While 2003 wasn't necessarily one of the best years for Ben Affleck after starring in Gigli), Ben Affleck predicted the rise of TV, movie, and music streaming services like Netflix and Spotify.
“I think an annual subscription-based system is one that works,” he offered. “It will be movies on-demand but it will be a tiered structure.” He also distinguished himself from the likes of Metallica while predicting that the rampant peer-to-peer sharing of files was something that the industry would eventually adapt to and counter with reasonably-priced streaming services. “The technology’s not quite there yet, but it will be within five years,” Affleck said.
Although Netflix was around in 1997, the streaming side of the business didn't catch on until 2007 and Spotify wasn't too far behind after it started in 2008.
Ben Affleck Predicts Spotify
… wow. Ben Affleck perfectly predicting Spotify and Netflix in a random 2003 interview
Almost exactly right about the unit economics of annual music subscriptions and the timing of online movie streaming. Solid point too on how shareware (Napster) is a necessary predecessor pic.twitter.com/mpEgRPK4zL
— John Backus (@backus) July 8, 2018
Photo via Wikimedia
