Part of the problem is often people want a specific thing. If I want to listen to a specific song, Spotify almost always has it. If I want to watch a specific movie...
True, but Netflix competes with nobody who can offer that either. And Netflix's coffers clearly aren't losing to piracy.
And, if you look at piracy for the lay person, it's not all that attractive. You have to somehow be able to sift through the bullshit streaming and torrent websites will throw at you. Somehow click the right links along the way that don't dead-end in a fake paywall or ad. And after torrenting something, you might get a scary letter from your ISP which happened to my sister in Austin with Comcast.
Exactly. I'm a fairly sophisticated user and I know how to use VPNs, etc. I also make a comfortable tech wage. TBH, piracy is an absolute last resort. Even if it comes down to buying a $20 DVD off Amazon, that's probably what I will do if it's something I want to watch enough that I've gone to the trouble of even thinking about searching the torrents for.
Do I wish there was a video equivalent of premium music services for video? (i.e. had most content) Sure. There isn't. So I'll pick some streaming services and I'll buy a la carte in various formats and just accept there's no single bundle that gives me everything for a monthly subscription.
And, if you look at piracy for the lay person, it's not all that attractive. You have to somehow be able to sift through the bullshit streaming and torrent websites will throw at you. Somehow click the right links along the way that don't dead-end in a fake paywall or ad. And after torrenting something, you might get a scary letter from your ISP which happened to my sister in Austin with Comcast.