Digging The Mandalorian? Cool, get ready to shell out $7.99 a month for Disney+. Dying to check out the new season of Westworld? You better budget another $16 to $25 for HBO Max. But what about all the true crime documentaries the internet is buzzing about? Of course, you have to pay another $12.99 for Netflix.
You get the picture. The streaming wars are getting nasty — and you’re the one who’s paying for it. Unless… you refuse to pay. This is what Allthestreams.fm wants to help you do.
The self-styled “pirate radio for streaming” basically pays for subscriptions to a bunch of streaming services, and then randomly chooses one show to play for you — free of charge.
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You can’t browse catalogs like you could with a normal subscription, but that was never the point.
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“We’re going to play anything and everything we feel like,” Allthestreams.fm’s manifesto reads. “We’re going to make a frankensteinian playlist of media that none of these streaming platforms could ever recommend to you because it would cost them the profits of their exclusively-owned content.”
“Like all pirate media offerings, we’re doing this for you,” it continues.
MSCHF, the brazen creative agency behind Allthestreams.fm, is after your attention — no matter how short-lived. So far, its plan is working out: There are over 200,000 viewers on Allthestreams.fm at the time of writing.
How is this legal, you might wonder. Well, it doesn’t seem to be entirely compliant with the law, and MSCHF is fully aware. “We know we are gonna get shut down fast,” the agency told TNW in an email. It’s all about the enjoying the giggles while it lasts.
(Update 11:52AM UTC: “We have a standard lawyer check with these types of things,” MSCHF told TNW. “Doesn’t mean it’s legal per se, but it means the risk profile is acceptable to us.”)
This isn’t the first time MSCHF has made waves with its unusual campaigns.
The agency has previously built a Chrome extension that camouflages Netflix in a conference call, a tool that turns Wikipedia entries into “legit” academic papers, and the infamous $3,000 “Walk on Water” Jesus shoes.
Allthestreams.fm is yet another viral sensation to add to the list. It’s also a clever take on the current state of affairs in the streaming economy.
Researchers have already noted one of the inevitable outcomes of streaming exclusives is a bump in piracy. MSCHF is simply pushing this trend to its limits. Godspeed, MSCHF, may Allthestreams.fm live forever (or until the powers that be hit you with a cease-and-desist, ya know).
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