Could the digital giants be accused of undercutting prices to gain a foothold in markets and practicing a form of "dumping" that destroys value and is unfair to their competitors? Paradoxically, this idea is being reinforced by the recent price hikes of many video-on-demand subscription services, which have risen by an average of 25% in one year, according to the Wall Street Journal, which referred to this streaming inflation by the neologism "streamflation." Disney +, YouTube Premium, Peacock (Universal), Paramount +, and Max (ex-HBO Max) have all raised their rates by €1 to €2, according to Le Figaro. Likewise for music services like Spotify, YouTube Music, and Amazon Music. And the trend doesn't seem to be linked to the ongoing inflation: Since 2014, the price of the basic Netflix plan has increased from $8.99 (€8.40) to $15.49 in the US, according to a chart published by The Verge ; Disney's from $6.99 to $13.99 since 2019.

This steady rise of prices that started off much lower raises the question of the long-term resilience of the business models for these services and their sectors. Indeed, industry leader Netflix still seems to be finding its footing and has been forced – because of financial results deemed disappointing by the markets – to open up to advertising and licensed products, two activities previously associated with the "old world" of free TV networks and Hollywood studios.

Despite its number-one position in the music streaming business and a sharp increase in its user base (551 million free and 220 million paid users per month), Spotify remains a money-losing company making overall (it recently reported second-quarter losses of $302 million, compared with $125 million the previous year). Maybe granting access to all the music recorded over the last 60 years in every genre, in addition to all the new releases, should be worth more than $10.99 a month? Especially as, although record companies now seem to be profiting from streaming, artists continue to complain about their compensation.

These questions are reminiscent of the long-standing criticisms leveled at new entrants by traditional audiovisual content players like Canal +. The pay-TV fiction and sports network has long complained, particularly when it comes to soccer rights, about competition from loss-making entities such as the Qatari channel BeIN Sports or telecom companies like Orange and Altice. Today, the digital giants' – Amazon, Apple, Google... – foray into sports has not alleviated the doubts about the model's sustainability.

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