Streaming is common these days, in fact it's VERY common. Websites like youtube.com have made their fortunes by providing these services. However, even though this streaming is so commonplace, there may still be some people out there that don't quite understand what it is. To those people, this is a guide for you.

Streaming in it's most simplistic form is where, instead of downloading and saving a movie or music, you download the data on an "as need" basis. This could mean you are watching a music video on youtube (or part of a video) online, in real time, instead of downloading the entire file to watch later.

One of the big benefits of streaming is that it can save you a lot of money when you want to view or listen to movies, television shows or music. This is because instead of outrightly purchasing the content, a lot of websites and services will charge a flat monthly fee to view all of their library of media. So instead of purchasing an album from iTunes, you can subscribe to a service like Spotify and listen to that album (plus many, many more) for a near equivalent price for one month. if you purchase a lot of music then this adds up very quickly.

A concept that come people can struggle to get their head around is the notion of not needing to "own" the music, movie or television shows that they view. Many of the subscription (and free, but with some advertising) streaming services can provide you with a massive collection of media at very reasonable prices.

In the coming weeks we'll be looking at a number of these streaming services and breaking them down for you.