Today we are looking at the approaches some third-party platforms that are using to help viewers discover new things outside of a streaming service’s content recommendations.

JustWatch

For those of us with several streaming subscriptions, it can be agonising to log into every one to see what is being recommended. It is even worse if you are looking across several platforms for something specific to watch. JustWatch essentially acts as a streamlined way for you to keep track of, browse and find what is on all the streaming services you have.

Generally, JustWatch tends to be most used when looking for a particular title. To do this you select the region of the world you are in and type the film title you are looking for into the search bar. If the film is on any streaming service in your country, JustWatch will tell you where to find it.

That said JustWatch also has more features available for those who don’t have a certain title in mind to watch. They provide charts that showcase the most popular shows and movies in a particular region. It also showcases which services have said titles. 

Additionally, if users input their streaming service subscriptions they will see what content is trending on all those sites. This removes the need to trawl through every single one individually. The site also provides genre recommendations across all the services that you have access to. In addition, they also provide daily information on what has been added to a given streaming service. Plus if you interact with the movie entries on JustWatch (e.g. by liking them) it will recommend titles that fit with content you have liked from across all the streaming sites you can access.

Moveme TV

Meanwhile, Moveme is another service putting its own spin on how to find new things to watch. Like JustWatch Moveme will recommend media for you (though Moveme focuses more on films than shows) based on the services you have. However, Moveme focuses more on finding stuff for you to watch based on emotive words and emojis.

You essentially tell Moveme what you want to feel and it will then show you films from the streaming services you have that the AI algorithm feels best fits your input. You can then filter these recommendations by release year, IMDb star rating, preferred languages and genre. Allowing you to find recommendations that really fit your specific emotional requirements for the day.

Conclusion

There are of course flaws with both of these systems. JustWatch often features titles with no presence on streaming sites and can mistake projects with similar titles for one another. As well as having a generally quite cluttered interface making using the site sometimes frustrating. To say nothing of how they use user data to allow client companies to better target the audiences they want.

Additionally, Moveme’s attempt to sort films by emotional response is admirable but is open to several critiques. Firstly as these films are sorted by an algorithm which lacks nuance it can lead to some funny results. For example, searching for “feel-good movies” resulted in me being recommended films like A Cure For Wellness and Stella Dallas. Neither of which I would say count as feel-good. But beyond these mistakes, it also offers a shallow analysis of films. Feeling that films can be boiled down to one emotional response rather than the plethora of feelings experienced while watching something ultimately serves to sell something short and can lead to audiences feeling misled and disappointed.

However, the ideas behind these platforms are definitely attractive for users looking to navigate the maze of online streaming. Hopefully, these tools will continue to improve. They will certainly be needed as the industry continues to fragment.

Also Read: Streaming is Becoming More Like Cable TV

Also Read: Gone, But Not Forgotten: The Mysterious Case of Missing Streamed Content

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The Rise of Streaming

With faster and cheaper internet speeds in the 2000s, it was only natural for some entertainment content to start moving from cable to online. At first, it was limited to YouTube and small websites. Then Netflix, a small video subscription service, came online. With House of Cards, it broke the barrier and made TV streaming mainstream.

And yet, with pirated video material getting over 230 billion views a year, we are in the Golden Age of digital piracy. Here’s why;

Subscription Fatigue

Back in the day, you just needed to invest in one really good cable subscription and you were set. Now, video entertainment is split over a dozen online platforms each specializing in different genres. Maybe you’re satisfied with the dramas on Hulu but your spouse wants to watch reality shows on Netflix and your kid simply can’t settle for less than Disney+. Regularly paying for three or more costs far more than cable ever did. So the average person does what they can to cut costs.

Streamers Hiking Prices and Tightening Regulations

Over the last couple of years, most streamers have hiked their prices a couple of bucks. This has put more financial pressure on the subscribers already experiencing subscription fatigue. On top of that, Netflix recently created measures to prevent password sharing outside a subscriber’s household. This extremely unpopular move means that an account (even a family account) can no longer be shared among people who don’t physically live together. Once again, streamers are forcing subscribers to spend more money.

Content Deletions

Perhaps the most egregious of all, many streamers are pulling huge chunks of content off their platforms. Netflix is notorious for cancelling shows only one season after their release. This frustration is causing many people to opt out of streaming altogether. Worse than that is streamers like Disney+ deleting swathes of completed TV shows and classic films that only exist online. Many people see piracy of such content as historical preservation of art which would otherwise be completely erased from living memory.

So, what Are Streamers Doing About It?

While the ethical concerns of piracy can be debated, the fact is that the movie industry loses between $40 and $97.1 billion every year from digital piracy. And, of course, streamers want their cut. A few measures are being taken to curb movie piracy. As anyone who uses Netflix knows, you can’t screenshot or screen record any image on the Netflix app. This is a measure applied by quite a few streaming services. Platforms can also embed invisible digital watermarks in their content which helps to identify whether duplicate content has been stolen. Website blocking is used to limit access to the most notorious TV and movie piracy sites. But despite preventative methods and thousands of take-down notices issued to pirates, the issue persists.

All in All,

Streaming has changed the landscape of movie consumption by making TV and film accessible to thousands of more people. But the increased access to the internet coupled with the pitfalls of streaming has also opened the floodgates to rampant movie piracy. What’s your take?

Also Read: The New Hollywood: Streaming Giants

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