Netflix & Spotify – Is On Demand Entertainment the New Entertainment? | The Media Leader

7 Years ago, Netflix was known as a DVD rental delivering service, with huge success – delivering over a billion DVDs in the US since its release in 1997. Users were able to apply to monthly subscription offers or once off rentals, that would be delivered to their door. Today, Netflix is available in over 40 countries, but with a slight difference. Netflix now offers on demand Movie & TV show access 24/7 online, for users to watch instantly. Currently – there are over 50 million subscribers to this on demand service worldwide. The use of Netflix allows it’s customers to watch what they want, when they want, at a price that is considerably cheaper than a cable subscription. Personally, I gave up on TV a long time ago, back when I learned I was watching constant reruns and wasting time watching the same advertisements over and over. The Netflix library has something for everyone – from its ‘Netflix Kids’ sections to dramatic, action packed and scandalous storylines for any TV viewer. And the best thing about Netflix – it keeps growing and growing. As I live in Ireland, I’m subscribed to the UK & Irish Netflix, which started off weak (in all honestly) – the only recognisable titles included ‘White Chicks’ or ‘Horrid Henry: The Movie’ – neither of which I watched. However, now I can choose from award winning titles such as ‘Sherlock’, ‘Downton Abbey’, ‘Breaking Bad‘, ‘Dexter’ etc, etc. Also, Netflix has now gained a budget for creating new Emmy winning TV programs that are exclusive to Netflix (i.e. You won’t find them on your normal TV channels) – They include ‘Orange is the New Black’, ‘House of Cards’, and the more recent ‘Marco Polo’ which has just signed its second season. Personally, I believe that in years to come, websites like Netflix (and its competitors) will be the future of Television, and we will no longer have to wait through meaningless ads, or have to miss out on programmes when it no longer suits us. For anyone in the US or UK Netflix regions, we pick out our recommended Netflix programmes and movies of the month each month in our side bar so be sure to check them out!

Spotify was founded more recently, in 2006 in Sweden. However it was not launched for public access until October 2008. The company started off weak, with a $4.4million loss in the US for 2008. During 2010, Spotify paid over €45 million to its licensors. However, this huge figures of loss and expenditure came to a success, as by August 2012, Spotify gained over €20 million per month in income. I believe this was due to the more appropriate time, where services such as Spotify  became easier to access due to an increase in the purchasing of devices such as Smartphones, Tablets and Smart TVs. Spotify caters every user’s needs with a variety of payment packages, including free streaming membership. These days, almost every chart topping song (bar Taylor Swift), is available on Spotify. Spotify also acts as a social network. As a Spotify user, you can follow your friends and share songs and playlists with them, or discover what they’re listening to. Personally, I have stopped purchasing music at expensive prices on CD or iTunes – Spotify is my new go to service for music. For anyone who uses Spotify – we have a monthly playlist available in the side bar, with songs we recommend you listen to this month!

What do you think? Do you agree that On Demand entertainment is the new entertainment? Tell us what you think in the comments below!

Red Rock | The Media Leader

Red Rock, a new Irish drama/’soap’ just premiered in Ireland – being Ireland’s first new soap opera in 20 years. Personally, I don’t believe it should be labeled as a soap, as I see it as so much more than that.The show will air on TV3 Ireland every Wednesday and Thursday at 8:30, and runs for a half hour. In Wednesday’s premiere we got a detailed introduction into the new characters, and hints of future storylines and plot twists, and (of course) we were left with a cliffhanger ending, meaning I will most defiantly be tuning into the next couple of episodes.

The show is based in a Garda (police) station, in a fictional town in the North of Dublin, and features a feud between the two major families in the show – the Kileys and the Hennessys.  “Starting on the day a long, dormant feud between two local families is brutally reignited, this continuing drama is based around a busy Dublin Garda station. On one side, the Hennessys, a local dynasty, whose name is above half the businesses in town. On the other side, the Kielys, who have turned petty crime into a cottage industry. Charting the life and dramas of a community about to be enveloped by a feud, through the eyes of those who police it, each episode will be a mix of ‘crime of the week’ stories and on-going serial arcs, following principle characters in both their professional and personal lives. A powerful and moving drama, Red Rock is a contemporary western, set in the shadow of Ireland’s ‘gold rush’.” (source: trakt.tv, tv3)

The Acting and Camera work is not that of a soap. It is at an extremely high budgeted quality, which in my opinion, can lead to a major difference from just another Irish television failure. Personally, I believe if the show aired once a week for one hour, rather than twice at half an hour, it would increase views, and allow a lot more to happen per episode.

As of now, the show is only being premiered in Ireland, although if it keeps up this quality, I believe that money could be made by selling on rights to other channels/services, in the UK or US, or even on Netflix/Hulu.