Another sign the end of physical media is near (1 Viewer)

[Bob Cashill]

So long as movies like Drive-In Massacre are coming to Blu, physical media is safe. (SACD and Blu-Ray Audio are wonderful, too.)

 

[RolandL]

Heck, you can still purchase vinyl albums of major acts.

I DVR The Tonight Show. At the end of each show, they have have a musical band perform a song. Jimmy Fallon shows their vinyl album before and after the performance. I'm surprised so many of these bands have vinyl albums.

 

[Dick]

There's still some of us that have an internet speed too slow for streaming...... (we get 1.8 megs - and no improvement due soon)

Just wait until Net Neutrality is killed off.

 

[J. Casey]

I definitely prefer my physical media. That said, a few (very few) things are changing with streaming that might make it more competitive with physical media for hardcore film lovers: availability of supplements. TCM and Criterion recently started FilmStruck, which offers some supplements for streaming. Of course, it's early yet and I believe this is the only streaming service that offers any supplements. I know that some digital downloads (such as the Star Wars series) include supplements depending on the package you buy.

 

[jcroy]

And that is the key, I think most consumers are completely unaware that they will lose a movie or tv show that they -purchase instead of rent- at some point. If they knew, they might go back to disc/ownership.

This is the thinking ^ of a hardcore movie/tv aficionado.

I strongly suspect the average joe/jane largely doesn't give a damn when a mediocre movie/show is gone, whether through being yanked from a streaming service, download, etc ... once they're beyond the initial shock. More likely to just find something else to watch or do, than going out and buying the dvd/bluray/4kbluray disc for something they're only watching once (or twice).

This was the case back in the day before I had access to a vcr. If I missed a particular show or movie when they were available, it was largely gone. After an initial shock (or letdown) of missing an tv episode or movie (at the theater), I moved on quickly and found something else to watch or do.

 

[Alf S]

^^
Agree.

Folks need to step out of they HT Fanatic bubble and think for a minute like the average Joe/Jane. They just don't care a tiny fraction about collecting movies, or if every pixel is shown on screen, or if the movie pops off the screen, we're at the point where folks just consume most movie/TV shows like they are junk food. Get a quick, cheap fix and move on. If it means grabbing a phone or tablet and hitting the "Stream to Chromecast" button, or they hit a button on their "smart" TV and grab a movie or TV from Netflix, their appetite has been fulfilled and they move on. They don't think the way this tiny corner of the world does (HTF) and guess what, they are the ones who pretty much will tell HTF what format(s) live and die (examples being, Divx, HD-DVD, 3D TV),

Corners of the net like HTF have little say in what stays or goes. If Joe and Jane walk right past the movie disc aisle at Target and never buy any movies, soon enough, studios and stores will stop wasting time and money stocking and making the discs and we may end up in a world of all streaming. Oh sure, there may be a small niche of boutique stores that offer the "old timers" discs to toss on a shelf to be seen once or twice, so the true diehards will have their old ways available, just as long as the accountants are happy with the $$$ it may (or may not) bring in.

 

[bigshot]

I wonder if the average person might actually be a better consumer of movies than home theater nuts. Movie collectors are sometimes like stamp collectors. They make sure they have every one of the Star Wars movies, but they don't go out and watch things they don't know about already. Paying $20 for a blu-ray is too much to take a risk, so they play it safe and buy movies they've already seen. The average person will watch shows and films based on recommendations from their friends, even if it's a genre they don't normally watch. And they'll scan through a list of thousands of films to choose the one they are going to watch tonight.

I'm a big fan of music, and I can't tell you how often I speak to someone who claims also to be a big fan. I ask them what kind of music they listen to and they say "All kinds." So I ask "What is your favorite opera?" blank stare "How about country music?" blank stare "African music? Asian music? South American music?" more blank stares. It usually ends up that "all kinds" means some sub genre of pop music from when they were in high school. They think that is "all kinds" because they've never really considered the ocean of music out there beyond their own narrow horizons.

To really be a fan of the arts, you have to expose yourself to a wide range of things that you've never heard of before, not just the small group you already know inside and out. Netflix for all its faults supports that a lot better than physical media does.

 

[skylark68]

I believe that even if physical media diminishes greatly in importance, the cinemaphiles out there (including me) will continue to drive boutique label sales even if that means the big players stop producing the 4th iteration of Spider Man reboot on physical disc.

 

[bigshot]

It's a lot more likely that a diminished market would mean *just* Spider Man reboots. Back in the 80s and 90s, I bought thousands of CDs. My interests were very small sub genres, like Harlem Jazz from the 30s, slack key Hawaiian guitar, and Cuban hotel orchestras from the 40s and 50s. It seemed that every week when I went to Tower Records there was a whole new batch of CDs to scoop up. Today in the aftermath of MP3s, it's a different market. There are still titles in these sub-genres, but they are the "regular suspects" repackaged into three different compilations that are all basically the same. It's rare that anything new is remastered for CD. However, it's not hard at all to find Beyonce or Bieber. Deep catalog is practically non-existent except in Classical music. Since classical recordings don't really get old, it's worth it to the labels to keep the older recordings in print. In fact, they gather them together info 50 CD box sets for a dollar or two a disc. That's about the only music I buy as physical CDs any more.

Extrapolating this to movies, it means that when the market narrows more, you'll find lots of the current big box office teenager movies, but the only classics you'll find are the tried and true... Raiders of the Lost Ark, Wizard of Oz, Terminator 2, etc. If you want deep catalog titles you'll probably find more of them in streaming channels and digital downloads where the cost of distribution is low enough to justify it.

 

[morasp]

I mostly buy TV shows on DVD and it's hard to imagine spending more to own a streaming copy of the same program even in "HD". Once you own the disc it's yours and no one can take it away. This morning I compared an episode of Hawaii Five-0 season 6 on DVD and Netflix "HD 5.1" and the DVD was much better in terms of video and audio. There is even a bigger difference with the first three seasons that were released on Blu-ray.

As far as music goes I listened to a comparison of CD SACD and Vinyl on a very expensive 2 channel setup and it wasn't even close. Vinyl won hands down.

 

[BobO'Link]

And that is the key, I think most consumers are completely unaware that they will lose a movie or tv show that they -purchase instead of rent- at some point. If they knew, they might go back to disc/ownership.
The movies, and tv shows I bought from WB, and Paramount in 2007, and 2008 are a distant memory. I think it was 2014 I lost the right to watch them.

Lots of people just don't get that. They don't understand that all you "own" is a right to view a title "any time you like" as long as the distributor makes it available. They've forgotten what happened when Microsoft killed the Zune. They've not had a title go missing, or had a alternate edit provided, because of "rights" issues.

While I "own" dozens of digital titles they are *all* "purchases" I made with "slow shipping digital credits" from Amazon. If I lose them, so be it... at least it didn't cost me hard cash, but I'll complain all the same. Just like I did when I lost a couple of digital mp3 albums Amazon "no longer carries." I complained and got far more credit than the free credit I'd spent on them but they were still gone. Those I could have downloaded (thought I did but I believe that HD crashed... another story). In fact, it was me going to download them again which caused me to discover they were gone. If one of the movies goes away it's likely I'll never notice as I don't think about those being part of my collection.

Because of that I don't trust any digital copy to be there when I want unless it's on a server under my direct, physical, control.

 

[Tony Bensley]

In yet another sign of the end times for physical media, at least in terms of music, all 102 HMV Canada outlets are closing by April 30: http://www.fyimusicnews.ca/articles/2017/01/30/hmv-canada-goes-receivership-all-stores-close

 

[bigshot]

Because of that I don't trust any digital copy to be there when I want unless it's on a server under my direct, physical, control.

That's the model that replaced CDs for most people. It will be the model that replaces DVD and blu-ray too.

his morning I compared an episode of Hawaii Five-0 season 6 on DVD and Netflix "HD 5.1" and the DVD was much better in terms of video and audio. I listened to a comparison of CD SACD and Vinyl on a very expensive 2 channel setup and it wasn't even close. Vinyl won hands down.

Assuming your streaming connection is sufficient and your CD player is working, what you're talking about there is all mastering, not some intrinsic feature of the format.

 

[Charles J P]

We will not decide the fate of physical disks. We are small minority. A perfect example of market forces is that fact that audiophiles did not bring the resurgence of vinyl, hipsters did. Extending that analogy, physical disks likely won't die, but they'll become a (possibly rare and expensive) niche.

 

[gadgtfreek]

What drove me 100% into buying discs was a poor theater experience. I can't fathom why people even want to go to a theater anymore other than "its a huge screen". Pricing sucks, people wont shutup, they look at, play games on and answer their phones. Its a cruddy experience everytime I have gone in the last few years.


Also not sure if its a liability trend, but many arent even loud enough where you can eat your $10 bucket of popcorn without disturbing everyone, yet the prices keep increasing. Talk about a joke.

 

[Alf S]

What drove me 100% into buying discs was a poor theater experience. I can't fathom why people even want to go to a theater anymore other than "its a huge screen". Pricing sucks, people wont shutup, they look at, play games on and answer their phones. Its a cruddy experience everytime I have gone in the last few years.


Also not sure if its a liability trend, but many arent even loud enough where you can eat your $10 bucket of popcorn without disturbing everyone, yet the prices keep increasing. Talk about a joke.

Too bad you don't live by an Alamo Theater. They don't tolerate phones, talking, or any form of disturbances. They will happily throw your a** out of the movie if you're caught. It's a great chain of theaters to go and see a movie.

 

[Randy Korstick]

It's a lot more likely that a diminished market would mean *just* Spider Man reboots. Back in the 80s and 90s, I bought thousands of CDs. My interests were very small sub genres, like Harlem Jazz from the 30s, slack key Hawaiian guitar, and Cuban hotel orchestras from the 40s and 50s. It seemed that every week when I went to Tower Records there was a whole new batch of CDs to scoop up. Today in the aftermath of MP3s, it's a different market. There are still titles in these sub-genres, but they are the "regular suspects" repackaged into three different compilations that are all basically the same. It's rare that anything new is remastered for CD. However, it's not hard at all to find Beyonce or Bieber. Deep catalog is practically non-existent except in Classical music. Since classical recordings don't really get old, it's worth it to the labels to keep the older recordings in print. In fact, they gather them together info 50 CD box sets for a dollar or two a disc. That's about the only music I buy as physical CDs any more.

Extrapolating this to movies, it means that when the market narrows more, you'll find lots of the current big box office teenager movies, but the only classics you'll find are the tried and true... Raiders of the Lost Ark, Wizard of Oz, Terminator 2, etc. If you want deep catalog titles you'll probably find more of them in streaming channels and digital downloads where the cost of distribution is low enough to justify it.

I think its unlikely that streaming will ever embrace that many catalog titles. Botique labels are thriving on blu ray when the main studios are not with current release. When it only takes 2,000 discs sold for a title to be a success for boutique labels then discs are clearly the answer for catalog titles. The biggest group of streaming users is under 35 and that group also has the least amount of interest in catalog titles or any movies that were made before 2000. Netflix is a perfect example. When I joined in 2014 they had lots of 50's-60's b western and sci fi, and lots of pre-90's TV shows. But over the past year they can't seem to dump older titles fast enough. All the 50's and 60's b westerns and sci fi are gone and pre 90's tv becomes less and less every month. I think it clear that the future of major streaming services like Netflix and Hulu is mainly modern TV and movies with a handful of classics 101 like wizard of Oz, Casablanca, Gone with the wind, etc. Warner Archive streaming that specializes in older catalog titles continues to struggle which also says a lot about the future of catalog titles on disc vs. streaming. Their discs program has been a huge success and copied by many others because of that sucess but since their streaming service continues to struggle you don't see anyone else trying to start catalog streaming services.

 

[Dave B Ferris]

It's a lot more likely that a diminished market would mean *just* Spider Man reboots. Back in the 80s and 90s, I bought thousands of CDs. My interests were very small sub genres, like Harlem Jazz from the 30s, slack key Hawaiian guitar, and Cuban hotel orchestras from the 40s and 50s. It seemed that every week when I went to Tower Records there was a whole new batch of CDs to scoop up. Today in the aftermath of MP3s, it's a different market. There are still titles in these sub-genres, but they are the "regular suspects" repackaged into three different compilations that are all basically the same. It's rare that anything new is remastered for CD. However, it's not hard at all to find Beyonce or Bieber. Deep catalog is practically non-existent except in Classical music. Since classical recordings don't really get old, it's worth it to the labels to keep the older recordings in print. In fact, they gather them together info 50 CD box sets for a dollar or two a disc. That's about the only music I buy as physical CDs any more.

Extrapolating this to movies, it means that when the market narrows more, you'll find lots of the current big box office teenager movies, but the only classics you'll find are the tried and true... Raiders of the Lost Ark, Wizard of Oz, Terminator 2, etc. If you want deep catalog titles you'll probably find more of them in streaming channels and digital downloads where the cost of distribution is low enough to justify it.

I hope you are (or were) familiar with the Tumbao label. Their Chano Pozo box set, alone, made them invaluable, in my book - and yes they were available at Tower Records!

 

[morasp]

I hope they don't stop making DVDs.

 

[BobO'Link]

I think its unlikely that streaming will ever embrace that many catalog titles. ...Warner Archive streaming that specializes in older catalog titles continues to struggle which also says a lot about the future of catalog titles on disc vs. streaming.

A lot of the problem with streaming catalog titles is that every studio wants to run their own service with a monthly fee comparable to NetFlix. If that's 5, 6 or more studios then suddenly you're paying almost as much as you were for cable/satellite TV and that just won't cut it for most folks. I know it won't for me. Warner has quite a few titles I'd like to own - but not necessarily stream. Sadly, I'll not own them either as long as they stick to MOD over pressed. Almost every title I've "purchased" from Amazon (using those free digital credits) is a Warner Archive title for that very reason.