The rise of streaming services and on-demand content: How and why our consumption habits of digital media have changed in recent years

Entertainment is a massive part of daily life and crucial to feeling happy. Whether it is catching the geekiest movies, playing games or checking out comic books from your favorite franchise, finding ways to have fun when not busy are important. Of course, entertainment as a sector has changed greatly over time. If you compare the original Batman TV series from the 1960s with modern takes on the superhero, this is clear to see. 

In the modern world, technology has played a huge role in disrupting entertainment and helping it to develop. The best example of this is how popular on-demand content and streaming services are now. These niches within entertainment have grown hugely in recent times to reach a wide audience on a global scale. In 2020, for example, streaming services were said to have grown by 37%!

As a result, they have changed how we consume content and how we like to stay entertained. But what are they and how have they become so important in our lives?

What are on-demand and streaming services?

On-demand content is content that you can enjoy when you like and how you like. If you like to play free casino games online, make sure to take advantage of the NJ online casinos bonus codes on offer. The games are there to play when you like, and you do not have to wait to enjoy them. If you want more information on the best free casinos to play at, make sure to check out the Oddsseeker.com website first. They bring together all the best options in one place and are a trustworthy source of information on the subject.

Streaming services are platforms which digitally stream music, movies and TV shows to your device. Popular examples of streaming services are Netflix, Twitch and Apple Music. These usually contain an element of on-demand content because they enable you to access the streamed content on their platform any time you like.

How has our consumption of digital media changed? 

As the reported rise in streaming services shows, our consumption of digital media has really taken off lately. Digital media naturally refers to content (such as games or shows) which is in a digital format. A good example is listening to songs digitally on your smartphone via Spotify, rather than buying a physical CD to play.

In terms of how our consumption of this type of media has changed, the obvious example is that it has gone up enormously. More people than ever have signed up for streaming services in the last five or ten years. Netflix has over 200 million subscribers which is up from around 100 million in 2017. 

It is not all about specific platforms themselves though. Online gaming has become a huge hit in entertainment and more players than ever now log on to play games over the internet, rather than offline. When you also factor in that online casino games have seen rapid growth and generate multi-billions per year, it is clear to see we engage with digital media more in general.

But why has on-demand, streaming and digital media become so huge?

Convenience is a big factor 

Perhaps the biggest reason why we all love digital content which can be streamed direct and/or accessed instantly is convenience. There really is nothing like being able to enjoy what you want, when you want at any time of the day. 

Online gaming, for example, can be enjoyed when you have time – not when the casino is open in real life! Catching that movie you fancy is better with streaming services because you are not limited to watching it when a certain network is showing it or being around at a certain time to view. Listening to music via streaming service allows you to take your music with you, wherever you are. As the above shows, this makes digital content, which you can access easily, a beautiful thing.

Range of choice

Next to convenience, the other major reason why digital media has taken off is the choice it offers. Apple Music, for example, comes with a mind-boggling selection of tracks and artists in all genres. There is certainly more than you could ever afford to build up with a physical record collection! The same is true for online gaming where internet casinos will have much more choice in terms of games than physical ones. TV/movie streaming services will also carry a vast selection of new choices and old classics to enjoy. Once again, this will be in much greater numbers than you could ever build up personally.

Ability to discover new things

Everyone likes to try new things and find favorite games, artists or shows they can make part of their lives. The problem in the past was that costly mistakes were all too common. That new movie may sound great on the box but is not so hot when you get it back home. That could easily see hard-earned money go to waste. The same is true for taking a chance on purchasing an album from a new band or playing a new real-money slot. 

On-demand and streamed content solves this in one swoop. Many casino games come in free to play formats online, so you can test them out before putting real cash down. Music streaming services make it possible to check out new songs or bands but without having to part with cash each time. The same is true for the ability to try out new movies via streaming services without having to buy each one first. 

On-demand and streaming have a bright future 

When you look at how much this sector has grown over the last decade and how online streaming grew during the COVID-19 pandemic, the future looks bright for digital content. As tech and digital media becomes ever more part of our normal lives (online news, for example), then we get more used to staying entertained in this way. With all the benefits streaming and on-demand brings, it seems like our switch to digital media consumption will be a permanent one.