Several years ago at Microsoft, I saw an observation that there were 3 primary business models in big tech. Selling

1. Software

2. Hardware

3. Ads

The challenge for companies was that your core business was being given away for free by someone with a different business model. You sell Windows and Google gives away Android for the search ads revenue. Lots of hardware sold at a loss to make up the difference in subscriptions.

This is what’s happening with streaming. https://stratechery.com/2023/disneys-taylor-swift-era/