I think maybe that has become the problem? Maybe too many use cases is not a good thing? Idk…
Plex was the place to go if users wanted to cut the chord, get rid of streaming services and cable TV, and rip their own content. I know where I grew up we had DVDs and Blu-rays galore in my home so once my family and I ripped everything we had no need for anything other than Plex. Any new releases we would just buy for $20 here or there and TV shows and box sets can be purchased on eBay and Amazon for extremely cheap. Not to mention the mountain of CDs my family has collected over years.
So yes a company needs to make money, but you don’t have to sell your company out and join the streaming race when your company was positioned as the best alternative to all of that.
I’m at 60TB of Movies, TV Shows and Music all sourced from 4K UHD/Blu-ray, DVD and CDs as well as (legal) hi-res downloads from places like Qobuz. So it’s not just pirates who use Plex (although I don’t judge if you do).
Streaming is on the decline overall, I haven’t subscribed to Disney plus or any streaming service in years. And now since The Mandalorian and all the Star Wars and marvel shows are coming to physical media, I really have no need for a streaming service.
All that to say, Plex should prioritize YOUR MEDIA if they want to remain profitable. Find ways to monetize home theatre enthusiast! Premium Plex media player anyone? I would pay for that as a lifetime user.
Sure, they’re looking to capitalize on the community that’s streaming external media from services. And I do have a couple of streaming services. But I sure don’t integrate those services into Plex. Why would I? I use Plex almost exclusively for media on my server. The only external media for which I use Plex is broadcast TV from my HDHomeRun. I just fail to see why anyone using external media exclusively would even install, setup and maintain Plex. Even in my example, I have a Plex server for my media so I’m already doing the work to keep Plex running best I can. Yet I am not even remotely interested in tying in my external media services to Plex.
I will bail on Plex someday. I feel it’s inevitable. In fact, I occasionally look at alternative options. Usually right after I come to this forum because something just isn’t right and I’m hoping it’s something I can adjust. The one point made in this thread is that the features we already have are becoming unreliable and sometimes nonexistent. There are features in Plex I just don’t want to give up. But there are so many nuisances in these features. Some are important and obviously need attention. But fall on deaf ears. I wouldn’t care if Plex wants to attempt to become some kind of integrated platform for all media sources for the unconceivable customer base that want that platform. But for all of us, the actual people that put in the time and effort to find, install and setup Plex (people who have media on servers), it’s so disheartening to see home server features not get fixed or disappear while seeing announcements of new features to cater to a “potential” customer base of external media streamers that don’t even look for something like Plex, must less install it. Plex could easily become the de facto standard for home media servers. It is to me, the best available right now. But it is too far from the best it could be. And only because they’re using their resources they’ve accumulated because of home server admins to entice people that use the direct streaming apps that don’t require administration.
Oh well, I’ll shut up and go do another one of my occasional searches for an alternative hoping to abandon Plex, and leave them to court external media streamers that don’t need or want Plex. But hey, you guys I love. I’ve learned so much and you guys are always there to help. The Plex community will be harder to give up than Plex itself.
Plex would not be the first product to find that difficult!
Neither would I, but Plex isn’t adding those services for us. That’s why I opined that the very different use cases are such a challenge for all of us.
They are hoping that our friends and family users, who do not know a bit from a byte, will start renting and buying content while they are visiting our Plex servers. They are hoping that Plex will become known as another streaming service like Tubi etc, and that people will install the client even if they never got an invitation from admins like us.
And while we do not want to use Plex that way, I don’t think that it’s a crazy idea for a lot of normal non-sysadmin people. And I don’t think it’s wrong for Plex to develop that market.
I also don’t find Plex’s own streaming offensive, because it does not interfere with my personal media server… Yet. (Other than the pain in the rear that is onboarding, but that was bad before they added streaming.)
I’m all about personal media and I don’t like these new features, but it isn’t doomsday. I’d say we’re at DEFCON 3: at peace, but on alert.
DEFCON 5: “Peacetime normal.” Plex is exclusively for personal content.
DEFCON 4: “A readiness posture requiring increased intelligence watch and a continuing analysis of the political/military situation in the area of tension.” Plex adds ad-supported streaming content.
YOU ARE HERE → DEFCON 3: “Two steps from war, DEFCON 3 is generally seen as a standby level of alert, and it is the highest level of alert during peacetime.” Plex adds rental and purchase features.
DEFCON 2: “DEFCON 2, one step from nuclear war, is implemented when an enemy attack is expected. Troops are poised for combat at this time.” Plex makes personal media more difficult to use or share.
DEFCON 1: “…for when an attack is perceived as imminent or already under way.” Plex Media Server is abandoned and commercial client streaming features receive all resources.
Hopefully we’ll remain at DEFCON 3. If it lets the company thrive and continue to support personal media servers, it’s a deal I can make.
Being an ex-bubblehead, I really appreciate the DEFCON ladder. Found it relevant and humorous. I think the only reason we’re not at DEFCON 1 is because right now, there’s nothing better. There’s just so much more that is needed it’s disheartening to see them putting their attention towards something I can only envision as a “pipe dream.”
Not having shared my server outside of those in the household, I hadn’t considered your premise regarding client only users. I couldn’t see service users even looking for an app like Plex. So yeah, I suppose there might be a lot of people using the client that don’t have home media servers. But even then, I just don’t see these client only users configuring the service in their Plex client when they almost certainly have an app for their device that easily gets them what they want. I just don’t see this as a logical expectation. But I’m not really in a position to know all of what I’m speaking about. For someone like myself, I’m certain I could easily assess how I would go about integrating external services, I wouldn’t do it for a number of reasons. I ain’t saying it’s not possible. Just having trouble understanding a real use case. As I finish that sentence I’m thinking maybe I should set up a service or two just to see for myself. Then my lack of faith in tech companies slapped me in the face stopping consideration of tying Amazon or Netflix or any service to my personal media server. I do my best with that NAS to keep up barbed wire and post “No Tresspassing” signs!
Thanks for the reply. We’re both preaching to the choir I can see, but still it gave me some notions about this nonsense I hadn’t considered. Well worth what I paid for your two cents!
False lol. Streaming revenue is on an incline and global usage is going higher. Maybe you think because in USA it’s Slightly declining it matters but it doesn’t lol. Less people higher rates = greater profit. If you’re so concerned about personal media servers go use one of the other ones I’m sure they would love to have a new user.
So no, streaming revenue is NOT on an incline. As someone who works in entertainment fewer movies and shows are getting made on streaming services which show an overall decline/loss in revenue. Streaming companies for the last few years have been 1) losing subscribers and 2) losing money on failed projects. When a popular show or movie comes out you’ll see a huge surge in subscribers, then a huge drop right after. It’s not just in the US either.
If you think firing the majority of your workers (Amazon prime) and paying actors and writers less money (most streaming services) and deleting shows and content as tax writoffs (Willow, Final Space etc) = signs of an industry on the Incline, you are mistaken my friend lol.
You should use current stats not crap a year old lol. Seems like Netflix still gaining subscribers. And streaming is projected to basically 4x in revenue by 2030. Yup sure seems like we on a decline.
People are churning the B tier services many of them were given out for free like Disney to Verizon customers. I on T-Mobile are given Apple, Hulu and Netflix. But if they don’t renew Hulu like they did with paramount then my sub is canceled, I’m sure many of the numbers are this as well.
Netflix continues to reign supreme in the world of streaming services, maintaining its position as the platform with the most subscribers. As of December 31, 2023, the service boasted an impressive 260.28 million subscribers globally. This represents a significant growth of nearly 13% year over year, solidifying Netflix’s stronghold in the streaming industry.
The video streaming industry has established itself as a colossal economic force, currently valued at an astounding $544 billion . This figure is more than just a testament to the industry’s current success—it’s a glimpse into a rapidly expanding future. Projections indicate that by 2030, the industry is expected to skyrocket to an impressive $1,902 billion
I don’t care what Plex does as long as I can turn it off if I want to. I have NEVER had an ad inserted into my media. It flat out can’t happen if you turn all the streaming services off and or don’t pick the wrong movie by mistake. All the stuff people whine about, turn it off.
I agree with that. I would just hate for them to put a lot of money and resources into something that doesn’t return the kind of investment they hope for. I personally don’t want to see another round of employee layoffs like a few months ago. We’ve already seen Plex Media Server updates slow down drastically and clients like the Apple TV are still 4-5 years behind on bug fixes that break playback, and the player is running on an old framework that needs to be rebuilt it seems.
I’m in no way arrogant enough to tell them how they should run the company, I just want to see Plex maintain its identity as a personal media server while also growing and thriving. I’m just against the idea that the only way for Plex to grow and stay profitable is as a streaming service.
A Kaleidascape style store where you buy high quality Movies and TV Shows would be a great way to monetize lifetime Plex pass users and bring in new users and keep subscriptions active. Offer users the ability to purchase Dolby Atmos and Dolby Vision licenses for a fee. Enabling software decoding of TrueHD audio on unsupported devices. Many ways Plex can monetize established users and new users alike!
