It’s been two years since Netflix cracked down on password-sharing, inspiring different streaming giants to do the identical.
Disney was the primary to observe Netflix’s lead, asserting plans for its password-sharing crackdown in August 2023. A couple of months later, Warner Bros. Discovery’s Max introduced it might be subsequent.
In contrast to Netflix, which had all the things in place when it started imposing household-only use of member accounts, Disney and Max have been barely extra imprecise about how their rollouts would work. To be truthful, Netflix received began a lot earlier — we’d heard about its plans in 2021, and it ran trials in a number of South American international locations the next 12 months — nevertheless it additionally averted any official bulletins till it had figured all the things out.
Most importantly, Netflix had “Additional Member” accounts able to go from day one, offering an possibility for subscribers who needed to share their accounts with people exterior their households legitimately. Disney+ introduced its plans to dam the usage of its accounts exterior of a single family earlier than it had something particular to say about further members. It wasn’t till early 2024, when it started blocking password sharing, that it additionally acknowledged a “paid sharing” add-on was coming. Nonetheless, these didn’t arrive till September.
In the event you assume that feels like a recipe for a complicated rollout, you’re proper. From what Disney execs have been saying, it appeared like the corporate was attempting to encourage people who had been sharing accounts to maneuver to full Disney+ accounts earlier than providing a extra inexpensive possibility.
Fortunately, Max appears to have realized from Disney’s awkward messaging and delayed imposing password sharing in earnest till it had its Additional Member plans able to go. When Warner Bros. Discovery (WDB) revealed its plans for a crackdown on the sharing of Max accounts, it urged it might begin in late 2024, with “a broader rollout in 2025.”
We by no means noticed any indications that Max was doing a lot final 12 months. A couple of people reported getting warnings, however no person was being minimize off. As a substitute, it looks as if WBD needed to attend till it may present extra-household Max customers with a extra inexpensive solution to stick round and proceed having fun with the service.
This week, WBD introduced its new “Additional Member Add-On characteristic” for $7.99 month-to-month throughout all subscription tiers. On the identical time, it’s additionally including the power for present customers to transition their profiles to the brand new accounts seamlessly.
“Additional Member Add-On and Profile Switch are two key Max developments, designed to assist viewers with a brand new solution to take pleasure in our best-in-class content material at an distinctive worth, and supply subscribers larger flexibility in managing their accounts,” stated JB Perrette, CEO and President, World Streaming and Video games, Warner Bros Discovery. “These updates present a easy method for subscribers to add-on a brand new member to their account, or for present subscribers who’ve customers exterior of their family to easily, and in an uninterrupted trend, transition their profile in order that further member can proceed to entry Max.”
Whereas the Additional Members Add-On is accessible for a similar worth no matter which tier an eligible account holder is subscribed to, there’s an essential catch: you solely get one.
This mirrors how Disney+ does it, nevertheless it falls in need of Netflix, which affords as much as two further members in case you’re a Premium subscriber. In fact, along with the $24.99 price of the Premium plan, you’ll pay $7–9 monthly for every of these, relying on whether or not you need them with adverts or not. In an uncommon twist, Max helps you to add further members to its ad-supported plan, though we’re undecided that’s definitely worth the hassle because the further member is just $2 lower than having the particular person join their very own ad-supported Max plan.
Like different streaming providers, you have to be paying for Max on to be eligible so as to add an additional member account, quite than being billed by way of a third-party like your Web, cell, or TV supplier. You can also’t add further members in case you subscribe to the Disney+, Hulu, and Max bundle.