago
    I'm not who you replied to but I believe "over and over" was a reference to recurrent subscription fees.
    - expertentipp 8y ago
      > I'm not who you replied to but I believe "over and over" was a reference to recurrent subscription fees. I mean that with subscription services one is unable to backup, or even "come back" repeatedly to the content. Let's say watching the same movie from time to time - it's not possible because service providers go out of business, copyright deals change, markets become more/less prioritized, different platforms are supported, the repertoire within the subscription changes over time. Thus watching the same movie requires buying it over and over again.
ncphillips 8y ago
1. $10/month is not an issue for me financially. 2. I want to support the artists who make my media financially, and doing that on an individual basis would be too inconvenient. 3. I know what I’m getting, P2P was always a gamble. 4. Current streaming services (movies and videos) have a significantly better UX that isnaccessible to anyone.
- quantummkv 8y ago
  Just wait for a year or two. All the content big creators(HBO, Disney, etc) have become jealous of Netflix and are preparing to silo their content to their exclusive streaming services for all that sweet cash. Once this process is compete and the silos are created Napster will rise again.
  - SmellyGeekBoy 8y ago
    I know it's not the same from a technical standpoint but BitTorrent is still alive and well. Being peer-to-peer it could be considered a spiritual successor to Napster. I'm not ashamed to admit that I still use it to download movies or foreign TV shows that aren't legally available on the streaming services I use (at least in my region). In my case it's strictly a case of availability - I happily pay for Netflix, Amazon Prime and Spotify as well as whatever software I use. I wish the content creators would wise up to this - Steam solved this issue for gaming years ago.
    - quantummkv 8y ago
      > Being peer-to-peer it could be considered a spiritual successor to Napster. Napster's popularity was not because of P2P or something else. The only reason Napster succeeded was convenience. Bittorrent cannot be the successor because it is not as convenient. > In my case it's strictly a case of availability - I happily pay for Netflix, Amazon Prime and Spotify as well as whatever software I use. Everyone pays now because it is convenient to pay at 2-3 places for all your needs. Once you have to start paying at a separate place for every different series/movie you want, you will stop paying. It is not only about availability. It is about availability AND convenience And Steam is facing the same issues as Netflix with Epic Store and Origin breaking away because EA and Tim wanted more money.
Ntrails 8y ago
Music Piracy absolutely still exists although WhatCD going down hurt it a bunch. However, the real trick of music streaming sites is to build in all of the scrobbly/suggestion/organisation features in. Piracy grows when it is more convenient than legal consumption. I'd rather download a torrent of a DvD I own than go and fetch it, put it in a cd tray, play it with shitty un-skippable intro etc. However - I'd rather spin a film up on Netflix than go hunting through a shitty folder structure of my own idiotic devising. I'd rather watch a series on netflix, which remembers where I am in the series and auto-plays next than manually load up episodes on the odd evening when I've got time. Admittedly Netflix seems to be going out of its way to make the UI intolerably aggravating, but at some points it seemed pretty well done.
- general8bitso 8y ago
  uPNP is pretty cool.
- mbrock 8y ago
  Netflix's selection of films is also so atrocious as to be dangerous for the Bildung of our youth.
- antisthenes 8y ago
  > However - I'd rather spin a film up on Netflix than go hunting through a shitty folder structure of my own idiotic devising. I'd rather watch a series on netflix, which remembers where I am in the series and auto-plays next than manually load up episodes on the odd evening when I've got time. There is desktop software that does all of this locally, including auto-play, intro skipping, remembering where you were in a media file, even auto-downloading subtitles and displaying them. Nor do you have to navigate through your own 'idiotic' folder structure as you put it, because software like Everything exists. Just because you never bothered to set it up doesn't mean this functionality doesn't exist.
rimliu 8y ago
I've never pirated music. I did torrent few movies and shows . when there was no easy legal way to get them. A couple of apps too. Never music though. And I had no bittorrent client for a few years now. Why… That's a good question. First of all I am not interested in hoarding all the media ever produced. Most of it would not even be interesting to me. Second, I want so show some appreciation to the artist I like even if they get only a small percentage of what I pay. I may be outlier in my relationship with the music though. I do not get the urge to have it in my ears for 24/7. It is something I listen to not just a background or the way to drone out my own thoughts. So the smaller collections of the stuff I really like is enough.

expertentipp 8y ago

Streaming services make one to pay over and over, more and more for the same content while actively pursuing new ways to limit the accessibility to the content and to sneak in advertisements. It's a doomed industry.

krapp 8y ago
I use several streaming services and I've never had to pay over and over for the same content. Hell, more often than not, I don't have to pay anything for the content I actually want to see, as long as I'm willing to tolerate advertising, which is fine by me as long as it isn't too intrusive. I understand this is a Napster thread and as a result the most enthusiastically pro-piracy, anti-capitalist contingent of HN is going to show up and wave the black flag but at least try to be honest about the pros and cons for both. Streaming services do have their dark patterns and anti-consumer practices but they still offer something of value to the consumer, and despite what people want to believe, are more convenient than piracy for many people.
- vict00ms 8y ago
  I'm not who you replied to but I believe "over and over" was a reference to recurrent subscription fees.
  - expertentipp 8y ago
    > I'm not who you replied to but I believe "over and over" was a reference to recurrent subscription fees. I mean that with subscription services one is unable to backup, or even "come back" repeatedly to the content. Let's say watching the same movie from time to time - it's not possible because service providers go out of business, copyright deals change, markets become more/less prioritized, different platforms are supported, the repertoire within the subscription changes over time. Thus watching the same movie requires buying it over and over again.

ncphillips 8y ago

1. $10/month is not an issue for me financially. 2. I want to support the artists who make my media financially, and doing that on an individual basis would be too inconvenient. 3. I know what I’m getting, P2P was always a gamble. 4. Current streaming services (movies and videos) have a significantly better UX that isnaccessible to anyone.

quantummkv 8y ago
Just wait for a year or two. All the content big creators(HBO, Disney, etc) have become jealous of Netflix and are preparing to silo their content to their exclusive streaming services for all that sweet cash. Once this process is compete and the silos are created Napster will rise again.
- SmellyGeekBoy 8y ago
  I know it's not the same from a technical standpoint but BitTorrent is still alive and well. Being peer-to-peer it could be considered a spiritual successor to Napster. I'm not ashamed to admit that I still use it to download movies or foreign TV shows that aren't legally available on the streaming services I use (at least in my region). In my case it's strictly a case of availability - I happily pay for Netflix, Amazon Prime and Spotify as well as whatever software I use. I wish the content creators would wise up to this - Steam solved this issue for gaming years ago.
  - quantummkv 8y ago
    > Being peer-to-peer it could be considered a spiritual successor to Napster. Napster's popularity was not because of P2P or something else. The only reason Napster succeeded was convenience. Bittorrent cannot be the successor because it is not as convenient. > In my case it's strictly a case of availability - I happily pay for Netflix, Amazon Prime and Spotify as well as whatever software I use. Everyone pays now because it is convenient to pay at 2-3 places for all your needs. Once you have to start paying at a separate place for every different series/movie you want, you will stop paying. It is not only about availability. It is about availability AND convenience And Steam is facing the same issues as Netflix with Epic Store and Origin breaking away because EA and Tim wanted more money.

Ntrails 8y ago

Music Piracy absolutely still exists although WhatCD going down hurt it a bunch. However, the real trick of music streaming sites is to build in all of the scrobbly/suggestion/organisation features in. Piracy grows when it is more convenient than legal consumption. I'd rather download a torrent of a DvD I own than go and fetch it, put it in a cd tray, play it with shitty un-skippable intro etc. However - I'd rather spin a film up on Netflix than go hunting through a shitty folder structure of my own idiotic devising. I'd rather watch a series on netflix, which remembers where I am in the series and auto-plays next than manually load up episodes on the odd evening when I've got time. Admittedly Netflix seems to be going out of its way to make the UI intolerably aggravating, but at some points it seemed pretty well done.

general8bitso 8y ago
uPNP is pretty cool.
mbrock 8y ago
Netflix's selection of films is also so atrocious as to be dangerous for the Bildung of our youth.
antisthenes 8y ago
> However - I'd rather spin a film up on Netflix than go hunting through a shitty folder structure of my own idiotic devising. I'd rather watch a series on netflix, which remembers where I am in the series and auto-plays next than manually load up episodes on the odd evening when I've got time. There is desktop software that does all of this locally, including auto-play, intro skipping, remembering where you were in a media file, even auto-downloading subtitles and displaying them. Nor do you have to navigate through your own 'idiotic' folder structure as you put it, because software like Everything exists. Just because you never bothered to set it up doesn't mean this functionality doesn't exist.

rimliu 8y ago

I've never pirated music. I did torrent few movies and shows . when there was no easy legal way to get them. A couple of apps too. Never music though. And I had no bittorrent client for a few years now. Why… That's a good question. First of all I am not interested in hoarding all the media ever produced. Most of it would not even be interesting to me. Second, I want so show some appreciation to the artist I like even if they get only a small percentage of what I pay. I may be outlier in my relationship with the music though. I do not get the urge to have it in my ears for 24/7. It is something I listen to not just a background or the way to drone out my own thoughts. So the smaller collections of the stuff I really like is enough.