PHYSICAL MEDIA STILL 80% OF HOLLYWOOD REVENUE

[C.C. 95]

**[Note: The above headline is referring to Physical Media as 'Non-Digital' which, of course, is a misnomer...]**

Many an argument I have had with people who declare "Physical media is dead, man. I am all Digital now. Blu ray is a dinosaur." Well, my arguments against Cloud-based digital ownership run the gamut.
Firstly, I believe the digital push is Hollywood's end-run around the fact that they don't (and never have) liked us owning our own movies. They ran with the home video market when it started because Videotape was a (more or less) self destructing medium. You would own it until it fell apart and you had to buy it again. A consistent revenue stream. And Hollywood is short sighted when it comes to quick money. When DVD came along they pushed hard for DIVX DVD. If you don't remember, DIVX was a self-destructing DVD. You had a 48 hour viewing window and then *poof*, it was done. This was (again) a format with a built in self destruction window. (Which is why they pushed that).
Luckily- it didn't fly. DVD became the standard with its Ones and Zeros and so began ownership in digital format. Of course the studios put in safeguards against piracy (like the Macrovision system started with Videotape) but people soon figured out how to make perfect copies. But this was different than copying a VHS tape. There was no generation loss- it was all digital. Perfect copies. This was their biggest nightmare. But money is king, and they were raking it in despite the piracy. But now with digital downloads they have an attractive new way to effectively 'take back their movies' by trying to kill physical media.
"You don't have to worry about physical media cluttering up your space anymore", they say. "Buy from us, and store you movies in the cloud. It could not be easier."
-Except in this scenario, you no longer physically have that content. Your ownership of it is an illusion. They can decide (whenever they choose) that the cloud storage is gonna cost you a fee per month. This will happen. So then you end up paying a fee to view what you thought you already owned. In essence, now you are RENTING the movie. Which is exactly how it comes full circle. You are now, basically, renting from Blockbuster again.
Pay Per View.
I think it is very short sighted of them to not really understand 'why' people love their physical media. I mean, why doesn't everybody take the bus to work? Answer: beacuse people freakin' LOVE their cars. It means freedom, and independence. And people (like myself) freakin' love our physical media. I understand why LPs are having a resurgence. I grew up with them. And even though I was more of a Cassette and (later) CD guy, I did have a lot of LPs. And with LPs- the cover, the art, the vinyl...it was like an experience. A whole package. Just like with the Criterion Collection, Arrow, Twilight Time, and our Steelbook collections...
It is a 'whole package' experience. Not just the film.
Now we have the 'Out of Sight, Out of Mind' digital phenomena.
I have all my movies backed up on my computer. But I rarely look at those files. My physical discs I see everyday as I pass them, and am reminded 'oh, I need to watch that one'. Whereas on my computer, I'll go by the movie file and see something from 2 years ago I totally forgot was even there. These digital files basically get buried like the Ark in the warehouse in Raiders of the Lost Ark. And let's face it- I'm not gonna forget that I have a killer copy of Zero Dark Thirty from Plain Archive. But I did forget that I had a digital copy of 'Coherence' buried 5 folders deep on the F: Drive....Out of sight, out of mind.
Anyhoo...this current article from THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER yesterday, dropped some interesting facts about the state of entertainment media that I am sure will shock the folks who thought the Digital download revolution was all but a foregone conclusion, and won and done.
Not by a longshot. Read and enjoy- I have some steelbooks to go purchase!

LINK:http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/pwc-forecast-80-hollywood-revenue-799401

 

[natlee75]

You know, I'm VERY surprised that the US hasn't either! Considering most of the movies in steelbook form are US movies, I would of thought you guys would of been setting the standard!

Without trying to sound disrespectful, the US steelbook market is definetly lagging way behind the rest. However at least you guys get a title on your spine!!

Disrespect away, buddy! The U.S. Steelbook market is abysmal. We more often than not end up with half-assed Steelbooks that are obvious ploys to just dump movies that nobody's buying anymore.

The worst is when we get the Steelbooks that don't even have art on the inside. I can understand cutting that out for a $9.99 to $12.99 price point, but what I'm wondering is why they think they can only charge $9.99 to $12.99 for Steelbooks.

Companies like Film Arena, Kimchi, HDZeta, Blufans, Plain Archive, etc. have proven time and again that there's a very strong, albeit niche, market of film lovers who _will_ spend good money on quality Steelbook releases.

The physical disc seems to be going the way of the dodo in general, but there are plenty of us still willing to pay actual money for these kind of quality releases. We're going to be a niche market, but a niche market that should bring in decent revenue for any company willing to do this.

 

[C.C. 95]

Disrespect away, buddy! The U.S. Steelbook market is abysmal. We more often than not end up with half-assed Steelbooks that are obvious ploys to just dump movies that nobody's buying anymore.

The worst is when we get the Steelbooks that don't even have art on the inside. I can understand cutting that out for a $9.99 to $12.99 price point, but what I'm wondering is why they think they can only charge $9.99 to $12.99 for Steelbooks.

Companies like Film Arena, Kimchi, HDZeta, Blufans, Plain Archive, etc. have proven time and again that there's a very strong, albeit niche, market of film lovers who _will_ spend good money on quality Steelbook releases.

The physical disc seems to be going the way of the dodo in general, but there are plenty of us still willing to pay actual money for these kind of quality releases. We're going to be a niche market, but a niche market that should bring in decent revenue for any company willing to do this.

I agree that the U.S. needs to catch up with steelbooks. But physical media isn't going anywhere.
(Very contrary to what people say)
May I humbly direct you to this article:
https://www.hidefninja.com/community/threads/physical-media-still-80-of-hollywood-revenue.66311/

 

[blu-steel]

People will always want the physical disc.

 

[C.C. 95]

People will always want the physical disc.

The difference between owning Physical media and (quasi) owning something in the cloud=
Do you want to drive to work in the Corvette you own, or take efficient public light rail with eveyone else?

 

[natlee75]

I agree that the U.S. needs to catch up with steelbooks. But physical media isn't going anywhere.
(Very contrary to what people say)
May I humbly direct you to this article:
https://www.hidefninja.com/community/threads/physical-media-still-80-of-hollywood-revenue.66311/

I'd rather own physical media myself, but consumers are steadily shifting towards "digital" and away from physical media. The article you reference even supports that: it predicted that -- at least in the U.S. -- "digital" would outsell "physical" in 2015 and would even outpace box office in 2017 and pointed out that the worldwide numbers where the "80%" figure comes from mostly account for concerts and box office.

Insofar as that article is concerned, the ratio of Blu-rays, DVDs and CDs to their "digital" counterparts is dropping and now analysts are looking towards specific aspects of "digital" like streaming vs. download-to-own.

The only area where physical still seems to be a strong concern is video games: digital downloads are growing, but physical sales still dwarf them.

It's a shame, but it's not altogether surprising. Few consumers actually care about the utmost quality in video and especially in audio. Compressed streams are more than fine for the typical home consumer... they ain't gonna spend $40 for a shiny metal box and some art cards. LOL

 

[C.C. 95]

I'd rather own physical media myself, but consumers are steadily shifting towards "digital" and away from physical media. The article you reference even supports that: it predicted that -- at least in the U.S. -- "digital" would outsell "physical" in 2015 and would even outpace box office in 2017 and pointed out that the worldwide numbers where the "80%" figure comes from mostly account for concerts and box office.

Insofar as that article is concerned, the ratio of Blu-rays, DVDs and CDs to their "digital" counterparts is dropping and now analysts are looking towards specific aspects of "digital" like streaming vs. download-to-own.

The only area where physical still seems to be a strong concern is video games: digital downloads are growing, but physical sales still dwarf them.

It's a shame, but it's not altogether surprising. Few consumers actually care about the utmost quality in video and especially in audio. Compressed streams are more than fine for the typical home consumer... they ain't gonna spend $40 for a shiny metal box and some art cards. LOL

Digital is trending, but you find that customers are getting more and more concerned as their services are being 'throttled', and companies like Netflix and Amazon don't actually own enough bandwith to service their existing customers, let alone new ones on a global scale. Try watching a movie on Netflix and count how many times the signal drops from HD to SD. (A lot!)
Also the selection of films is largely a moving illusion- films come and go on Netflix and Amazon without rhyme or reason. At least 50% of the time, no steaming services will have the films I would like to see. And I'm sure this is true for a lot of people. These services are only offering up 'current' and 'popular' pictures. (Heck- the TV guide even has a section every month called 'WHAT IS LEAVING NETFLIX THIS MONTH' because they keep losing movies!)
Soon the icloud services will no longer be free, as well. Basically, the 'other shoe' will drop on the cost of streaming.
Bandwidth wars having been going on, and it costs money- and these streaming services will not continue to be cheap. Percentage of physical media Sales may decrease in the layman populus, but as I said, People love their cars more than riding the bus- and if you offer them a great product to own rather than rent- they will likely go that route. And certainly in the past Disney has rode that particular pony a long way! And now that Disney owns the known-universe(!) I don't think they want to part with that particular (huge) chunk of their financial pie that is the physical market... Jeez, I think kids who grew up in the 90's and 00's probably think 'Disney-DVD' is a different kind of DVD from normal DVDs! (Because they always called them that in their ads).
But, we are just spectators voting with our dollars- we will see how it shakes out...