Besides the psychological pleasures of ownership I think there are some films worth buying for practical reasons...they may be retroactively edited by new corporate owners to align with modern shibboleths, or they may disappear and be hard to find later, or only be available with ads on janky streaming services. I buy Peter Greenaway films for that reason. Always interesting to me too that the director’s commentary, always touted as a benefit of DVDs, died quietly in the age of streaming. Seems not too many folk want those extra features.
...I haven't watched many commentary tracks, and I'm not sure I've ever watched any of them all the way through, even if a director I really admire is talking about his film. I like to know they are there, however, and they also provide an additional line of justification when explaining your collection to skeptical spouses: "But streaming services don't provide me with all of these highly valuable bonus features, my beloved."
I'm a sucker for a good extra. Commentary tracks are hit & miss, tho' the Tropic Thunder one is a joy, and I have Spinal Tap waiting for my viewing pleasure. Charity shops and eBay mean I can't remember the last time I paid more than £2 for a film I'll watch multiple times, without risking someone deciding to delist it.
I'm right there with you. It feels great. I've been buying used CDs and Blu-rays of music and movies I love so I can OWN them again. Nostalgic. Both Blu-rays and CDs also provide really great quality. And some movies and music ARE disappearing from streaming services. It feels great to own the physical items. It's fun to look at the cases.
If I cannot hold it in my hand, or worse, Amazon or some other retailer can modify or just disappear whatever I “own” from whatever digital storage I have, which has happened to others, do I actually have but a long term rental? Even more, do I have any privacy if I need to rent it? Public libraries in theory protect your record, but corporations do not as well. Finally, physical media is harder to disrupt or lose. After all, I have books more than a century old that merely need sunshine to read and music and movies that will exist long after I’m dead.
I'm with you except for the DVD part. Blu-ray and 4K UHD all the way. I've been steadily replacing my DVD collection with Blu-rays and 4Ks because DVDs practically look like VHS on modern TVs. I only keep a DVD if there's no Blu-ray or 4K version available.
Right on! I've been using DVD as a catch-all for DVD, Blu-ray, and 4k UHD—most readers will not be in-the-weeds with the various formats. Don't worry, I'm buying the best quality 🙌
I was thinking about getting that one. So far I have Citizen Kane, Dazed and Confused, Blue Velvet, Boyhood, Minding the Gap, Do the Right Thing, Trainspotting, Worst Person in the World, Parasite, and Sound of Metal
I surely had no sympathy only a few decades ago for the “music industry” which boldly abandoned the vinyl format to embrace CDs overnight ; likewise one can be wholly disgusted of movie corporate world now declaring DVDs dead. It all sounds too much like WEF speak: “You will own nothing and be happy.”
I’d be very curious to compare DVDs to vinyl indexed at their peak. Vinyl is higher quality than streaming and is also making a comeback. DVDs do not have that quality factor, only nostalgia.
My best guess is vinyl will be a more popular than DVDs. Vinyls take up less space, have greater quality, and are more aesthetically please. Some DVD casing is quite unattractive.
I had conversation with my vinyl-collecting audiophile friend the other day who said the opposite - streaming is better quality than vinyl but he just prefers vinyl. Meanwhile a 4k Blu-ray is higher quality than pretty much any streaming service can provide, unfortunately, most people don't have a fancy enough setup that it makes any difference.
Daniel - I worked in the Home Video (Entertainment) space for 25+ years. I am also a collector of CDs - vinyl. In the past I've donated 1000's of DVDs to libraries. Im down to my last 1,000 and debating on selling / donating. I'm selling Blur-Rays just yet. Thanks for the article.
I am so glad I stumbled upon this article while doing my research for my new physical media distribution company. I am a micro budget filmmaker and I just got my films out of vod contracts that turned to nothing. Now I am looking to partner and sell physical copies of other filmmakers work so they can have a life away from the internet. Physical media isn’t dead, and I’m excited for people to find new art because of it. Great article!
The movies I want to watch I can't find streaming now, let alone being concerned about them disappearing in the future. That means buying physical media and a region free player, or sometimes downloading an electronic copy. Streaming is about convenience and the convenience of watching what is available at a any given moment. The average viewer prioritizes that convenience. If your interests lie outside regular viewing habits streaming really offers inadequate choices. It is interesting how many people are getting into collecting movies these day, along with all the interesting content being released. It definitely seems to be on the rise. My first criterion was a laser disc, so I've been at it awhile.
It was effectively a competition amongst business models, as opposed to multiple large-scale competitors with the same business model. All for the privilege of delivering content. Fun times.
Besides the psychological pleasures of ownership I think there are some films worth buying for practical reasons...they may be retroactively edited by new corporate owners to align with modern shibboleths, or they may disappear and be hard to find later, or only be available with ads on janky streaming services. I buy Peter Greenaway films for that reason. Always interesting to me too that the director’s commentary, always touted as a benefit of DVDs, died quietly in the age of streaming. Seems not too many folk want those extra features.
I haven't watched an extra feature on one of my DVDs, but I'm excited to give it a try.
...I haven't watched many commentary tracks, and I'm not sure I've ever watched any of them all the way through, even if a director I really admire is talking about his film. I like to know they are there, however, and they also provide an additional line of justification when explaining your collection to skeptical spouses: "But streaming services don't provide me with all of these highly valuable bonus features, my beloved."
I'm a sucker for a good extra. Commentary tracks are hit & miss, tho' the Tropic Thunder one is a joy, and I have Spinal Tap waiting for my viewing pleasure. Charity shops and eBay mean I can't remember the last time I paid more than £2 for a film I'll watch multiple times, without risking someone deciding to delist it.
I'm right there with you. It feels great. I've been buying used CDs and Blu-rays of music and movies I love so I can OWN them again. Nostalgic. Both Blu-rays and CDs also provide really great quality. And some movies and music ARE disappearing from streaming services. It feels great to own the physical items. It's fun to look at the cases.
Yeah, it just feels good to own the thing. I want the DVD, the case, and the artwork, so I buy them—plan and simple.
If I cannot hold it in my hand, or worse, Amazon or some other retailer can modify or just disappear whatever I “own” from whatever digital storage I have, which has happened to others, do I actually have but a long term rental? Even more, do I have any privacy if I need to rent it? Public libraries in theory protect your record, but corporations do not as well. Finally, physical media is harder to disrupt or lose. After all, I have books more than a century old that merely need sunshine to read and music and movies that will exist long after I’m dead.
All true. Though I have concerns that they may stop producing DVD players one day.
I'm with you except for the DVD part. Blu-ray and 4K UHD all the way. I've been steadily replacing my DVD collection with Blu-rays and 4Ks because DVDs practically look like VHS on modern TVs. I only keep a DVD if there's no Blu-ray or 4K version available.
Right on! I've been using DVD as a catch-all for DVD, Blu-ray, and 4k UHD—most readers will not be in-the-weeds with the various formats. Don't worry, I'm buying the best quality 🙌
I still buy DVDs of my favorite, especially those with extra goodies, like the ones from Criterion Classics
I've bought a bunch of Criterion releases. I love the extra effort they put into the casing. What titles have you bought @sherman?
Most recently: The Last Picture Show.
I was thinking about getting that one. So far I have Citizen Kane, Dazed and Confused, Blue Velvet, Boyhood, Minding the Gap, Do the Right Thing, Trainspotting, Worst Person in the World, Parasite, and Sound of Metal
I surely had no sympathy only a few decades ago for the “music industry” which boldly abandoned the vinyl format to embrace CDs overnight ; likewise one can be wholly disgusted of movie corporate world now declaring DVDs dead. It all sounds too much like WEF speak: “You will own nothing and be happy.”
We definitely lose something in return for greater convenience.
I’d be very curious to compare DVDs to vinyl indexed at their peak. Vinyl is higher quality than streaming and is also making a comeback. DVDs do not have that quality factor, only nostalgia.
My best guess is vinyl will be a more popular than DVDs. Vinyls take up less space, have greater quality, and are more aesthetically please. Some DVD casing is quite unattractive.
I had conversation with my vinyl-collecting audiophile friend the other day who said the opposite - streaming is better quality than vinyl but he just prefers vinyl. Meanwhile a 4k Blu-ray is higher quality than pretty much any streaming service can provide, unfortunately, most people don't have a fancy enough setup that it makes any difference.
Yeah. Sometimes it just boils down to "I want the thing."
Your article are so well written. The data analysis is sot on and you manage to hook us with your words!
Well done!
Thanks so much 😀 I'd appreciate if you could recommend Stat Significant to others. Trying to spread the word and grow 😎
The extras on The Lord of the Rings trilogy are EPIC! Also some movies and shows stream with weird music replacements because their license expired.
Daniel - I worked in the Home Video (Entertainment) space for 25+ years. I am also a collector of CDs - vinyl. In the past I've donated 1000's of DVDs to libraries. Im down to my last 1,000 and debating on selling / donating. I'm selling Blur-Rays just yet. Thanks for the article.
I am so glad I stumbled upon this article while doing my research for my new physical media distribution company. I am a micro budget filmmaker and I just got my films out of vod contracts that turned to nothing. Now I am looking to partner and sell physical copies of other filmmakers work so they can have a life away from the internet. Physical media isn’t dead, and I’m excited for people to find new art because of it. Great article!
The movies I want to watch I can't find streaming now, let alone being concerned about them disappearing in the future. That means buying physical media and a region free player, or sometimes downloading an electronic copy. Streaming is about convenience and the convenience of watching what is available at a any given moment. The average viewer prioritizes that convenience. If your interests lie outside regular viewing habits streaming really offers inadequate choices. It is interesting how many people are getting into collecting movies these day, along with all the interesting content being released. It definitely seems to be on the rise. My first criterion was a laser disc, so I've been at it awhile.
It always amazed me there was never any real competition for Netflix's DVD-by-mail business, which makes it a great example of a natural monopoly:
https://www.mondayeconomist.com/p/netflix-natural-monopoly
I never thought about it, but that's so true. I guess there were pretty much three main competitors: Netflix vs. Blockbuster vs. local shops.
Redbox was really popular as well, but no one really tried to compete with Netflix through the mail.
It was effectively a competition amongst business models, as opposed to multiple large-scale competitors with the same business model. All for the privilege of delivering content. Fun times.