From music and video streaming to apps and ebooks, there are plenty of subscription offers that can save not just families but also groups of people more than a few ringgit a month. — dpa
When you buy a DVD or CD, you tend to share it with family and friends. So why is it that we all tend to have our own separate online streaming accounts?
From music and video streaming to apps and ebooks, there are plenty of subscription offers that can save not just families but also groups of people more than a few dollars a month.
Streaming music
Premium access for one person to Spotify, Deezer, Apple Music or Tidal usually costs US$9.99 (RM39.16) a month whereas family access is US$14.99 (RM58.76).
Once you have six people sharing the same subscription account at US$14.99, the service becomes significantly cheaper for each individual, costing just US$2.50 (RM9.80) per month.
In the case of Amazon Music Unlimited, the price for a single person subscription is slightly cheaper at US$7.99 (RM31.32) a month (with a Prime membership), while a family subscription for up to six people costs US$14.99.
"These offers can be absolutely recommended because you can really save a lot of money," says consumer finance reporter Daniel Poehler.
Users have to sign up to the service's terms and conditions, one of which is that only family members or people living in the same home can use the subscription. "But I've never heard of someone having their account with a streaming service cancelled because they shared it with friends," Poehler says.
Video streaming
Netflix offers a multi-person subscription for US$8.99 (RM35.24) which up to five people can access. However, you can't stream to multiple devices at the same time using this basic account, you need to pay a little extra for that. For US$13.99 (RM54.84) a month four people can stream simultaneously.
Other video streaming services allow users to stream different content at the same time, for example Amazon Prime Video. However, users here share the one account and can't create an individual profile. The number of devices users can stream to can also differ.
Of course, the content available also has to be considered. Netflix is particularly good for fans of serials while Amazon Prime Video has many of the latest movies. However, most of those movies are not included in the subscription and have to be bought separately.
So anyone who wants to see movies above all else is not well served with a subscription and would be better off buying or renting the movies separately. This also applies to iTunes Video and Google Play.
Apps
It's not only music, movies and TV series can be shared within a family – purchased apps, ebooks and other media can also be shared. Both Google and Apple offer family accounts to facilitate this.
In the case of Google, anyone aged over 13 can create a family group containing up to six people. All members of the group have access to a shared media library. It's also possible to add a payment method for the whole family.
One requirement is that all of the group members have a Google account. In addition each person can only belong to one family group and not have changed this within the last year. The offer can be combined with other services such as Google Music.
When it comes to Apple, family sharing works in a similar way. An adult can set up a group of up to five others, share iCloud storage and manage children's accounts.
You can also allow the sharing of purchased media. However, the sharing of all purchased apps and books is not always possible – some are protected so that sharing isn't allowed. — dpa
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