[2OEH8eoCRo0]

Are there third party frontends? Why can't you just pay them, authenticate, and use whatever frontend or player you want?

I suspect that the answer is ads. The Netflix app is an ad billboard on your phone and TV. Also, copyright and DRM.

Edit: I wonder if draconian copyright laws are ultimately to blame here. Nobody is allowed to provide such a service. This is getting a bit off topic though since this article is specifically about content aesthetics.

[vanilla_nut]

I feel the same way about Spotify. I'm fine paying an honest price for a useful service, but the upsells and dark patterns have gotten so aggressive I can't stand the client any more. I wish they'd at least allow third party clients to access basic functionality... but decisionmakers don't understand the attraction of a third party client in the first place, let alone feel like unlocking that functionality when it could negatively impact engagement with their dark patterns.

[Godel_unicode]

I don’t think I’ve ever seen an upsell in Spotify, to what does this refer? Are you not paying for Spotify?

[vanilla_nut]

Aggressive podcast placement is the big problem, but they also allow artists to "promote" their music by accepting lower royalty payments. And those artists show up much more often than other artists in radios and suggested playlists.

As someone who doesn't like the podcast walled garden Spotify is trying to build (I prefer my podcast market with competitive open standards and choice of clients, thank you very much), the podcasts really bothered me. As a paying user, I should be able to turn them off entirely, but they kept overhauling the UI to make them more and more prominent. I stopped using Spotify a year ago today, and I've been very happy managing my own music library with Jellyfin since then.

[treis]

Because third party front ends will show competitors shows next to Netflix shows and none of them want that.

That said, we are sort of there. Google can tell you where a show is streaming and I think Apple TV displays shows from different streaming services. Just not to the point anyone that wants to can build one.

[mtsr]

I’d probably call it promoted content, but yes, that seems a likely explanation.

And quite possible the ads-driven version, but I’ve never looked at that.

[2OEH8eoCRo0]

It's an ad though. They aren't going to advertise a new dishwasher but they are taking money from somebody to promote something.

[mtsr]

But while there’s zero chance I’d willingly watch an ad without good reason, I might actually enjoy that promoted content because it just so happens to be of interest to me. That’s the difference between the two for me.