5 ms·

The required subscription also means it's useless if they go out of business.

xvector 5y ago
That's one of the biggest problems with subscription services. My favorite band's album was pulled from Spotify. Wouldn't have been a concern if I had set up Lidarr on my NAS.
- Causality1 5y ago
  Streaming is great for music discovery but storage is cheap enough I keep all my favorite music on my phone.
  - ale42 5y ago
    Same for me. I prefer buying FLACs (or actual CDs) of the music I want to have and keep it on my devices, so there's no future risk of losing it (I do have backup). Plus, streaming requires a working connection, uses more energy, etc... so as you say, it's (very) good for discovery, but has many downsides too. And actually, I think that in many cases piracy happens because it's the easiest option, not because people wouldn't be willing to pay. But this is a bit off topic ;)
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]
not_exactly__ 5y ago
Yes. But it’s also useless if they go out of business period. I know, I know, opensource it in the event of bankruptcy and continue receiving security updates and what not. But when as that ever actually panned out? Tbh, I don’t know why subscriptions get such a bad rap on HN. recurring revenue (ie subscription) is actually one of the best tool we have for ensuring the products/services we depend on don’t go under.
- tpxl 5y ago
  > Tbh, I don’t know why subscriptions get such a bad rap on HN Because a lot of the times things don't need a subscription, but it's just a way for the company to squeeze more money out of you. Some things you can't buy of course, like a streaming service, and I do pay for them. However, I will never 'rent' an online movie which I can only watch once or some such bullshit where the limitation is 0% technical and 100% someone wanting more money out of me.
  - 2Gkashmiri 5y ago
    hehe. In india, a couple months ago they did an experiment of launching a big ticket movie online for the first time. Here is how they put it, after you pay . open this page https://www.zee5.com/zee-plex-movies-on-rent https://www.zee5.com/zee-plex-movies-on-rent and click on how it works. then "How to buy and watch ZEEPLEX movies?". they say "buy and watch" but then say "pay per view service", then there are stupid watch time requirements and all that. piracy is 1 click, just press play. then these idiots go and equate piracy as a heinous crime
  - not_exactly__ 5y ago
    > I will never rent an online movie Why not? I do it all the time for a simple economic reason: renting is $2.99 and buying is $14.99. If I haven’t seen the movie yet and I don’t feel super strongly about it, I don’t feel like paying the full price. Of course if I end up loving the movie and want to buy it, I’ll end up having spent an extra $2.99 to rent something I now plan to own. But I can’t remember ever doing that. I rent. I watch. I move on. Also I wouldn’t buy a movie that I can’t store in a physical format.
    - tpxl 5y ago
      > Why not? 1. "Buying" is usually 15$ in my experience, not 3$. 2. Like said, the limitation is not technical, it's purely milking users. 3. I like to own stuff and sometimes play older games and watch older movies. Renting is just a non-starter for that, unless you want to overpay out the nose.
- 5y ago

That's one of the biggest problems with subscription services. My favorite band's album was pulled from Spotify. Wouldn't have been a concern if I had set up Lidarr on my NAS.

Causality1 5y ago
Streaming is great for music discovery but storage is cheap enough I keep all my favorite music on my phone.
- ale42 5y ago
  Same for me. I prefer buying FLACs (or actual CDs) of the music I want to have and keep it on my devices, so there's no future risk of losing it (I do have backup). Plus, streaming requires a working connection, uses more energy, etc... so as you say, it's (very) good for discovery, but has many downsides too. And actually, I think that in many cases piracy happens because it's the easiest option, not because people wouldn't be willing to pay. But this is a bit off topic ;)
deleted 5y ago
[deleted]

not_exactly__ 5y ago

Yes. But it’s also useless if they go out of business period. I know, I know, opensource it in the event of bankruptcy and continue receiving security updates and what not. But when as that ever actually panned out? Tbh, I don’t know why subscriptions get such a bad rap on HN. recurring revenue (ie subscription) is actually one of the best tool we have for ensuring the products/services we depend on don’t go under.

tpxl 5y ago
> Tbh, I don’t know why subscriptions get such a bad rap on HN Because a lot of the times things don't need a subscription, but it's just a way for the company to squeeze more money out of you. Some things you can't buy of course, like a streaming service, and I do pay for them. However, I will never 'rent' an online movie which I can only watch once or some such bullshit where the limitation is 0% technical and 100% someone wanting more money out of me.
- 2Gkashmiri 5y ago
  hehe. In india, a couple months ago they did an experiment of launching a big ticket movie online for the first time. Here is how they put it, after you pay . open this page https://www.zee5.com/zee-plex-movies-on-rent https://www.zee5.com/zee-plex-movies-on-rent and click on how it works. then "How to buy and watch ZEEPLEX movies?". they say "buy and watch" but then say "pay per view service", then there are stupid watch time requirements and all that. piracy is 1 click, just press play. then these idiots go and equate piracy as a heinous crime
- not_exactly__ 5y ago
  > I will never rent an online movie Why not? I do it all the time for a simple economic reason: renting is $2.99 and buying is $14.99. If I haven’t seen the movie yet and I don’t feel super strongly about it, I don’t feel like paying the full price. Of course if I end up loving the movie and want to buy it, I’ll end up having spent an extra $2.99 to rent something I now plan to own. But I can’t remember ever doing that. I rent. I watch. I move on. Also I wouldn’t buy a movie that I can’t store in a physical format.
  - tpxl 5y ago
    > Why not? 1. "Buying" is usually 15$ in my experience, not 3$. 2. Like said, the limitation is not technical, it's purely milking users. 3. I like to own stuff and sometimes play older games and watch older movies. Renting is just a non-starter for that, unless you want to overpay out the nose.
5y ago