Physical Media might not be dead, but Physical Media in Retail Stores are accelerating the death (1 Viewer)

[jcroy]

They’re afraid that if they don’t use DRM, that people will bootleg them more easily. It’s not the best argument since all of the encryption gets cracked anyway by people who will never ever pay for it no matter what, but they don’t want to make it any easier.

Another thing is that at this point in home media, very few people download their purchases to begin with - the overwhelming majority purchase and then stream. There’s not a big market of download only users to begin with, so there’s no real upside to them offering that capability.

The encryption part is likely a way of tracing hardcore pirates who have access to disc manufacturing facilities.

The mpaa can use the no-encryption discs as likely a bootleg as evidence, and who to bring down the strong arm of the law onto.

It has no bearing on casual personal use of ripping programs, even since css and aacs were cracked.

 

[Guardyan]

Why Don’t Some TV Shows Sound the Way They Used To? - 21st April 2021​

Why Don’t Some TV Shows Sound the Way They Used To? (Published 2021)

Licensing issues have gutted the soundtracks of many beloved series on streaming services, resulting in bewildering music cues and missing theme songs.

www.nytimes.com

Oh the old soundtrack issue... most of the time that is the main reason why so many shows are never released on home video (as most here probably already know).

I haven't bothered re-watching Alias on Prime exactly because they changed the songs. Alias was in great part Alias because of its soundtrack. If I had bothered getting the DVDs, I'd not have this problem now. But I'd certainly resent ABC Studios for not securing a blu-ray release. Ugh!

Alias is still popular so I still have some hope it will get its music back, because I heard the show Ally McBeal was first released with a different soundtrack and later producers were able to re-release it with all of its original songs intact. But what worries me are the small, cult shows, that no one remembers and that I cannot get to re-watch anywhere because... music, man.

 

[LADYKNIGHTdotCA]

I’d buy “The Orville” again if it ever came to Blu ray. Both seasons of this SciFi show are only available as DVDs.

I am DYING to buy The Orville but can't bring myself to buy it on DVD. Does anyone know why it hasn't been released on blu ray?

 

[bmasters9]

I am DYING to buy The Orville but can't bring myself to buy it on DVD. Does anyone know why it hasn't been released on blu ray?

Here's a YouTube clip that might be of some help:

 

[Robert Crawford]

The latest "The Extras" podcast talking about "The Current State of Physical Media" with Bill Hunt/Digilbits:

 

[Robert Crawford]

This was an interesting podcast with Bill Hunt. Some stuff was said that might not make some of us happy, but it's kind of the reality of the situation.

 

[titch]

The latest "The Extras" podcast talking about "The Current State of Physical Media" with Bill Hunt/Digilbits:

Thanks a lot for posting this! It was very interesting and well worth an hour's listening. I have a lot of respect for someone who has obsessively covered physical media for home theatre - almost from the dawn of the internet (for normal people) - and kept going, enthusiastically, for 25 years. I purchased my first computer in 1995 and there was no one reviewing LaserDiscs on the internet then. Bill Hunt was basically the first one out there for collectors on the internet. He also has an international focus and is aware of, and has reviewers, who cover international releases.

He also points out that physical media is being replicated in fewer and fewer batches and that people who sit around, waiting for a better deal, risk not being able to get hold of the titles - because they sell out and don't get repressed. And he points out that people who whine about not liking the art quality on a title, should just be really really glad that they're able to buy that movie on disc at all! There will come a day, when these will not be released at all. Younger audiences will only do streaming.

What was most thought-provoking, was that a lot of the studio talent, who loved films and movies and had an intimate knowledge of their catalogue, have lost their jobs. The new executives are clueless, they don't love or know their catalogue - the merger of Disney/Fox being a prime example.

 

[Robert Crawford]

Thanks a lot for posting this! It was very interesting and well worth an hour's listening. I have a lot of respect for someone who has obsessively covered physical media for home theatre - almost from the dawn of the internet (for normal people) - and kept going, enthusiastically, for 25 years. I purchased my first computer in 1995 and there was no one reviewing LaserDiscs on the internet then. Bill Hunt was basically the first one out there for collectors on the internet. He also has an international focus and is aware of, and has reviewers, who cover international releases.

He also points out that physical media is being replicated in fewer and fewer batches and that people who sit around, waiting for a better deal, risk not being able to get hold of the titles - because they sell out and don't get repressed. And he points out that people who whine about not liking the art quality on a title, should just be really really glad that they're able to buy that movie on disc at all! There will come a day, when these will not be released at all. Younger audiences will only do streaming.

What was most thought-provoking, was that a lot of the studio talent, who loved films and movies and had an intimate knowledge of their catalogue, have lost their jobs. The new executives are clueless, they don't love or know their catalogue - the merger of Disney/Fox being a prime example.

This! During this podcast I was constantly thinking of posters on this forum and their reactions to what he was trying to convey to us all. Some people will reject his comments, but some of us will heed his comments as to what’s coming.

 

[bmasters9]

And he points out that people who whine about not liking the art quality on a title, should just be really really glad that they're able to buy that movie on disc at all!

An argument that, I think, also fits such minor matters as presentation quality of a film or show (which encompasses such things as picture quality and how it sounds [the latter being whether it's in stereo, or mono, or 5.1]); in fact, I know I've said it many a time, but I think those who have complained about poor picture quality on the releases of a show like Emergency! should have been appreciative that Universal put it out for them to begin with and made it possible for them to even see the show (but of course, some won't consider that, and act like it's not enough to be able to have the chance to enjoy it; it has to be perfect in every facet).

 

[Robert Crawford]

An argument that, I think, also fits such minor matters as presentation quality of a film or show (which encompasses such things as picture quality and how it sounds [the latter being whether it's in stereo, or mono, or 5.1]); in fact, I know I've said it many a time, but I think those who have complained about poor picture quality on the releases of a show like Emergency! should have been appreciative that Universal put it out for them to begin with and made it possible for them to even see the show (but of course, some won't consider that, and act like it's not enough to be able to have the chance to enjoy it; it has to be perfect in every facet).

I don’t agree that presentation quality is a minor issue! It depends on the movie or show we’re talking about and what the disc presentation is derived from in regard to source elements.

 

[bmasters9]

I don’t agree that presentation quality is a minor issue!

Come to think of it, you are absolutely right-- many great films and shows have had their reputations ruined by shoddy physical media presentations.

 

[Traveling Matt]

What was most thought-provoking, was that a lot of the studio talent, who loved films and movies and had an intimate knowledge of their catalogue, have lost their jobs. The new executives are clueless, they don't love or know their catalogue - the merger of Disney/Fox being a prime example.

This is scary. This is what leads to items being neglected, tossed out or intentionally destroyed, followed by large-scale headshaking that it happened in the first place.

The kinds of people who would do this and did in decades past... they still exist.

 

[Kent K H]

I recently moved to Texas from Missouri. At my old Best Buy, the physical media section was shrinking, for sure. But it was still there. At the store that's closest to me now, it's literally just the new releases display and one other small one on the other side of the store. *sigh*
I listened to the newest The Extras episode and it's definitely a bummer that Hollywood is not only treating everything as "content" now, but that they continue to miss all of the lessons of the past. There's a good chance that the only thing that will save a lot of movies and TV shows from disappearing in the future to bad hard-drives and "who knows what else that we haven't thought of yet" is pirates and archivists technically participating in illegal activities.

 

[TJPC]

I went to 2 Walmarts recently in Niagara Faiis NY and in Amherst NY. Both were absolutely pathetic --.A small rack or two marked "New Releases" and perhaps a row of children's movies. Don't get me started on the Targets in each area.

My best bet now continues to be buying everything from Amazon.com, except for new releases which are actually less expensive in Canada.

 

[bmasters9]

I went to 2 Walmarts recently in Niagara Faiis NY and in Amherst NY. Both were absolutely pathetic --.A small rack or two marked "New Releases" and perhaps a row of children's movies. Don't get me started on the Targets in each area.

My best bet now continues to be buying everything from Amazon.com, except for new releases which are actually less expensive in Canada.

I take it that such shelves only had what's on now (and current films), and no classics.

 

[jayembee]

The problem with the retailers is not that they aren't carrying enough titles. It's that they aren't carrying enough titles in their brick'n'mortar stories. Best Buy, especially, would be perfectly happy with everyone buying products on-line, and their stores being appliance showplaces only.

 

[Robert Crawford]

The problem with the retailers is not that they aren't carrying enough titles. It's that they aren't carrying enough titles in their brick'n'mortar stories. Best Buy, especially, would be perfectly happy with everyone buying products on-line, and their stores being appliance showplaces only.

BB and Target for examples aren't carrying many titles on-line either. It didn't used to be that way.

 

[Robert Crawford]

You won't see any WA Blu-ray releases on Target's site. BB has been hit and miss.

 

[jayembee]

You won't see any WA Blu-ray releases on Target's site.

I'm not sure that I'd expect that. While I know that some major retailers do carry some boutique label releases (B&N with Criterion and Arrow, for example), I guess I just never expect them to carry them on-line, maybe because I'v rarely seen them in the stores, even back in the day. It's probably been 10 years since I've seen a Criterion title in a Best Buy, though I've occasionally seen a couple of Shout's 4K titles in my local BB (and the only Arrow I've seen there was the Donnie Darko 4K). Well, in the case of Shout, their Studio Ghibli releases do tend to be in the racks at BB (and probably others of their GKids line).

 

[Robert Crawford]

I'm not sure that I'd expect that. While I know that some major retailers do carry some boutique label releases (B&N with Criterion and Arrow, for example), I guess I just never expect them to carry them on-line, maybe because I'v rarely seen them in the stores, even back in the day. It's probably been 10 years since I've seen a Criterion title in a Best Buy, though I've occasionally seen a couple of Shout's 4K titles in my local BB (and the only Arrow I've seen there was the Donnie Darko 4K). Well, in the case of Shout, their Studio Ghibli releases do tend to be in the racks at BB (and probably others of their GKids line).

I used to buy a lot of WA titles online from Target. They don't carry them any longer and they don't carry any Shout titles. If they're not carrying titles online then there is no chance they're carrying them in-store on their shelves.