Disney+ begins cracking down on password sharing, introducing 'Additional Members' feature that lets you add family and friends outside your household to your plan

Disney+, a video streaming service operated by Disney, has rolled out an 'Additional Members' feature in many regions, including Japan, that allows users to add family and friends outside the user's household to their subscription plan from September 25, 2024 local time. This move is believed to be aimed at cracking down on 'freeloading' accounts by sharing passwords.

Paid Sharing on Disney+: Here's What You Need to Know - The Walt Disney Company
https://thewaltdisneycompany.com/paid-sharing-disney-explainer/

Disney+ Begins Password and Account Sharing Crackdown
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/business-news/disney-plus-password-sharing-crackdown-begins-paid-sharing-1236011760/

Disney+ password sharing crackdown: What you need to know | TechHive
https://www.techhive.com/article/2229732/disney-plus-password-sharing-crackdown-cost.html

In a blog post dated September 25, Disney said, 'This week, Disney+ expanded our paid sharing program to provide more ways for users to enjoy their Disney+ subscription with family and friends,' and announced the 'Add-On Members' feature, which allows users to officially add other users to their existing subscription plan.

Disney+ subscription plans can basically only be used freely within the same household. For example, family members living in the same household can share a single subscription plan, but family members living in different households cannot share a plan.

The additional member feature is a paid feature that allows you to add one family member, friend, or acquaintance who lives outside the household of the subscription plan to the plan. It was tested in some markets in the summer of 2024, and will now be officially rolled out in the United States, Canada, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Europe, and Asia Pacific. An explanation of the additional member feature has already been added to the Japanese version of Disney+'s help page.

Disney+ Add-ons
https://help.disneyplus.com/en/article/disneyplus-extra-member

Only one additional member can be registered per Disney+ subscription, and they must be 18 years of age or older and live in the country or region in which the Disney+ subscription plan was created. People who currently or previously subscribed to a Disney+ subscription plan cannot be additional members.

Also, at the time of writing, additional members can only be used if the subscriber to the subscription plan pays the usage fee by credit card, debit card, or PayPal on the Disney + official website.

The cost of the additional member feature is $6.99 (about 1010 yen) per month for the basic plan and $9.99 (about 1440 yen) per month for the premium plan in the United States. In Japan, it is 490 yen per month regardless of the plan.

Disney+ subscription fees
https://help.disneyplus.com/ja/article/disneyplus-price

Disney+'s release of the official paid subscription plan sharing feature indicates that the company will seriously regulate freeloading on accounts through password sharing. The Hollywood Reporter, an overseas media outlet, said that Netflix, which began cracking down on password sharing in 2023, has seen an increase in new subscribers as a result.

Disney has announced that it will raise the price of Disney+ in the United States, with the basic plan with ads increasing from $8 (about 1,160 yen) per month to $10 (about 1,450 yen) per month after October 17, 2024, and the premium plan without ads will increase from $14 (about 2,020 yen) per month to $16 (about 2,310 yen) per month.

Disney says price hike for streaming service is 'natural' - GIGAZINE