After Monty Python Goes YouTube, Big Jump In DVD Sales 281
An anonymous reader writes "Apparently it with the release of all of Monty Python's material on YouTube, their sales have blown through the roof on Amazon.com. It is too bad there isn't any proper news article about this, but I think it bodes well for those who champion free content. More importantly, it forces the MPAA's feet into their mouths." Not every performer (or group of performers) has the decades-strong appeal of Monty Python, but this is a great thing to see. The linked article claims that the sales increase in the Python DVDs is 23,000 percent; there are probably some other ways to figure the numbers, but a big increase is easy to see.
Not to be a naysayer.... (Score:5, Informative)
... but couldn't at least some of that increase be from the fact that they had a big honkin' 21-disc box set released not so long ago? Sure it was just repackaging material already out on DVD (it's just the same discs from the old 16 disc box set along with the 5 single-disc "Personal Best" compilations thrown in), but it did get them a "new" release that people might stumble upon in reviews or on a new release chart.
Re:Degraded Quality (Score:3, Informative)
I know you're joking, but, Life of Brian is on Blu-Ray and it looks really good at 1080p. It works as a joke for them that the TV show and their films were made cheaply and with low quality film stock, but realistically they don't look *that* much worse than most other films from the period.
That said, I've seen Life of Brian and Holy Grail in theaters projected on film, and you don't gain much from the experience (in fact it's almost worse, because literally everyone in the theater says every line out loud along with the film...) The great thing about the less than great quality is that not much is lost in the transition from big-screen to TV.
Try before you buy and poor video quality (Score:5, Informative)
A sample can create new customers. iTunes does it, Proctor & Gamble does it, the Python Group Ltd./Inc./IP Holdings appears to have done it quite nicely: let the consumer get a clue about what they're buying. Just don't give your product away.
Youtube presents me with a tiny window of video (or a big blotchy one) which is not as good as what I get on a DVD. If I really want to SEE the content, I'll buy it in a better format.
Hopefully, this will knock some sense into the big production companies.
Re:Blog Rumor? (Score:1, Informative)
http://www.youtube.com/blog?entry=n-q9Enl2O2Y
"The YouTube Team" surely has some credibility
Re:Blog Rumor? (Score:3, Informative)
I just looked at Amazons' bestseller lists [amazon.com], and I can't find any Monty Python stuff anywhere.
Maybe I am looking in the wrong place, or maybe it has already dropped out of the list. But...
Anyway, I found the original youtube blog post with the mentioned 23 000 percent figure [youtube.com].
And an official YouTube blog may not be the most unbiased source of data regarding the efficiency of their "eCommerce platform".
Not that they don't deserve the success.
Re:Flawed theory (Score:1, Informative)
Replying to undo accidental mis-moderation (Was going for "Funny", hit "Overrated" instead).
Re:Flawed theory (Score:2, Informative)
Re:Flawed theory (Score:1, Informative)
TFA is a FAKE! (Score:5, Informative)
refers to http://mashable.com/2009/01/22/youtube-boost-sales/ [mashable.com]
which allegedly refers to a mashable news from 01/21/2009, but the linked site http://mashable.com/2009/01/21/youtube-click-to-buy-overlay-ads/ [mashable.com]
has NOTHING to do with amazons bestseller lists AND there was no mashable news on 01/21/2009 about amazon at all. see http://mashable.com/page/2/ [mashable.com] and http://mashable.com/page/3/ [mashable.com]
moreover none of amazons "Movies & TV" bestseller lists http://www.amazon.com/gp/bestsellers/dvd/ref=pd_ts_d_ldr_dvd/183-1981496-3747918 [amazon.com] or sublists (links on the left side) has a monty python title (if it was no. 2 on 01/21/2009, like the first mashable "news" claims, then i don't think it would have been out so fast)
also the "news" doesn't mention, WHICH title was no. 2 in the bestseller list, but I think amazon's search-results are sorted by Sales Rank and the highest one in the search-results for "monty python" is http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0009XRZ92 [amazon.com] on rank 755 in Movies & TV.
i think, the whole article is just made up.
Re:Flawed theory (Score:3, Informative)
Re:I viewed the show for fist time in youtube! (Score:3, Informative)
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I apologize to you and everyone I might have made uncomfortable with what I wrote, it's just that I am a bit worried about what is happening there. I never meant to insult your country, and I wish