Spotify is tightening enforcement on family plans, following a path other streaming services have already taken. Netflix began enforcing its account-sharing rules in 2023 after years of tolerating shared passwords. The company later raised prices and reported 9.3 million added subscriptions by April 2024. Max and Disney+ and Hulu have also introduced their own enforcement. A Goldman report argues music services can enforce strict policies, raise prices and still earn more. Shared-account users may soon receive warnings to check in with their plan manager.
Hobsons Bay Libraries is hosting a free event on the future of broadcast television in the age of streaming. Comedian Mitch McTaggart, writer and presenter of The Last Year of Television and The Back Side of Television, will guide the audience through Australian television past and present. The one-hour presentation will be held at Altona Meadows Library and Learning Centre on Thursday 29 October, from 7pm to 8pm. It is suitable for all ages, though under-18s need parental supervision. Places are limited and bookings are essential. The event marks UNESCO Global Media and Information Literacy Week.
A retired physician, Eleftherios P. Diamandis, explains why streaming services did not meet his musical needs. He wanted a library focused on Greek folk music from about 1900 to 1980. He built it by swapping hard drives with friends, then used Apple Music and iCloud to sync it to his iPhone. He plans to keep only his favourite songs over time. He hopes to pass the collection on to his grandchildren.
AU Now app
Your suburb’s news, alerts and Shorts — in one app
Alerts, Shorts and your saved stories — free on Google Play.
Netflix has reported third-quarter profit above Wall Street's expectations, but its shares fell after it lowered its advertising sales guidance. The streaming company earned $US3.66 billion, or 87 cents per share, for the July to September period, up 44 per cent from a year earlier. Revenue rose 12 per cent to $US12.87 billion. Netflix also announced plans to cut about six per cent of its workforce and replace its chief content officer, Bela Bajaria, with Peter Rice. Shares fell 4.1 per cent after hours.
JustWatch Group has launched its own streaming service, JustWatch TV, which its executives say will help viewers find films and series across platforms. JustWatch SVP Quentin Carbonell said the service has a few hundred titles across its tiers, and 30 content partners, including Paramount and New Regency, with more planned. The group says the service will also feed its advertising business by providing deeper audience data for its film marketing campaigns. JustWatch TV aims to reach 100 million monthly users in the years to come, Carbonell said.
A new television comedy, The Sonny Disposition, premieres on Stan on October 19. Created by Carlton comedian Simon Taylor and Josh Samuels, the series satirises podcast fame through an ego-driven podcaster whose ambitions damage his relationship. Taylor said the show was made independently, after a friend left the country and gave him temporary access to a furnished office. The full series was filmed in Collingwood in February, with the creators taking on multiple roles. The series is streaming on Stan and will screen on 9Go and 9Now in November.
Plex has begun selling movie theatre tickets through a partnership with Fandango. The move extends the company's business beyond its media server software, which lets users share films they own without paying Hollywood licensing fees. Plex co-founder and chief product officer Scott Olechowski said the company wants to be the place where people discover what to watch, wherever the content is hosted. He also said Plex is creating a clearer path from discovery to purchase for studios and advertisers.
Google is adding labels to YouTube Music that show when a song was created or significantly altered with generative AI. The label appears on the player page, and tapping it opens a menu with more information. Google says it is working with partners and using its own detection tools to identify AI music. Publishers can also specify, when uploading, whether their content is fully, partially or not made with generative AI, though this disclosure is optional. Google says it is not banning AI music, noting that the tools open new ways for artists to create and share music.
Maka, a new streaming app for children aged 0 to 6, has launched with no ads, no autoplay and no endless scrolling. Its founders say its algorithms do not aim to maximise watch time. Every episode is assessed by child development experts using a framework built with researchers at the Yale Child Study Center. The platform charges $15 a month or $107 a year. Critics say YouTube has not done enough to separate educational content from low-quality AI-generated videos, and the company says its stricter standards apply to content for younger viewers.
Hudson Williams is starring in a new supernatural mystery thriller, Yaga, which moves away from his role in Heated Rivalry. The series follows a private investigator who arrives in a small Canadian fishing town to look into the disappearance of a wealthy fishery heir, played by Williams. The show is based on a stage play by Kat Sandler that reimagines the Slavic folklore figure Baba Yaga. The first two episodes will be available on Binge from October 23, with new episodes released weekly on Fridays and a finale on November 27.
YouTube Music has announced a labelling system to show when songs are created with generative AI, covering both composition and vocals. Labels will appear on the player page and extend to the main YouTube app, with details on AI's role available on click. Partners choose from Fully Gen AI, Partly Gen AI or No Gen AI, with pitch-correction tools such as Auto-Tune placed in the last category. YouTube is focusing on disclosure rather than restrictions, and AI involvement alone does not make a track ineligible for monetisation.
Netflix will reduce its workforce by six per cent, affecting around 1000 employees, as part of broader organisational restructuring. The streaming service's co-CEOs, Greg Peters and Ted Sarandos, revealed the cuts in an internal memo, targeting product, tech, legal and HR teams. While maintaining strong business performance, the company aims to prioritise resources for future growth. Despite recent profit increases, Netflix's third-quarter forecast fell short of market expectations. The layoffs represent the largest workforce reduction in years for the California-based firm.
Streaming platform Deezer is developing a toggle that lets users hide AI-generated tracks, albums and related artists from search results. The feature is expected before the end of the year. CEO Alexis Lanternier said the company has seen clear user demand for the option. A survey from last year found about 45% of Deezer customers wanted a way to remove AI music from their feeds. In July, Deezer said more than half of its daily uploads were AI-generated, averaging 90,000 tracks per day. Other services, including Bandcamp, Tidal, Spotify and Apple Music, have taken different approaches to AI music.
Apple’s fourth-generation Apple TV 4K, priced at $449, will be available in Australia from 13 November. The new model features an A19 chip, hands-free Siri AI, and can pair with four HomePods for surround sound. Pre-orders open on 14 October. The device also supports 4K Dolby Vision, HDR10+, and Dolby Atmos, with a dedicated AV1 decoder for efficient streaming. The updated Siri Remote includes Precision Finding and the ability to play a sound when misplaced.
Discovery+ has raised its subscription prices. Ad-free plans for new subscribers rise from $10 to $12 a month, and ad-based plans rise from $6 to $7. The new prices apply immediately to new subscribers. Existing subscribers will receive 30 days' notice before the changes take effect, starting with bills issued from November 12. The increase follows Paramount Skydance's purchase of parent company Warner Bros. Discovery. A spokesperson said the changes were planned before the merger's closing date was known.
AU Now app
Your suburb’s news, alerts and Shorts — in one app
Alerts, Shorts and your saved stories — free on Google Play.
A guide to October television picks four new titles. Believe in Magic is a three-part BBC series on a UK charity founded by Jean O'Brien and her daughter Megan Bhari, which was later shut down. Carrie, a miniseries directed by Mike Flanagan, reimagines Stephen King's story in a modern high school. Gnomes is an Australian horror-comedy about garden gnomes turned killers, while Kill Jackie stars Catherine Zeta-Jones as a former cocaine dealer hunting her attackers. The guide notes where each title can be watched.
Neutral Bay Blockbuster was once a favourite browsing spot for North Shore locals, according to former owner Angela Constanti. She claims it was the highest-turnover Blockbuster in Australia. The store closed in March 2015 after an offer from Chemist Warehouse, as video rental declined with the rise of streaming. Constanti says its wide range of foreign films, classics and documentaries, along with knowledgeable staff, kept customers coming back. Her customers were disappointed by the closure, and much of the closing-down stock sold quickly.
Co-writer Tegan Higginbotham says she wants to keep laughing at Nazis, even as she sees them increasingly treated seriously. Her horror-comedy series Gnomes, streaming on Stan, centres on a stolen gnome queen and a plague of killer gnomes in the small fictional town of Nompton. Asa Butterfield stars as Senior Sergeant Arnold Kipps, who faces closure of his station on the same day the gnomes are unleashed. Higginbotham said she had waited ten years to bring the project to screen, and she praised the local crew for their speed and energy.
