Recently, I went away with my family for a few short but sunny days (the weather is ramping up for summer here in Australia). We hit the beach, rode bikes, rolled down sand dunes, read, ate, slept. It was glorious.

We had booked a cabin that of course was not as furnished and feature-filled as our home. One notable feature was the television: it only had free-to-air TV programs and a DVD player. A DVD player! No streaming services or YouTube with endless show options. The front desk of the camp ground park offered a longlist of DVDs that you could borrow for free and wow it was a blast from the past: reading the list, weighing up the limited options and choosing one or two to enjoy. Our kids even embraced simply watching what was programmed on television and soon learned there was no point complaining or asking for someone else – you either watched what was playing, or turned it off. Simple, easy, calm. We enjoyed stories in a slow and meaningful way. Gone was the endless content consumption, the dissatisfied scroll through streaming platforms that somehow, despite having large catalogues, have nothing to watch. It took me back to my days working at a video store – the slowness of having to go to the store, wandering the shelves, narrowing down your options, and really leaning into the viewing of whatever you had picked to hire.

What’s wrong with streaming and subscription services?

Let’s begin by unpacking why digital streaming and subscription services that deliver our favourite art and stories have become so dissatisfying.

The navigation interfaces are complex, unintuitive and difficult to navigate. Want to quickly search for a film in the search bar? Sorry, you’ll have to scrollllllllllllllllll, click right right right right and right again, or simply struggle to find the search bar at all. Then, with your television remote, you’ll have to spell out the word slowly, clicking across the on-screen keyboard one painful letter at a time. Give me a bookshelf or DVD collection right there in my living room any day. It’s fast! I can catalogue the titles the way I know and like. I can grab what I want with one easy hand movement.

Because of film and television companies beefs over rights (eye roll), they all have their own streaming platforms. Want to watch the first in a beloved series? Sorry, only movies two and three are available with your current subscriptions. You’ll have to pay for another subscription to watch that first film. Despite the multiple subscriptions many of us have, you’ll often find a title you simply do not have access to without another paywall. Give me a video store again, every title, available to all to borrow or buy. Or even better, let me borrow if for free from my local library. Nothing is worse than being in the middle of binge watching a favourite early-2000s series, only to have it pulled without warning in the middle of your journey (this happened to me, sad face).

Subscription fees continue to rise every year without improvement to their tech, titles list or interface. Talk about greedy! The price inflation and service reduction of digital access services continues every year with less innovation and titles offered in their service for an ever-increasing price. Despite all the money these big corporations are rolling in, we aren’t seeing any innovation. It’s the old shrinkflation approach – offer less for more money. Many of these services have jumped on the AI staffing bandwagon, firing huge swathes of employees. The services offered are thus missing the crucial human touch – interfaces aren’t improved based on how a real person uses it, and recommendations become metadata-driven rather than genuine referrals. I’d rather chat with a friend about a movie, album, or book they’ve enjoyed recently, as I know and trust their preferences over an algorithm.

Your favourite stories can be removed without warning or even edited (what is this about?!). This has been particularly frustrating in recent years, with films being edited to have scenes removed. Don’t meddle with our stories! Sure, Disney films often displayed footage or concepts that, by today’s standards, would not pass the vibe check. But don’t censor it! We learn from content like that. Art influences us in many ways, so let it teach us for the better.

Artists and creators are being paid less and less. It’s no secret that these digital content megahouses are also wanting full rights over digital art without paying artists and creators properly. How many times have you heard about authors being paid less by Amazon for their books? The writers strike in Hollywood only a few years ago is also a great example of this – major production houses wanted full authority to use the likeness of actors to create AI-generated art, for a much smaller fee. By this stage residuals for actors had essentially dwindled to nothing. Moving to AI and using likenessess of actors and creating stories that are ripped from content fed into their systems not only steals ideas illegally, but also means even less reward for those who’s ideas and likenesses are used. This is simply greedy and unfair. Why should disrespectful tech giants profit off hard-working creatives who already struggle to make ends meet? Make it make sense.

We want to own our favourite stories, have their creators rewarded, without fear they’ll be taken away from us or altered. We want them within arms reach. Accessible, available, untouched.

So, what’s the solution?

Look, I won’t lie. This is tough. But consumers have impact.

Learn about the practices of the streaming services and platforms you currently use. Decide whether you believe the creators who’s work is available on that platform are rewarded enough. Look into their pricing structure and history of fee increases. See if they have ever tampered with stories. If you aren’t happy with their history and the services they offer, look into alternatives. Ask around! Read blogs and forums and gain insight into alternative ways to access the stories and art you love. If in doubt, start with indie bookstores, indie streaming services and audio services like Bandcamp that feed straight back to the artist. One very sneaky thing to assess is parent companies – we live in an era of huge corporation control where a company is owned by another company and a another company. The way stories are purchased and experienced at the consumer level are controlled by giants at the top. Dig deep.

Move back to DVD’s, physical books and CD’s. It’s bizarre to think that buying an oldschool DVD player might be a bigger step forward than more digital innovation. But bring it out again, or order a new one. They’re not wildly expensive. DVD’s are available to buy in many op shops and for hire through local libraries. Likewise the old physical book and CD needs to retake its places on our shelves. Enjoy reaching over for that story or art, and enjoy it without a monthly subscription.

Go direct to the source. By this I mean go straight to the artist themselves if you can. Can you buy files, discs, albums or art direct from the creator? This will kill two birds with one stone – give you a physical copy of the art, and pay the creator their worth. If you can go and see your favourite artists perform or sign in the flesh! Connect them to the art you have devoured – learn from them in person, pay for their live tickets, buy their merchandise, and share the love.

Embrace slowing down and paying full price. One of the worst things that has happened to creative art and content is the ultra-consumerism of it. People EXPECT to buy five new books a week. NO! Slow down. By buying digital art and content at this rate, you don’t appreciate it. It’s disposable. In some cases you simply forgot you bought it in the first place. Embrace consuming at the rate you can actually afford and enjoy. Remember the days when you could only buy one CD a month, but you listened to it inside and out? How much more did you appreciate every note? How much more did the music become entwined in your life? Let’s go back to this.

A NOTE FOR ARTISTS, AUTHORS AND CREATIVES

As artists and creators this is a maddening time to be alive and creating. So many people told us that the internet is such a wonderful thing because we don’t need big distributors or publishing labels to get our works out there. We can talk straight to the people! But the digital infringement, pirating, tampering of our works, lack of royalties, ongoing fees to users, getting lost in the algorithms – to me – makes using digital platforms, almost not worth it.

What do you think about this issue? Let’s me know. I’m hopeful we can change the future of our artforms.

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Novel update (82k words)

Draft 7 is ticking along nicely! I’m receiving such helpful feedback from my beta readers who are helping me clarify details of the story and the way information is revealed to readers. I truly recognise how important outside input is for polishing a story. I’m really keen to make some of the adjustments required to really make the story hit. I’ve also created a book cover concept that will be revealed in time!!

What I’m reading/finishing reading 
Dragon Silver by Anna Lauten
Psykhe by Kate Forsyth
Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Written in my Hearts Own Blood (Outlander #8) by Diana Gabaldon 🎧
Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros 🎧⭐⭐⭐⭐
Iron Flame by Rebecca Yarros🎧