We are used to getting our daily dose of television from broadcast networks, music from radio or Spotify, and books from a bookstore. Since media has become digital and is conveniently available on the Internet, content could be made available to us from one source. It is convenient and easy because we only need to login once and that’s it – movies, music, books and magazines are are right there on our tablet, smartphone and computer screen.
The first services that bundle many types of media into one package have been launched this year (2016). Cstream and Playster are the pioneers in bundling different types of digital media streaming services into one package.
The recently opened Cstream is a French service whose product selection consists of French content. The books, music and movies may originally come from Great Britain, Germany, U.S., or anywhere else, but these are the French versions of those products. Cstream offers ebooks, magazines, movies and music. The price per month is 9.99 euros. It is very aggressive price level compared to Playster or to services that provide single content type only, like Kindle Unlimited or Spotify.
Playster was launched before Cstream, and it has rapidly expanded outside its home market the U.S. to other countries. In Europe, where available, Playster is priced at 25.95 euros per month for a bundle of music, movies, ebooks and games. The price slightly varies depending on the country where the subscriber is located.
Book subscription services, such as 24 Symbols, Bookmate, Kindle Unlimited, or Scribd charge about 10 dollars or euros per month for ebooks only. Kindle Unlimited includes audiobooks as well. Scribd has capped the number of books available per month in specific genres.
Cstream is the best deal at the moment for French speaking digital media consumers. The product selection is not as generous as in single-media services, but should cover most people’s needs: 50 000 books, 30 magazines, millions of songs, 300 movies and 1000 shows for children.
Cstream can be accessed from a Windows PC, Mac, Android device, or Apple device.
Via Actualitté.
