Has anyone else noticed Netflix subscription costs going up? Well duh, you say. Everyone using it and everyone plugged into news apps knows about it too. Fair point. I still have mine, not sure for how long, but I did switch to the cheapest option available in Canada. Many people are pissed off, outraged, and they wonder how Netlix will compete with other subscription services out there at the current pricing structure and when it goes up even more; not if- when. Well, dearest readers, I do not think they care about competing the way the rest of us think they are. Netflix has stocks but does not pay dividends- yet. As a company, it needs to start charging more money and cutting costs to justify a higher stock price. Once that option is exhausted as well, if it survives long enough it will become a dividend darling because that is what late-stage companies tend to do (sorry about more finance nerd stuff). So, I do not know about you, but I do not think they are done increasing subscription costs. Now, you might wonder: Do they ask themselves how we could even afford it down the road? We have so many other things to pay and now platforms like YouTube are becoming impossible to enjoy due to so many more ads being shown, including unskippable long ads (my goodness those are the worst!). So how will we pay for Netflix if we also have to pay for Spotify, YouTube Premium, maybe ChatGPT Plus, other media platforms like Paramount Plus... Well, the answer is kinda crazy. They do not want you to pay for all that. As growth is slowing down, all of these subscription-based offerings are making a devious move to leverage our dependence on them to push the subscription costs up so much that we are forced to choose. Every platform thinks it is the best, and that we will drop their competitors or alternatives in favor of keeping them! This is how they hope to cut down competition. Some people will eventually decide not to just choose Netflix, but many will give up on other services just to keep it. Sure, you might say that there are still other new and smaller ad-supported platforms like Tubi, but hey there is also free over the air antenna-based HDTV programming, yet who really picks that over Netflix? Not too many people, right?
Besides, there is a secret you only get to find out after you try something like YouTube Premium. The zero ads experience is goddamn delicious! It feels like perfect level in Rick and Morty!!! ;)
To be honest, giving YouTube premium a try for one free month was suggested to me by a friend- so it was not my original idea. However, after dealing with long ads interrupting my music, documentaries, podcasts and, well, beauty tips videos- I finally had to give it a try. To be honest, I got converted to the idea very, very quickly. The uninterrupted stream of everything you love and enjoy watching on the platform feels so, so good- as I already mentioned haha. To be honest, I watch YouTube more than anything else. Not to mention, I do not know about Android but on iPhone, being able to play YouTube in the background or in the upper third of the screen while using another app- that is just so, so delicious haha. Oh and also, the ability to download videos and play them from the app. Sure, I could go online and download YouTube videos through one of many random websites, but then there is no app I know of that feels like YouTube and easily plays those videos stored on my iPhone. At any rate, an unexpected benefit of easy accessible video download on YouTube Premium is that I can now get a cheaper plan for my iPhone with less data because I will be downloading more videos for offline play on the go than ever before; as you may imagine, most of my data gets used up by Snap, TikTok and YouTube haha.
So there you have it, dearest readers. And no, I am not affiliated with YouTube, I do not get any kickbacks and I would not much care for any because my work sponsors my blog :) But, for what it is worth, I am one of the early adopters of paid subscriptions for a platform that used to be fully ad supported in the past, and right now it feels like a great choice. Also, by cutting my cell phone plan, I end up spending the same amount of money on my monthly bills, or maybe slightly less. So, whether it is a trap or not, I have to say that if it makes sense for you, premium is just better! :)