Prelims

Half Title Page

Streaming Culture

Series Title Page

SocietyNow

SocietyNow: short, informed books, explaining why our world is the way it is, now.

The SocietyNow series provides readers with a definitive snapshot of the events, phenomena and issues that are defining our 21st century world. Written leading experts in their fields, and publishing as each subject is being contemplated across the globe, titles in the series offer a thoughtful, concise and rapid response to the major political and economic events and social and cultural trends of our time.

SocietyNow makes the best of academic expertise accessible to a wider audience, to help readers untangle the complexities of each topic and make sense of our world the way it is, now.

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Becoming Digital: Towards a Post-Internet Society

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Understanding Brexit: Why Britain Voted to Leave the European Union

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Selfies: Why We Love (and Hate) Them

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Internet Celebrity: Understanding Fame Online

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Corbynism: A Critical Approach

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The Smart City in a Digital World

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Kardashian Kulture: How Celebrities Changed Life in the 21st Century

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Reality Television: The TV Phenomenon that Changed the World

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Endrosements

Praise for Streaming Culture:

Streaming services led by Netflix, Disney+, Spotify, Amazon Prime, Apple Music and YouTube now dominate the audiovisual world. How did we get here and why does it matter? Combining a rich understanding of political economy and the cultural theory of Raymond Williams, Arditi provides a much-needed critical guide to this not-so-brave new world and its wider significance for understanding the shifting dynamics of global capitalism.

–Vincent Mosco, Author of The Smart City in a Digital World

David Arditi's new book offers a compelling, accessible take on the rise of streaming culture. Spanning multiple media, including movies, TV, music, and games, Arditi shows how streaming carries us, willingly or not, into a world of unending consumption, in which media users themselves become the product.

– Chuck Tryon, Professor of English, Fayetteville State University, USA

From music to TV to video games, streaming has altered the way that we consume and experience popular culture and goods. In this engaging, highly readable account, David Arditi explains how streaming came to disrupt so many industries and ways of life, exploring its capitalist roots, tendencies, and impacts. Loaded with examples that will speak to every audience, Arditi has produced a text that is astonishing in its depth and breadth and is essential for understanding a modern digital society.

– Mary Chayko, Interdisciplinary Professor, School of Communication and Information, Rutgers University, USA

With Streaming Culture, David Arditi provides an engaging blueprint for understanding the expansive impact of streaming services. Theoretically rich, historically grounded, and full of examples from a range of media forms, Arditi offers fresh insights into how streaming platforms are reshaping media culture.

– Alisa Perren, Associate Professor, Department of Radio-Television-Film, University of Texas at Austin, USA

Title Page

Streaming Culture

Subscription Platforms and the Unending Consumption of Culture

by

David Arditi

University of Texas at Arlington, USA

United Kingdom – North America – Japan – India Malaysia – China

Copyright Page

Emerald Publishing Limited

Howard House, Wagon Lane, Bingley BD16 1WA, UK

First edition 2021

Copyright © 2021 David Arditi

Published under exclusive licence by Emerald Publishing Limited.

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British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

ISBN: 978-1-83982-773-0 (Print)

ISBN: 978-1-83982-768-6 (Online)

ISBN: 978-1-83982-772-3 (Epub)