Millennials are sharing streaming passwords, and companies losing millions

In my mind, I'm paying for convenience, not content. I can find the content I want to watch. I have for years. The reason I watch Amazon Video is because I have Prime and why not? The reason I watch Netflix is because the amount of content I want to watch that is in one place is worth the cost. It also lowers the barrier of entry to some random stuff I'd never otherwise watch. So it works for me. But I would have no issues canceling and going back to less ethical sources if the cost outgrew the convenience.

This is why I started paying for Spotify years before I paid for Netflix. It is simply easier to find music there and let it sync between my phone and computer via their service than find every single song, download it, and sync it by hand. Also, there is no way in hell I'm paying $1 per song for thousands of songs. That method is vastly more expensive with none of the conveniences (and usually some sort of lock-in, even if weak).

So in my opinion, companies need to figure out how to make their services more convenient than the alternative. Spotify figured it out, Steam Games figured it out. Netflix figured it out when it was in competition with Blockbuster and Redbox but has since lost it. The fact of the matter is, all the content is scattered across all the services, and the combined cost is not worth it. If we had different services serving all the content (similar to pandora/last.fm/spotify/youtube red) then people could pay for the service, not the content. And ultimately, the first service we are willing to pay for is convenience.

Perhaps I have missed something as all the streaming services I have are for my personal use - but can't they just limit the number of concurrent connections from a given account?

It'd be pretty lame if you had to check if your friend wanted to watch something before using Netflix and that'd probably drive anyone who was actually a lost sale (rather than someone who will never pay in any case) to purchase their own account.

I realise there are family deals etc. but that's a risk the companies take in creating those deals (that they will make more money than they will lose).

I'm happy that they are having this problem, perhaps leading them to reduce their monthly fee instead of increasing it deliberately. It's annoying me that you should hold multiple accounts to watch "exclusives" on specific platforms, making it really expensive, especially for young people.

Sharing a password is (and should not be labelled as) a crime, because it is similar to sharing a bus ticket: if I can let my friends use it, why shouldn't I do it?