Instead of premiering in cinemas, many movies are being launched straight to the streaming services such as Netflix and Disney Plus. This issue brings both benefits and drawbacks to many parties involved in the industry.
On one hand, watching movies on online streaming platforms is a good example of living an easy life with modern technology. People could enjoy various kinds of entertainment they want anytime and anywhere just by paying monthly subscriptions which are considerably cheaper than going to the cinema. In addition, customers also get to rewatch a show numerous times provided that they have internet access. Furthermore, subscription systems are considered fortune to the provider company. Aside from earning more income from the clients, they also spend less money to buy products from the producer, as it is only a one-time payment. As a result, streaming providers made a huge amount of money for there is no obligation to pay for every single view the movie gets.
On the other hand, people who paid subscription money for streaming movies and shows are prone to addiction. Plenty of people nowadays have developed an unhealthy habit of binge-watching shows online, which means continuously watching episodes in succession without a care of the world. Consequently, they would feel lazy to do anything and not take good care of themselves, thus becoming unproductive. Besides that, the popularity of streaming services is a huge loss to film creators. In the past, actors would be paid in consideration of how many times the movie was played. For example, when a film is being shown in cinemas for a period of time, it would raise money for every ticket sold and the number of plays, resulting in proper payment for the actors and actresses. Meanwhile these days, their work did not get enough appreciation because of the streaming platforms’ single-payment system.
To conclude, even though the number of movies being released immediately to streaming platforms is increasing because of entertainment convenience and company’s rising financial gain, it could encourage customer’s unproductiveness and underpayment for the movie producers.