Plex lays off 20% of its workforce amid advertising slowdown
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Plex, the free streaming app, laid off approximately 20% of its staff. The company reportedly blames a slowdown in the advertising market.

Plex, the free streaming app, laid off approximately 20% of its staff, TechCrunch has learned, which will affect all departments, including the Personal Media teams.

“This is by far the hardest decision we’ve had to make at Plex,” CEO Keith Valory said in a statement. “These are all wonderful people, great colleagues, and good friends. But we believe it is the right thing for the long-term health and stability of Plex.”

The streaming app gives users a single destination to upload and organize content (video, audio and photos) from their own server while also allowing them to stream it via mobile app, smart TV or desktop.

In recent years, however, Plex has invested in free, ad-supported streaming (FAST) and live TV offerings. The FAST market has become saturated as many companies have entered the space. Plus, the overall advertising industry has taken a hit, making it harder for companies to earn enough revenue.

Valory noted in his statement that the company was significantly impacted by the slowdown. “While we adjusted our business plan last year after the shift in equity markets to get us back on a path to profitability without having to cut personnel expenses, the downturn in the ad market in Q2 put significantly more pressure on our business and ultimately it became clear that we would need to take additional measures in order to maintain a confident path to profitability within the next 18 months,” he said.

He added that the company is still expected to see 30% growth this year.

According to a Slack message from Valory, obtained by The Verge, which first reported the layoffs, Valory noted that 37 employees would be impacted.

Additionally, it seems that Plex may have had another round of layoffs earlier this year. Five months ago, a former account executive posted on LinkedIn that they were “affected by company layoffs.”

As of January, the company had 175 employees, and its revenue was in the double-digit millions.

Updated 6/29/23 at 12:10 p.m. ET with a statement from CEO.

capital
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221Y

Shit. I’d have moved to Jellyfin already if they had an Apple TV client. If they go under I might have to get a 2nd set top box just to run JF.

@Lem453@lemmy.ca
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41Y

It’s a paid app, but infuse works very well on apple TV

https://jellyfin.org/posts/client-infuse/

capital
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11Y

Good tip. Thanks.

@MonkCanatella@sh.itjust.works
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41Y

They have “Swiftfin” but it’s had two updates in two years and it’s close to useless

@kirua@lemmy.world
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01Y

they have an app on apple tv thats been working well with unraid and a jellyfin docker

Human Crayon
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21Y

I’ve been using Swiftfin on my Apple TV with zero problems. Its a lot more simple than Plex.

capital
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11Y

Good tip.

@Ducks@ducks.dev
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541Y

I’m honestly surprised that Plex has revenue in the “double-digit millions”

Unfettered Capitalism breeds emshitification.

Why build and keep a great product when shareholders will always push for more growth and higher revenue. Even if that means laying off your best devs and pissing off users.

AlexisFR
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31Y

Is this company even publicly traded? I don’t think so.

Doesn’t need to be publicly traded to have those issues.

@fuzyll@programming.dev
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61Y

Yeah, case in point: Reddit.

@Contend6248@feddit.de
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11Y

But they want to, that’s why they’re started

Kotzwinkle
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21
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1Y

Wasn’t even aware that Plex was still around. Swapped to Jellyfin years ago.

Emi
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131Y

Jellyfin’s the way to go IMO, screw Plex and their constant BS.

Yeah, I switched to Jellyfin ages ago and never looked back. Haven’t really run into anything I’d want to do that Jellyfin can’t do but Plex can.

@CaldeiraG@lemmy.world
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7
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Well, it’s pretty unsurprising considering all companies are doing the same.

I’ve given a chance to Jellyfin but it’s really frustating how it simply refused to play video files without any descriptive error logs. I think it mostly doesn’t work properly on HEVC files (I think Edge is the only browser that properly supports x265) and my Android TV also doesn’t play the damn thing.

Also adding that video files from the same release (which assumed are the same encoder), they either work perfectly or just refuse to work :(

I do not pay for Plex but I considered in the past getting a lifetime sub x)

HEVC files work fine in JF. I stream to a smart (android) TV, Shield and windows app. You need to have transcoding enabled though for smart tvs and browsers which isn’t really an option for docker unless you have the grunt on your host.

@CaldeiraG@lemmy.world
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11Y

Docker does work for transcoding but because I’m using Proxmox it’s slightly more complicated since I want my windows VMs to not be a slog and run mediaservers on a iGPU.

Atleast on Plex it can do software transcode and not be bothered by an annoying “cannot play this media on this device”. This was a few months ago and I still run both but Plex serves me fine fot the time being

@ralothar@lemmy.world
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21Y

After having checked out Plex, Jellyfin and Emby I’ve decided the latter was still my favorite. Jellyfin just isn’t there yet, lack of built in image-scrubbers, intro-outro-detection and quality clients just makes it inconvenient for me. Plex’s external authentication makes it a no go for me.

Emby is the only one that’s focused on what it tries to achieve and delivers. Also the support team is super helpful and pushes out fixes in a pretty good time. Not FOSS though

Briongloid
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41Y

I’ve had a lifetime licence for a couple years, I’m becoming more and more bitter about the service but jellyfin isn’t as appropriate for the people I share with.

Plex isn’t improving its core service, in favour of focusing on new FAST customers, but there just isn’t an alternative so they get to abuse their position.

Zoidsberg
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71Y

When COVID started really popping off, management at my old job gathered all the technicians together in the shop. They read a bunch of names off a piece of paper while everyone stood around confused, then they said “If you heard your name, this is your last day with the company.” Absolutely heartless.

They then put out a canned public message about how hard the decision was, and how every employee is a member of the family.

The Dark Lord ☑️
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281Y

As someone who’s been laid off, it always annoys me when people at the top try to act all hurt. Their name was never brought up as a potential layoff. The decision wasn’t nearly as hard as getting laid off.

Those who made the decision to go after the FAST market and lose money aren’t the ones getting laid off, it’s the ones who followed and built it. The risky outcome was never on the heads of those deciding to take the risk.

‘Some of you may die, but that’s a risk I’m willing to take’

Freeman
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51Y

That doesn’t make it easy, knowing you have to make a choice that negatively impacts people that have dedicated time and parts of their lives to your project. Having to make a choice that impacts others is not easy and only a sociopath wouldn’t give a shit. Despite what many think on sites like this, often many leaders, especially in smaller companies like this that started as a passion project are not those types of people etc. They often don’t have the same personality traits you HAVE to have to climb a ladder at say, IBM or Dell etc.

That’s not to say it doesn’t suck for the people being laid off. And that you can’t have empathy and sympathy for both sides. It’s not a competition or a binary choice.

The Dark Lord ☑️
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11Y

Of course it’s not an easy decision. But don’t go all “woe is me” when you’re not the one actually suffering. Own the mistake. Promise to do better.

Freeman
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31Y

Expressing empathy and sympathy for those that the decision affects and stating/iterating that it was not an easy choice isnt something I take as “woe is me” or playing the victim card.

The outcome and road ahead sucks for those affected no matter what. But sometimes all anyone can do is show some mercy and not be a dick with how they approach it.

Now, that said, it’s entirely situational and I don’t actually know the culture at plex as an employer (only as a customer). So this could totally be nothing more than lip service.

But understanding and differentiating the difference between lip service and sincerity does matter.

The Dark Lord ☑️
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31Y

Empathy and sympathy is talking about how awful it is for people to have to lose their job. Especially in this market. What they’re doing is talking about themselves and how difficult it was for THEM to make the decision. I don’t care about them. I care about those who lost their livelihood.

You’re right that it wouldn’t be an easy decision. It must be awful. But losing your job is still way worse.

Paradox
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Oh boo hoo. They still get to go to work tomorrow. They still get a paycheck. They don’t have to go through the hassle of job seeking, interviewing, and the rejection letters. They don’t have to go home and wonder if they’ll make it through this time. They don’t have to see the worry in their spouse’s eyes, wondering if they will be able to pay the bills in the future.

And no, two weeks severance isn’t enough. It’s almost an insult really, as it can take that long to get interviews scheduled.

Freeman
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That’s missing the point entirely. The statement isn’t playing a victim card at all. It’s recogition that it’s a shitty position to put someone in.

Expressing empathy and sympathy for those that the decision affects and stating/iterating that it was not an easy choice isnt something I take as “woe is me” or playing the victim card.

The outcome and road ahead sucks for those affected no matter what. But sometimes all anyone can do is show some mercy and not be a dick with how they approach it.

Now, that said, it’s entirely situational and I don’t actually know the culture at plex as an employer (only as a customer). So this could totally be nothing more than lip service.

But understanding and differentiating the difference between lip service and sincerity does matter.

Paradox
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Empathy doesn’t pay the bills. I can’t call up the bank and say “hey I can’t pay the bill this month, but my ex-boss is really sorry about all this.”

Google and Friends gave people 6 months of severance. Thats enough time to get your life back on track. But two weeks is basically just “here have another single payslip to go away forever.”

Freeman
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-21Y

Again not the point and no one said it did. But doing things with respect matters. And nothing lasts forever

Also 2 weeks is pretty standard, and isn’t terrible in an at will situation. Have you ever given a company 6 months notice?

Also if you are working full time at a company like Plex and living hand to mouth that’s not really on plex.

Paradox
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How are layoffs respectful? “Yeah we overspent or aren’t quite as profitable as we’d like, so we’ve determined that you’re redundant or unneeded or some other adjective that shouldn’t ever be used on a human, and so we’re going to have security perp walk you out of the office like you were caught stealing something, and we’ll have someone box up your shit and break some of it and mail it to you in 4-8 weeks. Please sign this paper that says you wont talk about what we did to you and we’ll toss a few bucks your way.”

I’ve even seen companies where people got informed they were laid off when they couldn’t log into their Slack account or whatever else. No other notice. Just dripping with respect.

I didn’t get laid off from Plex. I’ve been laid off from other companies, large and small, and had friends laid off while I was a “survivor”. My favorite time I was laid off was a few months after my wife had a baby, and a week after I told my boss she was pregnant again. That one extra paycheck sure helped me pay off the 2 month NICU stay for baby #1! I really felt respected by that company. Really liked it when the CEO sent out a form letter talking about how hard it was on him and how he lost a whole nights sleep figuring out who to screw over, instead of cutting costs in other areas.

@MonkCanatella@sh.itjust.works
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31Y

Those at the top are the sociopaths lol.

Freeman
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11Y

So anyone that has grown within a company and into leadership or executive positions are sociopaths full stop?

That’s not really a healthy outlook to have tbh.

@MonkCanatella@sh.itjust.works
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21Y

It’s not a black and white thing. it’s a probability thing. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5389508#

Freeman
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-21Y

I’m aware of the theory. And even acknowledged it in my initial reply in this very chain….

@MonkCanatella@sh.itjust.works
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01Y

Oh, ok. Alright then

@lemming007@lemmy.world
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11Y

Plex is dead

GNU/Dhruv
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201Y

As a long-time Jellyfin user, I’ve never really understood how Plex makes money providing a handful of additional features over the FOSS alternative.

Kushan
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91Y

Plex is available in a lot more app stores than Jellyfin or Emby is. I run a plex server for friends but I use emby for my personal consumption. The reason I continue to use plex is because it’s available on all sorts of smart TV’s and semi-obscure streaming devices that Jellyfin isn’t.

Why use jellyfin when you already have Plex set up?

LordChaos82
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71Y

@steal_your_face @Kushan Because FOSS.

@fixmycode@feddit.cl
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11Y

I don’t have anything bad to say of Plex as a company, and I wish them luck on their endeavor, but if they ever fall, I just hope they open source their software…

@MonkCanatella@sh.itjust.works
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11Y

No, they couldn’t do that. They’d have to sell every asset to pay the employees or give their ceo a golden parachute or any number of things aside from actually open sourcing. Anyway, Jellyfin is open source and just needs to work to reach feature parity.

@j0mbie@lemmy.world
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21Y

If they saw the writing on the wall they could open-source before they went into bankruptcy. However, that could open them up to lawsuits if it was deemed they were “destroying” their assets before they could be claimed by investors and/or creditors, but that’s a big legal gray area depending on what you can show in court. And venture capitalists have better lawyers than bankrupt companies typically do.

@MonkCanatella@sh.itjust.works
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11Y

The shareholders would most likely call that theft

@SkyNTP@lemmy.ml
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11Y

This a 1/1000 likely outcome. Bankrupted companies will typically sell assets including IP and software to other companies to pay creditors (which excludes open sourcing them). And well before bankruptcy, any financial issues will cause Plex to be modified to support shitty monetization to the point that you won’t want the source code amyway.

Sorry for the bad outlook, better that you be ready than to hope for a unicorn.

@Hizeh@hizeh.com
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91Y

Plex has been going downhill for a bit now. FAST is killing it.

Teddy
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21Y

My elderly parents are responsible for some FAST views thinking that they were watching something from my library.

@vaptor@lemmy.world
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11Y

I never really watch FAST but aren’t most of it softcore porns 😂

Bear
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21Y

That would be better than any FAST I’ve seen.

@MaDeX@lemmy.world
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11Y

Jellyfin doesn’t have a native samsung TV app :(

@meat_popsicle@sh.itjust.works
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1Y

Good news! There is a Jellyfin Tizen build available and it works great. Check it out.

There is a relatively high barrier for this as you do need to build, sign, and push it to your TV.

This is my problem as well. My old-ass Samsung TV has Plex, and after Samsung totally fucked up smart view, it’s my best alternative. Oh well, maybe I need to invest in a dongle of some sort.

There used to be a Tizen app, but Jellyfin team had many issues with Samsung. Maybe a Kodi plugin would work?

Yeah this is one of the reasons I don’t like companies that profit directly of of pirating. It never ends well and eventually someone is going to figure out they can just buy the company instead of competing on convenience.

@christmas_cavalier@lemmy.world
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One of the main things that made me make the switch to Jellyfin last year was the constant pushing of the ad-supported and other internet based streaming content. I was getting tired of pinning my local media libraries only to have them buried at the bottom of the list again under all the other streaming content after the client apps would update on my family’s Rokus. Hardware transcoding is also a nice bonus since I only used Plex’s free tier.

lemmyvore
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10
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I’m not sure how streaming compares to your own curated content. I mean sure in overall convenience for the average person FAST wins, but that’s not the core audience for Plex. If they’re competing with FAST then it would mean there was a major shift in it’s users and I don’t think it has. Nobody who’s enjoyed having a NAS full of on demand content (and invested time and hardware) will just chuck it and go “ah yes streaming random stuff with ads was better after all”.

If you ask me, Plex should take a hard look at what Emby and Jellyfin are doing right because that’s their main competition. I understand they have to make money but locking everything behind their remote server is fundamentally flawed when I can’t access a server sitting two feet away from me without a major detour over the internet. They should have integrated with existing solutions like Authelia, reverse proxies and Talescale not piss against the wind.

@Hizeh@hizeh.com
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21Y

Fully agree

@MonkCanatella@sh.itjust.works
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01Y

FAST

what is that?

@Hizeh@hizeh.com
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51Y

In the article. Free Ad Supported sTreaming = FAST.

All the embedded LIVE TV or Movies from Plex are all ad supported streaming media not coming from your own Plex server.

I don’t want any of that on my Plex instance and the focus on FAST has been a clear shift in strategy.

@MonkCanatella@sh.itjust.works
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11Y

oh that’s right. Shit is fucking annoying. I blocked all of that out, which is why I forgot I wanted to switch to Jellyfin in the first place lol.

@Contend6248@feddit.de
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11Y

My girlfriend asked me why she gets ads on Plex, first i didn’t believe her, but then she showed me them, as a lifetime customer, i was furious until i found out that she was watching something outside my library.

This is a feature, but they should tag it much more obvious.

𝙚𝙧𝙧𝙚
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11Y

It’s in the post body, Free Ad-supported Streaming.

garrett
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41Y

Been thinking about migrating off Plex for a bit with performance hits, apps shoving their channels my way and their seeming decline from personal media. After propping up Audiobookshelf for audiobooks, now I’m considering Funkwhale for music and Jellyfin for video but I’ll have to test a bit more.

Jellyfin works ok for music with finamp, but it might not meet your requirements.

garrett
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21Y

Hmm! I’ll have to goof around with this. Thanks!

@H2iK@lemmy.world
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81Y

Just curious, for everyone saying they switched to jellyfin, were you using the free version of plex?

I had a Plex subscription and switched to Jellyfin. Same reasons as everyone else- it was all about Plex’s content and recommendations running on my equipment when the whole point for me was to have something with only my own content.

Mark
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41Y

Well I use both (server and user) and plex is imo more stable with Google Cast wich is 90% of my use case. Mobile viewing is way more superior with jellyfin tho, but nothing beats plexamp

Briongloid
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31Y

Plex is more stable in most regards, we all would have happily moved over to jellyfin if it was nearly as comparable.

@sanpo@sopuli.xyz
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11Y

It really isn’t, in my experience.

Plex was always unusable when my Internet was down (offline mode refused to work, no matter what I did) and their insistence on forcing the metadata search through their own cache meant it was often outdated or simply broken.

@sanpo@sopuli.xyz
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21Y

Yes. There was a bit of a learning curve, but my Jellyfin now works better than Plex ever did (and I finally have GPU acceleration working).

Yearly pass sub here. Canceled and will be exploring jellyfin and emby

@AES@lemmy.ronsmans.eu
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71Y

Great, let them burn. I am a plexpass lifetime sub, but switched to Jelly. Opensource for the win.

The evil clone of XBMC is finally in its death throes (yes I’m still bitter about that). No worry, Jellyfin is better.

@Hubi@feddit.de
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31Y

I think Kodi would be more akin to XMBC. What’s the relation with Plex?

Kodi IS XBMC. It’s the same team, XBMC changed their name to Kodi once it became unavoidably awkward that no one was running XBMC on actual Xboxes anymore. Plex started as a fork of XBMC but went down the proprietary route and shunned their FOSS roots.

XBMC

Wow that takes me back lol

007 Nightfire softmod crew checking in. Kodi has been making the best htpc for more than a decade now. I love me some jellyfin, but I’ll probably always have a kodi box or two around the house.

@two_wheel2@lemm.ee
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71Y

Whew I’m glad I just started up my jellyfin server!

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