Streaming Services

Music streaming platforms

Although music streaming is no longer a freely replicable public good, streaming platforms such as Spotify, Deezer, Apple Music, SoundCloud, and Prime Music have shifted music streaming to a club-type good. While some platforms, most notably Spotify, give customers access to a freemium service that enables the use of limited features for exposure to advertisements, most companies operate under a premium subscription model.^[41] Under such circumstances, music streaming is financially excludable, requiring that customers pay a monthly fee for access to a music library, but non-rival, since one customer's use does not impair another's.

Music streaming platforms have grown rapidly in popularity in recent years. Spotify has over 207 million users, as of 1 January 2019, in 78 different countries,^[42] Apple Music has about 60 million, and SoundCloud has 175 million.^[43] All platforms provide varying degrees of accessibility. Apple Music and Prime Music only offer their services for paid subscribers, whereas Spotify and SoundCloud offer freemium and premium services. Napster, owned by Rhapsody since 2011, has resurfaced as a music streaming platform offering subscription based services to over 4.5 million users as of January 2017.^[44] As music streaming providers have proliferated and competition has pushed the price of subscriptions down, music piracy rates have also fallen (see chart to the right).

The music industry's response to music streaming was initially negative. Along with music piracy, streaming services disrupted the market and contributed to the fall in revenue from $14.6 billion in revenue in 1999 to $6.3 billion in 2009 for the U.S. CD's and single-track downloads were not selling because content was freely available on the Internet. The result was that record labels invested more in artists that were "safe" – chart music became more appealing to producers than bands with unique sounds. In 2018, however, music streaming revenue exceeded that of traditional revenue streams (e.g. record sales, album sales, downloads).^[45] 2017 alone saw a 41.1% increase in streaming revenue alone and an 8.1% increase in overall revenue.^[45] Streaming revenue is one of the largest driving forces behind the growth in the music industry. In an interview, Jonathan Dworkin, a senior vice president of strategy and business development at Universal, said that "we cannot be afraid of perpetual change, because that dynamism is driving growth."^[45]

The term "streaming wars" was coined to discuss the new era of competition between video streaming services such as Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Hulu, HBO Max, Disney+, and Apple TV+.

n over-the-top media service is a streaming media service offered directly to viewers via the Internet. OTT bypasses cable, broadcast, and satellite television platforms, the companies that traditionally act as a controller or distributor of such content. Most of these services are owned by a major film studio. Some streaming services started as an add-on to Blu-ray offerings, which are supplements to the programs watched.^[1]

Streaming is an alternative to file downloading, a process in which the end-user obtains the entire file(s) for the content before watching or listening to it.

A client end-user can use their media player, computer, mobile phone and smart TV to start playing digital video content before the entire file has been transmitted. Users will need an Internet connection to stream or download video contents. Users lacking compatible hardware or software systems may be unable to stream or download certain content.

Streaming video on demand

This is a dynamic list and may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. You can help by adding missing items with reliable sources.

Main article: Video on demand

See also[edit]

• Streaming media
• Video on demand
• Over-the-top media service
• Direct-to-video
• Major film studio
• Comparison of video hosting services
• Live streaming
• Live streaming world news
• Television show

At least 100 million subscribers

Service	Parent	Launch	Subscribers	Content	Areas Served	Ref.
Netflix	Netflix, Inc.	January 16, 2007[a]	204 million	Netflix Originals, Columbia Pictures, TriStar Pictures, Classics, Screen Gems, Studio Ghibli,[b] licensed content from other vendors	Worldwide[c]	[2]
Prime Video	Amazon.com Inc.	September 7, 2006	200 million	Amazon Originals, Amazon Studios, Discovery, ITV, licensed content from other vendors	Worldwide[d]	[3]
Tencent Video[e]	Tencent	June, 2011	120 million	Tencent Video Originals, licensed content from other vendors	China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Macau, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, Vietnam	[4][5]
iQIYI	Baidu	April 22, 2010	118.9 million	iQIYI Originals, licensed content from other vendors	Worldwide	[6]
Disney+	The Walt Disney Company	November 12, 2019[f]	100 million	Walt Disney Pictures, Walt Disney Animation Studios, Disney Channel, Marvel Studios, Lucasfilm, Pixar, Disneynature, National Geographic, ABC, ABC Signature, 20th Television, 20th Television Animation, Marvel Television, Marvel Animation, Hulu, Star,[g] 20th Century Studios, Searchlight Pictures, Fox 2000 Pictures, Blue Sky Studios, Touchstone Pictures, Hollywood Pictures, Disney+ Originals	North America,[h] South America, parts of Asia-Pacific, Western Europe, Australia, New Zealand, and parts of Northern Africa.	[7][8]

At least 25 million subscribers

Service	Parent	Launch	Subscribers	Content	Areas Served	Ref.
Youku	Alibaba Group	June 2006	81.1 million	Youku Originals, licensed content from other vendors	China	[9]
HBO Max	AT&T	May 27, 2020[10]	44.2 million [11]	WarnerMedia libraries, HBO, Max Originals, DC Universe Originals, Warner Bros., DC Films, New Line Cinema, Turner Entertainment, CNN, Sesame Workshop, Looney Tunes, Comedy Central, Crunchyroll, Studio Ghibli, TBS, TNT, TruTV, Adult Swim, Boomerang, Cartoon Network	United States	[12]
Hulu	The Walt Disney Company (67% stake) NBCUniversal (Comcast) (33% stake)	October 29, 2007	39.4 million	Hulu Originals, ABC, ABC Signature, 20th Television, 20th Television Animation, FX Networks, FX, Freeform, Walt Disney Pictures, 20th Century Studios, Searchlight Pictures, Touchstone Pictures, Hollywood Pictures, ABC News, ESPN, licensed content from other vendors	United States, Japan	[8][13]
Peacock	Comcast	July 15, 2020[i]	33.1 million	Peacock Originals, NBC, Universal, Focus Features, DreamWorks Animation, Illumination, Telemundo, Bravo, E!, Syfy, Oxygen, WWE Network	United States	[14]
YouTube Premium	Google	October 31, 2015	30 million	YouTube Originals	100 countries	[15][16]
iflix	Tencent	May 27, 2014	25 million[j]	The Walt Disney Company,[18] Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM),[19] Paramount Pictures,[20] Warner Bros,[21] Fox,[21] and Starz.[22]	Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Bangladesh, Nepal, Thailand, Brunei, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Myanmar, Vietnam, the Maldives and Cambodia	[23]

At least 10 million subscribers

Service	Parent	Launch	Subscribers	Content	Areas Served	Ref.
iWantTFC	ABS-CBN Corporation	January 8, 2010	13 million	iWantTFC Originals, ABS-CBN channels like S+A, ANC, Kapamilya Channel, Teleradyo, Star Cinema	Worldwide	[24]
CuriosityStream	CuriosityStream, LLC	March 18, 2015	13 million	Factual nonfiction content in science, history, mathematics, technology, robotics, and nature. Content for kids. Original programming	175 countries	[25]
ESPN+	The Walt Disney Company (80% stake) Hearst Communications (20% stake)	April 12, 2018	12.1 million	ESPN Programming, UFC	United States	[26][27][8]
Discovery+	Discovery, Inc.	January 4, 2021	12 million[28]	Discovery Channel, Food Network, TLC, HGTV, ID, OWN, Animal Planet, Magnolia Network, BBC Studios, and licensed content from other vendors such as A+E Networks[29]	Denmark, Finland, India, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom, United States	[30]
Apple TV+	Apple Inc.	November 1, 2019	10 million	Apple TV+ Originals	Worldwide	[31]

At least 1 million subscribers[edit]

Service	Parent	Launch	Subscribers	Content	Areas Served	Ref.
Paramount+	ViacomCBS	October 28, 2014[k]	8 million[l]	Paramount+ Originals, CBS, Paramount Pictures, Miramax, MTV, Nickelodeon, Comedy Central, BET, and Smithsonian Channel, ViacomCBS Domestic Media Networks	United States, Canada, Latin America, Australia,[m] Poland, Hungary, Russia,[n] Middle East, Nordics	[32]
Rakuten TV	Rakuten	2010	7 million	Starz Play,[o] and licensed content from other vendors.	42 European countries and Japan	[33]
Globoplay	Grupo Globo	November 3, 2015	6.5 million	Globoplay Originals, Rede Globo, licensed content from other vendors	Brazil, United States	[34]
Crunchyroll	AT&T	May 14, 2006	4 million	Anime, Manga, Dorama	Worldwide	[35]
Crave	Bell Media	October 30, 2014	2.8 million[p]	Crave Originals, Bell Media, HBO, Showtime, Starz, and licensed content from other vendors.	Canada	[36]
Zee5	Zee Entertainment Enterprises	February 14, 2018	2.7 million	Zee5 Originals, Zee TV, & TV, Zee Marathi, Zee Yuva, Zee Sarthak, Zee Kannada, Zee Telugu, Zee Bangla, Zee Punjabi, Zee Keralam, Zee Tamizh, Zee Café and licensed content from other vendors.	190+ countries
Now TV	Comcast	July 17, 2012	2.21 million[q]	Sky channels, Nickelodeon, Cartoon Network, DeA Kids,[r] Comedy Central,[r] and licensed content from other vendors.	United Kingdom, Ireland, Germany, Italy	[37]
Stan.	Nine Entertainment Co.	April 1, 2014	2.1 million[s]	Stan Originals, Nine Network, NBCUniversal, Lionsgate, Sony Pictures, Village Roadshow, ABC Commercial, ViacomCBS, and licensed content from other vendors.	Australia	[38]
Starz Play	Lionsgate	November 18, 2011	2 million [t]	Starz Original, Lionsgate, and licensed content from other vendors.	Argentina, Brazil, Chile, France, Italy, Germany, Pakistan, Spain, United Kingdom and 17 countries in the Middle East and North Africa region	[39]
BritBox	ITV plc, BBC Studios/BBC	March 7, 2017	2 million[u]	BBC, ITV, Channel 4,[v] Channel 5, Comedy Central UK, Endemol Shine,[w] and licensed content from other vendors	Australia, United Kingdom, United States, Canada	[40][41]
SonyLIV	Sony Pictures Networks India	January 22, 2013	1.81 million	Sony TV, Sony SAB, Sony Marathi, Sony Ten, Sony Max, Sony Max 2, Sony PIX,Sony Six and licensed content from other vendors.	Indo-Pacific and Middle East
Neon	Sky Network Television Limited	February 1, 2015	1.7 million [x]	Warner Bros., HBO, NBCUniversal, Sony Pictures Television, BBC Studios, MGM, and licensed content from other vendors.	New Zealand	[42]
BET+	ViacomCBS	September 19, 2019	1 million [y]	BET+ Originals, BET Originals, Tyler Perry Studios, ViacomCBS, and licensed content from other vendors.	United States	[43]
HayU	Comcast	March 1, 2016	1 million [z]	E!, Bravo, NBCUniversal, and licensed content from other vendors.	United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland, Canada, Luxembourg, The Netherlands, Belgium, Philippines, Singapore, Hong Kong	[44]
Acorn TV	RLJ Entertainment	August 15, 2013	1 million [aa]	Acorn Media Group, BBC Studios, ITV, Channel 4, All3Media, DRG, ZDF, Content Media and licensed content from other vendors.	United States, United Kingdom, Ireland, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Mexico, Spain	[45]
Shudder	AMC Networks	2015	1 million [ab]	Shudder Originals, AMC Networks, and licensed content from other vendors	United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand	[46]

Fewer than 1 million subscribers[edit]

Service	Parent	Launch	Subscribers	Content	Areas Served	Ref.
Videoland	RTL Nederland	2010	750,000[ac]	RTL NL and Videoland original content, licensed content from other vendors	Netherlands	[47]
Showmax	MultiChoice Group	August 19, 2015	590,000	Hollywood, British, Kenyan, Nickelodeon, Disney, Cartoon Network, Boomerang, ABC, HBO and South African content	Africa, Europe, Australia, New Zealand, North America	[48]
Kayo Sports	Streamotion Pty Ltd	November 26, 2018	542,000	Fox Sports, ESPN Australia, beIN Sports, Racing.com	Australia	[49]
Binge	Streamotion Pty Ltd	May 25, 2020	468,000[50]	WarnerMedia, HBO, BBC, NBCUniversal, Sony Pictures Television, StudioCanal, ViacomCBS, Discovery, Inc., ITV Studios, All3Media	Australia	[51]
FuboTV	FuboTV	January 1, 2015	547,880	NFL, MLB, NBA, NHL, MLS and international Association football, includes cable television channels like ABC, CBS, Fox, NBC, ESPN	United States, Canada, Spain	[52]
Atresplayer Premium	Atresmedia	September 8, 2019	452,000[ad]	Atresmedia	Spain, Americas	[53]
AMC+	AMC Networks	2020	100,000 [ae]	AMC Originals, AMC Networks, licensed content from other vendors	United States	[54]
IFC Films Unlimited		2019	100,000 [af]	IFC Originals, AMC Networks, licensed content from other vendors	United States, Canada[55]	[56]
Sundance Now		2014	100,000 [ag]	Sundance TV Originals, AMC Networks, licensed content from other vendors	United States	[54]
Allblk		2020	100,000 [ah]	Allblk Originals, AMC Networks, licensed content from other vendors	United States	[57]
We TV+		2020	100,000 [ai]	We TV Originals, AMC Networks, licensed content from other vendors	United States	[54]