Password-protecting content (MP3, video)

Hi, [u]i find it unusually difficult[/u] to find answers on the net on how to really password-protect content without using .htaccess passwords (which is no longer used by virtually any pro web site) and without using PHP to simply protect html pages, which does NOT protect content like MP3/video. (Why thousands of google results point in those directions is beyond me.)

I would like this content to be inaccessible by users unless they enter their password, basically like a pay porn site.

I speculate that the content would have to reside outside of the root (ie, outside public_html) but i would not know where to go from there.

Note that i know a bit of PHP and cookie passwords; it’s the general outline that i need; a general how-to.

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