Plex wants to become a hub for video and audio subscription services

#Plex #Streaming #AndroidTV

If you’re a #Plex user, you likely use it mainly to #stream your personal library of audio and video files (all of which you purchased legally because you would never, ever pirate anything). This, after all, is the main reason for the existence of Plex.

However, with Plex now supporting podcasts, web shows, and even integrating with the music streaming service Tidal, the Plex platform is becoming much bigger. Now, according to German-language site Golem, the new goal for Plex is to become a hub for all your streaming services.

Theoretically, this would mean you could open Plex and have access to your personal media library as well as access content from other streaming services like Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Spotify, Audible, etc., all within the same app.

If this were to happen, Plex could be the one-stop-shop for all media which would truly send the platform into the stratosphere.

Plex CEO Keith Valory said at CES 2019 that the company has 20 million loyal subscribers, some of which pay a monthly or annual fee to use the premium Plex Pass service. In 2018, the company integrated with Tidal, which is seen as a test run for how other subscription services could integrate with the platform. It appears that partnership has been a success.

The problem Plex will face now will be getting the huge platforms — like Netflix and Amazon Prime Video — to sign on. Considering that even a company as huge as Apple had to jump through many hoops to get Amazon Prime Video onto its Apple TV platform, Plex certainly has its work cut out for it in that regard.

What will most likely happen is that Plex will work with smaller and/or up-and-coming streaming services at first. If it can leverage those partnerships to grow its user base, it could potentially become large enough to entice a company like Netflix to come aboard.


By C. SCOTT BROWN