BitTorrent Inc. introduces video and music streaming service BitTorrent Now

BitTorrent Inc. launched music and video streaming service BitTorrent Now on Thursday. The service is for iOS, Android, web and Apple TV. Content creators can decide for themselves how they monetize on BitTorrent Now.

With BitTorrent Now, content creators can choose whether to offer their audio or video files for free in exchange for an email address, free with advertising, or paid. BitTorrent Inc. Lets know to Engadget, among others, that the makers can put at least 70 percent of the proceeds in their own pocket. The company also says that there are now about 30,000 content creators on the service. These include music, video clips, films and series.

BitTorrent already distributed paid media through its Bundles program, but that consisted of a website where users bought bundles of content, after which they could place the files on a playback device themselves. The new service makes the content more accessible. With the move, BitTorrent Inc. compete with services such as Spotify, Soundcloud, Apple Music but also Netflix, as it offers both audio and video.

Users also get the option to make content available offline at no extra cost; if they can access the content online, they can also access it offline. The service does not yet work with the company’s well-known peer-to-peer technology, but mostly just with clients and servers. This is to make things run more smoothly at the start of the service’s life. In the future, BitTorrent Now will actually use the BitTorrent technology. That method is something that Netflix, for example, also seems to be interested in.

At the moment, the service is only accessible through the Android app and browser. The iOS app and support for Apple TV will follow in the future, but no specific date has been announced.

Image: BitTorrent Inc. via Google Play Store