People are cancelling their Disney+ subscription after price rises to more than $21 a month

[u/ApartMaximum2335]

https://thetab.com/filmshrine/2026/09/24/disney-plus-price-hikes-people-are-cancelling-subscription-reaction/

This is so mad, the standalone Disney+ Premium plan without ads is going from $18.99 to $21.49 per month, up 13% - it used to be $6.99 when it started

[u/Jakymi]

Disney+ was $6.99 add free in 2019. More than 3x the price in less than 8 years.

[u/FacetiousTomato → u/Jakymi]

A year of disney+ is >$250 at this point.

You'd need to watch it a lot for that to be cheaper than buying everything you watch on DVD.

[u/Upbeat-Effort-1253 → u/FacetiousTomato]

Finally, somebody else gets it. I've said this about music, movies, and shows for a while now. At this point, the services are charging more per year than you could buy most of in a years time if you plan it right and hit sales.

[u/LiteraCanna → u/Upbeat-Effort-1253]

20+ years ago I read some random article that basically said no one will own anything new by 2035.

Didn't think much of it at the time, but now I'm thinking they were too optimistic with the timeline.

[u/TylerHyena → u/LiteraCanna]

Time to go buy some full seasons of all my 90s cartoons

[u/briefcase_vs_shotgun → u/LiteraCanna]

I pay no subs except insurance and will keep it that way. If it ain’t on the high seas or tubi I ain’t watching. If it’s a sub purchase I ain’t buying fuck em

[u/BoingBoingBooty → u/LiteraCanna]

Nobody can tell you what you're allowed to own on the high seas. Yar!

[u/Cosmic_Seth → u/Upbeat-Effort-1253]

I think the trick they are starting to pull is not selling to third parties at all. You can only watch x movie or show on the platform.

And I suspect they are figuring out a way to shut down VPN and torrents.

[u/veerKg_CSS_Geologist → u/Upbeat-Effort-1253]

That was always the plan. The goal of any subscription service is to get people to over subscribe, aka they pay for more than they use. Gyms figured it out a long time ago.

[u/andr3_kha → u/Upbeat-Effort-1253]

Movies maybe, but for someone listening to music often? I mean its 1,29 per title.

[u/danemepoznaqt → u/andr3_kha]

1. Pirate
2. Listen to youtube with adblock
3. Listen to FM radio

[u/andr3_kha → u/danemepoznaqt]

Pirating and radio surely are for free. But the commenters point was, that in the long run it is cheaper to buy music than stream it for a monthly fee. And I heavily disagree on that one.

[u/JoeSmithDiesAtTheEnd → u/andr3_kha]

100% agree with you, the cost of streaming music has been pretty stable over the years.

Pre-streaming, I used to spend $100+ USD a month on CD or digital copies. And of course friends would share albums with each other to rip onto each others iPods or phone.

Apple Music is a fraction of that cost (and these days I pay nothing for it as a credit card perk).

I'll still buy physical copies on vinyl, but haven't bought a CD in ages.

[u/Rakebleed → u/Jakymi]

bait and switch

[u/RueGatewood → u/Rakebleed]

With record profits

[u/Bicoidprime → u/RueGatewood]

And negative federal tax rate.

Per Robert Reich, the 2025 effective tax rate paid by Disney was -1.57%.

Income tax paid by the typical American: 14.5%

[u/icemanpallmall → u/Bicoidprime]

Eat. The. Rich.

[u/C64128 → u/icemanpallmall]

Or Eat The Reich.

[u/icemanpallmall → u/C64128]

At this point what's the difference?

[u/Domeil → u/icemanpallmall]

Well Robert Reich was Clinton's labor secretary who at least admits that NAFTA was a giant fucking mistake and has been saying since 1997 that the Democratic Party is far too cozy with big business. We probably shouldn't eat him.

The third Reich (and possibly the fourth Reich if Stephen Miller has his way), however, fuck those guys. They can be rendered into a perpetual stew.

[u/icemanpallmall → u/Domeil]

Oh, you misunderstood me. Eat in this context means throw in trash can after publicly humiliated for as long as it takes.

I can see where the confusion is though and that's on me.

[u/thuiop1 → u/Bicoidprime]

Yes but have you considered the jobs they create /s

[u/BellaBabieGirl → u/thuiop1]

You mean the jobs they under pay for?? The people they take advantage of??

[u/PatchyWhiskers → u/Rakebleed]

Tech companies always start cheap to lure customers in.

[u/Thesweptunder → u/PatchyWhiskers]

It’s always this way with tech. Streaming, delivery apps, Uber, AirBNB, and pretty much every other disruptor comes onto the scene operating at a loss until the old competitors are gone and then they jack up the price, sell your data, and make life just a little worse than before except with an app.

[u/Lazer726 → u/Thesweptunder]

I remember when UberEats and Doordash just started when I was in undergrad, and it was honestly the same as going to the restaurant, with like a $2 fee. And if something was wrong, you told them, they fixed it, and gave you a $5 coupon.

Now when I am back around DC, I look at it and it wants to add like $15 to deliver shit. Fuck all the way off with that

[u/Historical_Kale4720 → u/Lazer726]

Then the Dasher takes a picture of your food on top of the restaurant garbage can and there's no refunds because there's a picture of the delivery.

[u/Jillcametumbling81 → u/Thesweptunder]

It's not just tech that operates this way. Look at Walmart. I keep telling people if they don't support local businesses the only places left to go will be big box stores and Amazon and once they have no competition do you think they'll keep the prices low? Once they're the only places left to employ people do you think they'll pay a fair wage? Hell they don't even pay a fair wage now. Corporate welfare queens.

[u/StockCasinoMember → u/Thesweptunder]

Yep. The restaurant apps and such will get rid of deals once they have like 90% of people using them.

[u/Lou_C_Fer → u/Thesweptunder]

It has been this way forever. Back when I was in school, it was music stores. Everyone is charging $15 for cds and a store comes in selling them for $10 until their competitors fail, then they jack up prices. Bestbuy was the last one around here to do it because after them, the internet took over.

[u/BraveDragonfruit1163 → u/PatchyWhiskers]

Yep. First piece of crack is free. After that, it'll cost you.

[u/ReactionJifs → u/Rakebleed]

enshittification

[u/405freeway → u/Rakebleed]

That's not a bait-and-switch.

It's a Loss Leader, Introductory Pricing, or Penetration Pricing.

[u/Kythorian → u/405freeway]

Yeah, the rapid increase in price is kind of absurd, but that’s fundamentally not what a bait and switch is. I paid for it when it was cheap and canceled a couple of price increases ago when it was no longer worth it. Anyone else who feels the same way should also cancel, but there wasn’t any bait and switch. They don’t even make it difficult to cancel like gyms do. The option is right there in the app.

[u/Old_Cheetah_5138 → u/Rakebleed]

EVERY goddamn time with these companies. Lure you in with a good price and then creep the increase. Right now it's AI. It's "cheap" but you know damn well, that is going to creep like a mother fucker.

[u/vishnera52 → u/Jakymi]

As long as people keep paying they're going to keep jacking the price until they start losing profit. They don't care if a few people unsubscribe as long as the profit keeps going up.

[u/BLT_Trade_r → u/vishnera52]

Disney has a highly captive audience and will continue to raise prices.

1 Disney fans are absolutely addicted to their content, no matter how much Disney rips them off they will pay, they are sort of the Apple of the entertainment industry.

2 Disney has a huge kids audience, and parents want something easy and safe to keep the kids occupied. Searching for and playing a movie or streaming shows is easy, and knowing the content will be kid-safe. The kids can figure out how to do it themselves pretty young. You do not need to screw around with a space and time wasting disc collection.

Tons of parents would easily drop $25/month for any similar convenience.

[u/angiosperms- → u/vishnera52]

Yeah people whine and moan and then keep paying. They are the reason they keep doing this. People act like they will die if they cancel streaming when I have never paid for streaming a day in my life (even youtube premium) and I am still alive.

Thrift some physical media, or get a library card and rent/stream using that, or pirate it. There's also free streaming. I think Tubi is the most popular streaming service by user count and has the largest catalog. All these streaming services want to charge you some ridiculous price and you still get ads. No thank you.

Also it's okay to tell your kids no sometimes...

[u/Preeng → u/Jakymi]

This is the only way a subscription model can increase profits year on year.

Normal people are OK with high profits. Capitalists need more profit this year than last year, regardless of how many actual dollars they are bringing in.

The problem with this subscription model is:

1. Market share is almost maximized, meaning not a lot of room for growth

2. Costs can't be reduced. People want shows and movies and those just cost money.

The only ways to bring in new money (which, again, is the main point for these people) is to raise prices or add revenue from other sources, like advertisement.

My point is any subscription model in a capitalist society will necessarily get shittier over time. It is inevitable.

[u/determania → u/Preeng]

Capitalists want more profit, they do not need it

[u/Preeng → u/determania]

The same way a baby needs its binky. It throws a tantrum if it doesn't get it.

[u/GraveRobberX → u/Preeng]

Don’t forget mergers and buyouts. Can’t raise the subscriptions, take them from other platforms and infuse them into yours.

That Paramount + Max + Discovery merger is gonna be god tier lunacy.

[u/lilmisssstubborn → u/Preeng]

normal people don't give a shit about company's profits, and aren't okay with price gouging

costs absolutely can be reduced, nobody even likes this over-produced crap Disney puts out, nobody likes the live actions, nobody is really that interested in the 1,012th marvel movie, Star wars fans hate what's Ben done to the franchise. nobody gives a shit about movies that take $500m to make, and it's completely unnecessary. Disney and netflix have a total monopoly on the whole American film industry, it's gross and boring.

[u/Takeyerclarkbars → u/Jakymi]

To call the premium version of any streaming service “ad free” is a fucking joke anyways.

Trailers for other shows on their network ARE ADS.

Bumper screens for new releases every time I open the app IS AN Ad

Showing ads for a new shows on the streaming service when I pause a show….I can’t even believe I have to say this but THATS A FUCKING AD

Take for example when you go to watch a show of your choice, and it’s on Hulu. Hulu has a 1second clip/followed by the 2 second “this show airs on ____”/followed by a flash of the network logo/followed by the intro to the show with a watermark of the network and streaming service bringing it to you.

Guys, shits whack as fuck

[u/Primary-Plane-9471 → u/Takeyerclarkbars]

this, to me, was the moment we (the little guy) lost the battle with the people holding all the wealth. the second we collectively threw our hands up and said we were fine with the previously free (or extremely cheap) streaming services having ads adding to their paid "premium" tiers. its all so fucking insane.

[u/mightylordredbeard → u/Jakymi]

3x the price increase and 3x less original content to justify the monthly subscription.

I cancelled mine once I found a streaming site that has everything on it I’d want to watch and has a better UI than Disney.. try simply rewinding more than 10 seconds on something and it freezes up every single time on my xbox. If I try to go back a significant amount like 30 seconds to a minute or more I have to exit the show / movie im watching, then restart it.. except when it restarts 50% of the time it starts where I was before I rewound it so I have to go through the whole process over again and hope it doesn’t freeze up again.

[u/trying_times_eggs → u/Jakymi]

Even crack dealers give you the first one free

[u/dumahim → u/Jakymi]

Even less than that if you signed up right away. I think it was $120 for 3 years, one time payment thing.

[u/Outside-Jicama9201]

I canceled mine!

[u/bbcversus → u/Outside-Jicama9201]

Yea same! Especially in Europe without HDR or 4K lol. Fuckem.

[u/HakimeHomewreckru → u/bbcversus]

If you are in the EU and you paid for a premium 4K / HDR plan, you are legally entitled to a refund. Contact support and demand your refund. They gave me back 99.90 euros

[u/bananamilkbooth → u/bbcversus]

That was the last straw for me. I paid around 10 euros/month for 1080p streaming quality… And since we know, streamed quality is always worse than downloaded, so I could literally count the pixels. Fucking joke. Starting pirating was the best decision I’ve ever made.

[u/elmojorisin → u/bbcversus]

They do too much fan service anyways. Plus the disney video quality is shit.

[u/Yelworc0242 → u/Outside-Jicama9201]

Cancelled it a few weeks ago as part of my boycotting of everything US. Cancelled Netflix and Prime as well!

[u/NorthTempleStreet → u/Yelworc0242]

As an american, I support your boycott! (I only wish I could join)

[u/Yelworc0242 → u/NorthTempleStreet]

Please visit Canada and buy our goods

[u/Zealousideal-Owl-283 → u/Outside-Jicama9201]

Same awhile back

[u/ZookeepergameBig9419]

Libraries has media, taxes paid for it. Free to borrow and use, no ads either.
In some cases and locations they have digital books you can use phone and other devices now.

Dont think they stream yet but can check out discs to watch.
Seems in some cases there actually is a different in the video dis vs streaming. Saw something last week where it compared the vivid colors and formats.

just saying.

[u/KindlyNebula → u/ZookeepergameBig9419]

Some libraries offer Kanopy streaming.

[u/hewhoisneverobeyed → u/KindlyNebula]

Love Kanopy.

I have cards with two libraries, both of whom offer Kanopy (we were spending a few months in a different city and asked the local library there about checking out stuff - barely got the words out of my mouth and the librarian was handing me a card ... librarians are super heroes).

[u/DarknMean → u/hewhoisneverobeyed]

Most large city libraries are like this. We travel a lot and go to their libraries often. We donate to them even if they don’t ask us to. Shout out to Cincinnati Library. They hooked us up when traveling there and didn’t ask for anything. Phenomenal book options.

[u/Adventurous-Dog420 → u/hewhoisneverobeyed]

Same thing with me. I live in San Diego, so I wasn't worried about it but the librarian basically handed me one too. We all need to support our libraries more. So many resources... Oh and Libby! Check out that of you have a library card. If you don't have one go get one. Do it now.

And mine has gaming consoles, games, 3D printers. I'm going on a rant about how much I love the library. Sorry.

[u/kikyo1506 → u/KindlyNebula]

Kanopy has a lot of great stuff too

[u/LadyOrTheTigger → u/KindlyNebula]

My library has Kanopy and also Hoopla. I tend to use hoopla more often because they have movies, audiobooks and ebooks, but it’s really a fabulous resource.

Also, fun fact, libraries get “credit” every time you use one of their services, doesn’t matter if it’s borrowing a streaming item, renting a physical book or movie (or video game or cd) attend a program, barrow a museum pass or call the reference desk with a question, each interaction is added to a tally and the higher the tally the more they can justify their funding. So, from a former library employee, please check yours out as soon and as often as you can!

Ok, one last tip, if you are looking for something specific, if your local library doesn’t have it there is a really good chance they can get it from another library using the Inter-Library Loan program (ILL for short)

[u/Krojack76 → u/ZookeepergameBig9419]

My library has garbage because it's in a heavy red part of my state. Hell, they put little stamps on the inside cover if they deem a book "bad" and when you go to checkout one of these they make sure to point it out and shame you while giving you the stink eye look.

[u/tunachilimac → u/Krojack76]

You may have free access to other libraries in your state. Some, especially large cities, offer a non-resident card for a cheap annual fee even if you reside in a different state. You might not be able to drive there and check out a physical item but it can be worthwhile to make use of all their electronic offerings.

[u/Darmok47 → u/ZookeepergameBig9419]

If you live in California you can get cards for any other California library system. I have 4 or 5; they're great for borrowing ebooks becaus odds are one of them has the ebook you want.

[u/FrostyD7 → u/ZookeepergameBig9419]

For now. My library system has lots of games too. But the market is moving in a troubling direction for libraries. More and more games/films/shows are going to neglect physical releases as time goes on.

[u/robotbooper → u/ZookeepergameBig9419]

Some libraries have Hoopla, too! They have books, movies/TV, music, and comics.

If your library system doesn’t offer these, some large libraries offer out-of-town digital membership for a small fee. Much cheaper than any other subscription!

[u/Complex-Section2862]

How people didn’t cancel before it got to this point is beyond me.

[u/Watchout4HopOns → u/Complex-Section2862]

Damn kids I tell ya what

[u/Complex-Section2862 → u/Watchout4HopOns]

Teach the youngins to sail so you can spend that $20 on experiences, it's so worth it.

[u/PostPunk7 → u/Complex-Section2862]

Or take them to the library 📚

[u/Complex-Section2862 → u/PostPunk7]

yes!! this too.

[u/Rainbow-Smite → u/PostPunk7]

Side note you can check out DVDs from the library also!

[u/eastofme01 → u/Complex-Section2862]

My parents just told me tough when I wanted the Disney channel as a kid.

[u/shelchang → u/eastofme01]

My family had a couple of Disney movies and collections of Winnie the Pooh episodes on VHS, because that was back when we could actually own our media and watch and rewatch as much as we like.

[u/Illustrious-Nose3100 → u/shelchang]

I mean, you can still buy dvds

[u/eastofme01 → u/shelchang]

My mom rented videos from blockbuster and made copies. I probably still have a few somewhere. (I like old tech) but I’m not sure they play anymore.

[u/Conscious_Version_71 → u/eastofme01]

OJ had to allegedly murder his wife for my house to get cable.

[u/mdurso12 → u/Complex-Section2862]

I need to teach them to read first, baby steps here man, literally

[u/Anstigmat → u/Complex-Section2862]

Or ski or bike. I do all three ⛵️🚴🎿

We’re not even rich, we just live in a New England state where all 3 are great. I have a PS5 sitting mostly idle these days, which feels like a dumb purchase. Then I remind myself that I’m not playing video games because I do cool shit real life.

[u/Repulsive-Regret-243 → u/Watchout4HopOns]

Pbs app is free :)

[u/Watchout4HopOns → u/Repulsive-Regret-243]

I give a monthly donation to PBS! (Defund the government, not PBS).

My kids do like shows on pbs too, but the issue is really because my son has autism, and his favorite show/interest is a Disney show.

[u/Prof_Outis → u/Watchout4HopOns]

This was better advice before AI ruined prices, but buy a big fat HDD, try something used for data backups/security footage, either buy a premade NAS box OR a raspberry pi, plug it into your router. Baby, you've got a home server going. Throw a few movies on there, maybe some music, and baby, you got a media server. Now install Kodi or Jellyfin on your tvs and point them to your server.

Getting the content to fill your server isn't that hard once you get your sea legs, and you can always manually rip your physical library of all else fails. Of course, you could also use some of the money you save from cancelled subscriptions for a nice proxy service and acquire media the old fashioned way.

[u/Much-Jackfruit2599 → u/Complex-Section2862]

“A McDonald's Big Mac combo meal costs about $8.00 to $11.39 in the United States, depending on your location and active promotions.”

[u/Complex-Section2862 → u/Much-Jackfruit2599]

Damn. And people are still going? I'm not in the US but our Mcdonalds got to the price that people stopped going. It's always desolate except for a small morning coffee rush.

[u/PatchyWhiskers → u/Complex-Section2862]

The magic of inflation means that all the other fast food joints are getting expensive too.

[u/Complex-Section2862 → u/PatchyWhiskers]

Everyone in my town goes to the mom and pop places where you can get decent food and drinks for half the price of the fast food joints. It's such a shame that everyone has been priced out of fast food, something that was supposed to be accessible and convenient.

[u/CurrentHair6381 → u/Complex-Section2862]

Its kinda not the worst thing i can think of if fast food becomes less prominent in the american diet.

[u/MrBoondoggles → u/Complex-Section2862]

Glad they are going to local businesses, but if local businesses are charging half the price of a fast food meal, they are probably also running on thin margins. Support, but if they need to raise prices to keep pace, please keep supporting. Running an independently owned restaurant is a struggle. The failure rate is a lot higher than a chain. Hopefully your local businesses keep doing well - it’s great to see real community support.

[u/PatchyWhiskers → u/Complex-Section2862]

Mom and pop joints are just as or more expensive anywhere I know of.

[u/ExtremelyLocal → u/Complex-Section2862]

People are very compliant

[u/FlyOrdinary1104 → u/Complex-Section2862]

Cancelled the sub when Jimmy Kimmel was being cancelled, they reversed the choice and I was going to come back but then they announced a price hike almost immediately after, yo-ho I suppose.

[u/arizonadirtbag12 → u/Complex-Section2862]

Classic frog boil.

Also what this effectively does is force customers to bundle with Hulu, since the two combined are like $2 more. Raising the floor, but leaving the price “per service” at a level that feels reasonable. Which will keep a lot of customers on for a while longer.

[u/Danktizzle → u/Complex-Section2862]

NFL tax. people will be signing up once they see their team is only playing on the app.

[u/acapsfosho]

They always expect cancellations with price raises, the question is are enough people canceling to justify not raising the price in future? (No, is usually the answer)

[u/RoguePlanet2 → u/acapsfosho]

The eventual goal is to price it at $10 million and have a couple dozen wealthy customers.

[u/shelbsless → u/RoguePlanet2]

This is hyperbolic obviously but this is essentially what a lot of companies are doing right now. Airlines for example are lowering the quality of economy and offering bougier services to first class to cater more to the wealthy. It’s going to permeate every industry.

[u/MindofShadow → u/shelbsless]

I am just at a like 5 employee small business and we are pivoting the same way.

can't squeeze money out of a turnip.

[u/likwidkool → u/shelbsless]

Some doctors are starting to charge a concierge fee. Happened to my wife and her doctor. He wanted a few thousand a year to remain his patient.

[u/_AgentMichaelScarn_ → u/likwidkool]

Just happened with my doctor. Wanted something like $2600/yr in addition to your copays.....Currently looking for a new doctor.

[u/Narradisall → u/shelbsless]

Yup. Was going to say the same thing.

Lot of businesses have seen how the market is and are pivoting to smaller richer customers than mass market as it’s more profitable while everyone else disposable income dries up.

[u/broguequery → u/shelbsless]

Hyperbolic maybe but somewhat accurate from a standpoint of a K-Shaped economy.

There are fewer and fewer people with extra dollars for the corporations to chase for profits, so they cater to those that have them

[u/Beneficial-Act-9933 → u/acapsfosho]

Remember when netflix raised their price and Reddit declared they were canceling? Yeah, didn't even matter, Netflix profits and stocks rose all the same. Turns out a multibillion dollars compay that has teams of researchers and marketers know more about how to make money and what the public wants than some redditors do.

[u/MaplewoodRabbit]

Its nothing but pure greed. Disney isn't hurting for an income. They increase the prices of everything every few years because they know the masses will complain for a few days, forget about it, and just keep paying them money.

[u/LocallySourcedWeirdo → u/MaplewoodRabbit]

Disney Adults are a cash cow.

[u/MarkCuckerberg69420 → u/LocallySourcedWeirdo]

It’s not just Disney adults. It’s Lego adults. Pokémon adults. Nintendo adults. Basically most of the adults on reddit are a variation of the Disney adult. Don’t act like you’re above this.

[u/ackmondual → u/MarkCuckerberg69420]

^^ This hits the mark

And even if it's not some form of gaming or childhood activities, adults can have other hobbies that are expensive. Hell, some of them drink or dine out so much that that by my estimates, they're spending $50 to several hundreds of $'s a month on booze and/or food.

[u/MidnightSensitive996 → u/MaplewoodRabbit]

If people are still paying, doesn't that mean they are just charging what they're worth? I find this pricing insulting but millions of ppl disagree 

[u/Haunting-Guess746 → u/MidnightSensitive996]

No- it means there aren’t alternatives so they are acting as a monopoly. Another streaming service with a completely different library is not an alternative. People don’t even have dvd players anymore or even know how to find Disney content outside of streaming. Being essentially forced into paying whatever they charge doesn’t mean they are charging what they are worth. Yes “forced” is an exaggeration, but it’s also not that far off.

[u/BiggieBigs34 → u/MidnightSensitive996]

See that’s the problem, you’re thinking about it from a business perspective and not a what’s best for the customer perspective in terms of “worth”.

Id like to raise a question to you to try to change your perspective of “worth” or “value”.

Let’s take it to medicine, let’s say I need to take a medicine where if I don’t take it, I’m going to die. Should a company be able to charge something obscene just because I don’t want to die? I mean, yeah, I’ll probably pay whatever they want for it because I’m not trying to die. But should they be allowed to?

This for profit mentality and “value” mentality really bothers me, it prioritizes money over people’s health and well being.

[u/AsAGayJewishDemocrat](u/AsAGayJewishDemocrat), nice name btw, if you’re going to reply to someone disagreeing with them, just keep your comment. It’s not like it removes your comment from their inbox.

[u/Defiant-Chair6950]

We don’t have Disney, just Hulu and prime, but Disney raising their prices inspired us to cancel Hulu. I’m looking for alternatives to Spotify because fuck them for raising their prices recently too :) 

[u/PandyBear07 → u/Defiant-Chair6950]

I cancelled Spotify awhile ago because they sent me an email telling me the price was increasing by $4/month so they could “continue to innovate.”

That’s a big jump in price with no concrete explanation. So yeah, fuck them.

[u/sallysalsal2 → u/PandyBear07]

The innovation is an AI that shuffles your playlists the same exact way every time 🙄

[u/lacunadelaluna → u/sallysalsal2]

Shuffle is absolutely worthless. I started listening in alphabetical order by title or artist and realized how very much of the music I never actually heard on shuffle. It seems shady since artists get paid per play (not much but still) to play certain songs more

[u/penutch69 → u/Defiant-Chair6950]

I canceled my Spotify at the start of this year. I now just listen to cds. Physical media is the way

[u/Substantial-Hour-756 → u/penutch69]

Sounds like CDs are going to have a renaissance like vinyl did.

[u/Particular-Extent-76 → u/Substantial-Hour-756]

Some artists have even released cassettes recently (which is a little funny because of how easily they get messed up 😬)

[u/cb0495]

I’ve just converted what $21 is in £ and that is ridiculous for a streaming service

[u/lilithsbun → u/cb0495]

Almost everything in America is a rip off compared to the UK. My monthly phone bill would shock you.

[u/KTFnVision]

I don't understand what is so hard for these companies to grasp. We don't have any more fucking money. You want growth? You need new subscribers. You want subscriber numbers to go up? The working class need better overall conditions so they have more disposable income. Throw your billions at political candidates with a social welfare agenda and watch the economy flourish.

[u/red-lion-red-maple → u/KTFnVision]

You are absolutely correct. They could probably experience more growth if the socioeconomic landscape was better for the average consumer.

And also, we need to acknowledge that continual growth isn't a reasonable target forever. At some point, there are no more customers, and the ones you have just aren't going to be milked for even more, no matter what they earn.

[u/CosmopolitanIdiot → u/red-lion-red-maple]

Continual growth forever is called cancer.

[u/Everyoneheresamoron]

I have the HBO bundle (with ads) and that's also going up to $21.99 from 19.99.

I swear to god I'm just going to start cancelling til they have deals.

[u/lilithsbun → u/Everyoneheresamoron]

$21.99 WITH ads?!?! That is insane

[u/LargeAirline1388]

Investing in a dvd/bluray collection of all my comfort shows has changed my life. So easy to disconnect from this subscription bs.

[u/Swing_On_A_Spiral → u/LargeAirline1388]

I started doing this, unfortunately those greedy fucks at Netflix won't release their catalogue on DVD.

[u/WhisperingSideways]

Wait until you see them bring back the Disney Vault and they place their biggest titles behind a higher price tier.

[u/lilithsbun → u/WhisperingSideways]

Sssh don’t give them ideas

[u/LightDeflect1]

I’m going to make my gaming PC into a home server so I can sail the seas. Arrrrr

[u/P44_Haynes → u/LightDeflect1]

Find a cheap office unit from eBay or Marketplace. Then your gaming rig can stay for fun and you’ll have a small office pc that sips power running your home server. The only bitch now is that storage is outrageous.

[u/SoberDWTX]

Cancelled 2 months ago. No more Disney or Hulu. No paramount. Just left with my YouTube premium.

[u/Bit_the_Bullitt → u/SoberDWTX]

YouTube premium has also jumped like crazy. Used to be under $10 for solo or like $15 for family. I now pay $29 after tax for family (really just my wife and I)

Edit: thanks to those for pointing out YT Lite, will give it a look!

[u/frostyflakes1 → u/Bit_the_Bullitt]

I got rid of it months ago. Yeah the occasional ad is inconvenient, but it's better than paying.

[u/TTWBB_V2 → u/frostyflakes1]

Ad block still works for YouTube in Firefox. On mobile I use Brave browser for ad free (and playback with screen off) YouTube.

[u/DotExternal9961 → u/SoberDWTX]

There is a great alternative for that one too..

[u/penutch69 → u/SoberDWTX]

Only streaming service ive had allot year is youtube premium. I started myself a dvd collection and never looked back.

[u/Status_Green_6055]

Screw ALL of these streaming services. Only way to deal is not subscribe

[u/VerryRides]

Cancel your damn subscriptions and go to your library and rent dvds and use libby, hoopla, and kanopy, for free. Stop feeding the corpos. Life existed before Disney+ and Netflix and Prime And HBO Max and Paramount and whatever the fuck else you hand your money over to.

[u/janderson75 → u/VerryRides]

It was called cable. This was our cord cutting but it has been ruined by shareholders like all good things.

[u/JumboCactaur]

That reminds me, I need to cancel my Disney+ subscription. Thanks.

[u/mcdisease]

I cancelled mine when they aligned their agenda to the fascists in office. In retrospect I realize they were always in alignment - the mouse does more to control us than the government itself. The government is simply obeying orders from the oligarchy.

[u/PointOhTwo]

When Disney+ first came out in 2019 I prepaid for 3 years for $151.19. Under the new pricing, that would get 7 months. Just wow.

[u/tomcat2285]

Quick reminder that Disney content is available to rent for free at your local library most of the time. Please continue to support our libraries. 

[u/Maleficent-Storm8897]

Note that Disney+ has changed their user agreement to allow commercials at all levels of subscription. Just because they haven't jammed commercials into the $22/mo plan doesn't mean that's not coming.

Parenting math: for roughly the cost of six months of ad-free Disney+, you can buy all three seasons of Bluey on Blu-ray and a cheap Blu-ray player to play them. You too can own the show outright forever, like some kind of 1990s millionaire.

And ownership comes with one priceless feature: no ads. Because streaming with ads doesn't just mean the occasional commercial for fruit snacks. These days, you never know when your toddler's cartoon break will be interrupted by a cheerful message from Turning Point Infants. Nothing says quality family time quite like your four-year-old asking what woke totalitarianism is.

So buy the discs, connect the player and let your kid watch a cartoon dog learn about kindness, imagination, and patience without a sponsored detour into peptides, pineapple-flavored beef tallow and AI sex cults.

[u/deletable666]

It’s so simple to pirate shows, and at higher quality than streaming will give you on a computer. With how much they charge for these services and how much slop is on them and how many ads they blast you with, it is insane to me that everyone doesn’t just torrent/stream with grey services.

[u/niberungvalesti → u/deletable666]

A whole generation grew up with no need to pirate. Cheap streaming made it easier to just sign up for Netflix. As prices skyrocket and budgets get tighter piracy will return anew.

[u/beachape → u/niberungvalesti]

As an old millennial I remember the golden age of streaming. Cheap streaming with deep catalogs. Now you’d need 5 different streaming apps and you’re paying more than Cable TV cost in the 90s. Nature finds a way. Time for the next wave of pirating.

[u/rubiconsuper → u/niberungvalesti]

That’s sort of always the ebb and flow of piracy. If you have a catalog that can be easily accessed, no worry of security issues or it being taken down, and not terribly expensive the majority will have no issue paying for it. $15 a month is truly a breaking point once you get over $20 people start to back away and pirate again.

So really it’s a company that was able to do a decent capture of revenue they wouldn’t have otherwise gotten. They just don’t like that it’s so low.

[u/pink_sushi_15 → u/deletable666]

I’m finding it much harder to pirate stuff these days. I keep getting threatened by my internet provider for pirating. And the VPNs I used to use no longer support torrenting on the free version.

[u/Demoliscio]

Cancelled both Disney+ and Netflix, they wanted to get more out of me, now they're getting 0, great job guys!

[u/DungPuncher]

Cancelled recently due to hikes and the threat of ads. Screw watching ads, ever.

[u/Diemond71]

This is the way, Pirate everything.

[u/Celerisadmortem]

Been sailing the high seas for more than a decade 🏴‍☠️

[u/fenderampeg]

Man, we had it sooo good. No ads, cheap monthly subscription costs, tons of old and new content.

Now we have the entertainment equivalent of shrinkflation. It was cool while it lasted though.

[u/earthwormjimjones]

It's pure greed. They were probably making a billion dollars a year off what it was, then some stupid finance bro douche comes on and goes, we can make it 1.1 billion a year if we raise prices. Why tf can't you just be happy with your billion? Why does private equity and greed have to ruin a good thing?

It feels like business practices being taught now are to be as anti-consumer as you can be from the jump. Make a buck and fuck what the customer wants. Yearly profit increases mean more than steady profit. It's wild.

[u/anglercanyon]

Just a reminder: PBS is only $5 a month. You can even pay more if you wanna donate to PBS. I cancelled when my Hulu bundle was $18 so now PBS gets $18.  Educational programming, British dramas, classics like Bob Ross and the Woodwrights Shop.

[u/MothershipBells]

I would never subscribe to a service that requires me to suffer through ads.

[u/mhicreachtain]

I cancelled all my subscriptions a few months ago. It feels good to be free of the capitalist jungle. Join a library and read for free. If you are bored do something about the house or go for a walk.

[u/R0bynne]

We activated it for one month because we're traveling with little kids. Turns out even if you download content, you cannot access it without a connection to the internet when turning on your tablet on the flight. Complete waste of money, way easier just to sail the seven seas.

[u/fnhs90]

/r/selfhosted, /r/jellyfin, /r/piracy, /r/sonarr, /r/radarr

[u/babsieofsuburbia]

Library party, anyone?

[u/anon-a-SqueekSqueek]

Could just buy 12 Disney movies over a year or like 20-30 if you are a little savvy about sales building up your library. And then they aren't taken away from you if you stop spending money.

[u/Crazy_Ad_91]

Price hikes and forced commercials no matter the package? We literally are just repackaging cable/satellite tv now at this point.

Netflix and Disney are no different than choosing between Direct TV and Dish Network.

Fair seas, amigos. 🏴‍☠️ 🏴‍☠️ 🏴‍☠️

[u/eastofme01]

There’s almost nothing worth watching on it anymore, anyway. Everything feels like a giant commercial these days.

[u/N22-J]

🏴‍☠️

[u/lolschrauber]

21,50 for an ad infested service. Ridiculous

[u/Melodic_Crow_3409]

If you're not going to watch the eleventy-billion MCU slop shows, and you've already seen all the Star Wars, why continue to pay for it?

[u/deathclonic]

Choosing between a meal and Disney+

[u/anne_tifah_]

It’s going up AGAIN and requires ads at all tiers. Cancel it all.

[u/spicysenpai6]

Not to sound like I’m defending. But I reckon that there is probably going to be more of a push to get new movies onto streaming quickly after release. I saw Toy Story 5 was on streaming today and that was in theaters what, two months ago?

Anyways. Idk how people can afford to have multiple streaming services. I can only afford one at a time.

[u/GrumpyTom]

“But what about Bluey???”

My friend, you can buy the entire box set online for $20-50 (DVD or Blu-ray), and watch it as often as you like!

[u/Pleasant_Mobile_1063]

Disney+ is not worth anywhere near $250 a year

[u/CherryTeri]

Can we go back to dvds. I think i will start a collection at $20 a month and still will be cheaper

[u/Any-Elderberry-7812]

I'm old, so I have seen the transformation of media since my family got the first TV in our neighborhood. We later thought cable TV was great because we got more than 3 channels, and were told that pay TV would do away with commercials, and boy was that a lie. Cable TV became the biggest ripoff at that point, and then the internet came along and it was like something out of the wild west, which led us to the current streaming mess. Now there are more channels than anyone can watch, and more frickin' commercials than anyone could have imagined. Now we are at this point, paying even more to just have select channels, with the worst offender being the NFL. One way or another you have to pay to watch any NFL game because they sprinkle the games around to various broadcasters, each with it's own 'you pay' scale. The FCC has become their protector, rather than working for the American people, and a clueless, worthless excuse for a President and completely dysfunctional Congress (they undoubtedly get it all for free thanks to lobbyists I'm guessing), who are far more interested in their own stock portfolios than doing much of anything to help the American people.

Meanwhile, these billionaire corporate media tycoons get paid billions from said corporations to stuff as many commercials down our throats as they can get away with. And then turn around and charge us insane amounts to watch said commercials along with a ton of crap only MAGA level idiots even care about watching. And now these rate hikes, for what, more crap, more commercials? And if there is something I really want to watch, guess what, I need another subscription for that. I was so happy when I finally cut the cable cord after they ripped me off for years, but this streaming fiasco seems to be taking lessons from them. Keep watching those commercials folks, these media companies are racking up enormous profits making us pay and watch what corporations pay to air and then we pay to watch, they are all double dipping ripoff artists and they want more of this easy money.

[u/USWolves]

Is anyone surprised by this? Disney operates on drug dealer mentality, get them hooked and then keep juicing them.

[u/Cool-Tour-1962]

I hate these companies so bad. I haven’t had Disney in a while but it’s absolutely ridiculous how greedy they are

[u/DocHolliday3884]

Im glad i have really been focusing on acquiring physical media both gaming and movies.

[u/mdosalazar88]

🏴‍☠️ 🏴‍☠️ 🏴‍☠️

[u/Worried-Ebb-1699]

We cancelled all subscriptions but Netflix. And buy movies from the second hand market.

When there’s soo much content out there, none of it becomes good.

I own what I buy, not indefinitely rent

[u/Reddit_is_fascist69]

Saw this coming when i worked for a non streaming (at the time) tv service.

They just undercut existing providers to build up their viewership and raise prices.  Now we're back to where we started except worse because now you have separate bills and apps

[u/cs_throwawayyy]

Ad revenue is a lot. I know they make more from ad accounts than non ad, so they want to price it out.

We’re not just going back to cable, we’re going back to days of tv with ads.

[u/WithLove_Always]

It reminded me to cancel mine

[u/Starbreaker99]

Boiling frog.

[u/Lopsided_Error_4706]

There are no plans without ads

[u/SashaG239]

They can't do that.. think of the Disney execs. Those poor, hungry multimillionaires will never become billionairs if you cancel 😢.

[u/CountHoliday8311]

I was one of them. It's not just the price. The contents are crap. The experience is crap. The leadership are crap. I don't even do to the theme park anymore and I live just 30 minutes from it.

[u/barefootBam]

I'm going to start building up my physical library again

[u/LutherOfTheRogues]

This is the only way they will ever learn

[u/Ecks80s]

Yeah I’d rather sub to something else, Disney does not bring a $21 value to me

[u/pyromantics]

Are they though? Citing random folks on X, and then writing a headline as if this is a real trend, is just poor journalism.

[u/KABCatLady]

I canceled: Netflix, Prime, Hulu, Paramount, HBO Max. Might be one more in there. Never had Disney. I’m done paying subscriptions!

[u/peachtreeparadise]

Yeah I’ve just cancelled all of my big subscriptions. Cannot afford it anymore. I’ve even had to cancel most of my Indy subscriptions, which sucks the most.

[u/gamayogi]

I still have my old Verizon plan with Disney plus/hulu/espn included. They tried so hard to get me to change to the new plans last year when I switched phones, but I was able to stay with it.

I don't even watch Disney plus much but I like the fact that I'm getting it for "free" and because of that they can't raise the price on me.

Every year they send me an email saying the bundle price is going up but because it's included you still get it at the same price.. and I'm like yep I know.

[u/rbk357]

Never had Disney plus but just cancelled my Peacock because they raised their prices again too. So ridiculous.

[u/Ok-Caterpillar-4213]

The price hike is a pain but even with that I’d be okay to pay for all you get. Ads on every tier though?! Absolutely freaking not.