[chipotle_coyote]

It's at least worth asking if the streaming future you implicitly envision here -- where one service, presumably Netflix, becomes the gatekeeper for nearly all commercial streaming content, dictating what is available to us to watch and, by virtue of their market power, effectively dictating what producers will be paid -- is really all silver lining and no cloud. (There are also downsides to advocating piracy as the solution, and whether it's convenient and easy is definitely in the eye of the beholder, but that's a different discussion.)

For MoviePass vs. AMC Stubs Plus or whatever they're calling it, the market dynamics are different from streaming, anyway; while there are movies that are released exclusively to specific theatre chains, they're few and far between. So in practice, very few people are going to feel compelled to subscribe to both services in order to see all movies -- they're going to subscribe to one or the other.

Also, last but not least, there's strong evidence that the value to moviegoers that MoviePass represents comes from a "the more you use our service, the more money we lose" model. I am not sure that I would sneer at AMC as a "special snowflake" for questioning the wisdom there.

[BoiledCabbage]

The answer is simple, non-lockin to any particular theater chain. Revenue of the $20/mo is split across multiple theatre chains, and goers can see a movie at any participating chain.

Theaters get predictable revenue and guaranteed income, and viewers get a bulk discount.

All you can 'eat', and theater chain freedom are two different features. They can still keep both.

[s73v3r_]

Except why would the big chains want to be involved, when they could create their own with lock-in to their chain?

[prepend]

Because their own chain versions are bad ($20/month for 3 movies/week for just AMC vs $10/month for 1movie/day anywhere) and will not be successful with consumers.

This reminds me of the late 90s/early 2000s when record company’s response to Napster/mp3 was to make worse services for more money. [0]

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PressPlay

[jhbadger]

I'm a Moviepass holder myself, and I love it, but let's face it. It's not going to last. It's losing money and the chains don't like it. Yes, I'd prefer a future with Moviepass, just as I'd like everything to be on Netflix, but neither are going to be the future. Like it or not, multiple streaming services and (likely) multiple movie subscriptions are the future. What this will mean is that people will only have one or two just like they have one or two streaming services.

[s73v3r_]

"Because their own chain versions are bad ($20/month for 3 movies/week for just AMC vs $10/month for 1movie/day anywhere) and will not be successful with consumers."

The AMC one also doesn't involve the dog and pony show you have to pull off with MoviePass, it includes premium showings like IMAX and stuff, and if you're in a place where most, if not all of your local theaters are AMC, it's not a problem.

[prepend]

There are likely a few conditions where this made sense. Just like Pressplay also had a few users.

But I’m willing to bet anyone a $100 value smart contract that this thing will not exist for long.

[shanghaiaway]

In your case, there is no guaranteed income for any participating exhibitor because they still have to compete to get viewers in their theater for their share of the $20.

Alaa,the income is lower and not predictable.

[lgregg]

> It's at least worth asking if the streaming future you implicitly envision here -- where one service, presumably Netflix, becomes the gatekeeper for nearly all commercial streaming content, dictating what is available to us to watch and, by virtue of their market power, effectively dictating what producers will be paid -- is really all silver lining and no cloud. (There are also downsides to advocating piracy as the solution, and whether it's convenient and easy is definitely in the eye of the beholder, but that's a different discussion.)

It would be nice if there was a universal protocol for streaming music, video, movies, and etc. It'd create something that people can build hardware gateways to spec.

[kevin_thibedeau]

Netflix is only a gatekeeper to their own content. The licensed library isn't allowed to grow because they don't have the cash to let it become a one stop shop. They did have it with their original DVD model but that's being killed off.