Why Movies Are Not Exactly Like Music 378
Ars digs into the proposition that movies will go the way of the music business, and finds some reasons not to be totally gloomy about Hollywood's immediate future. For one thing, the movie biz managed to introduce a next-generation format to follow the DVD, a trick that eluded the music crowd (anyone remember DVD-Audio? SACD?). Blu-ray isn't making up the gap as DVD sales fall, but it is slowing the revenue decline. Perhaps the most important difference from the music business is that movies aren't amenable to "disaggregation" — unlike CDs, which people stopped buying once they could get the individual songs they really wanted. Ars concludes: "The movie business is facing many of the same challenges that are bedeviling music, but it's not about to go quietly into that good night — and it may not have to."
Disaggregation (Score:5, Funny)
Perhaps the most important difference from the music business is that movies aren't amenable to "disaggregation" -- unlike CDs, which people stopped buying once they could get the individual songs they really wanted.
I stopped watching movies a few years ago, now all I watch are the trailers. They are free, you get 80% of the story, and it is always the best parts too. What's not to love?
Re:Gloomy? (Score:4, Funny)
...if the big centralized studios vanished and we just had independent filmmakers left I don't think I'd shed any tears.
You say that now, but how are you going to feel when there are no big studios left to greenlight "Cheaper by the Dozen 3"?
Ecstatic?
go quietly into that good night (Score:2, Funny)
The movie business is facing many of the same challenges that are bedeviling music, but it's not about to go quietly into that good night
Music is going completely away? Wow. After several millenia of human musical composition I would have figured the art form had some staying power, but I guess it was a pretty good run after all. Though I must admit I was kind of looking forward to the idea of hearing new music in the future.
oh well
Well, shit... (Score:3, Funny)
Re:The most important sentence in the article: (Score:5, Funny)
>>>to hear Kevin Spacey say, "I killed him." under his breath
And I watch Kevin Spacey's other movie over-and-over just so I can see him disrobe the hot cheerleader. Ahhhhh 16-year-old perfection.
(mutters)
I'm going straight to hell
Re:DVD Sales Gap (Score:1, Funny)
If you download it for free from a source that wasn't authorized by the artist (IE: taking their hard work without payment and without permission) than you are a thief; it's that simple. If I did the same thing to General Motors they'd lock me up for grand theft auto.
If you downloaded a car for free I suspect you'd be showered with accolades, not arrested.
Re:WTF does NEED have to do with this? (Score:4, Funny)
Like getting used to the convenience of the automated ATM machine...