DVD and Blu-Ray Sales Nearly Halved Over Five Years, MPAA Report Says (arstechnica.com) 83
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica: In its annual Theatrical Home Entertainment Market Environment report, the Motion Picture Association of America described an immensely sharp drop-off of physical media sales over the past five years. According to the data, which was obtained from DEG and IHS Markit, global sales of video disc formats (which in this context means DVD, Blu-ray, and UltraHD Blu-ray) were $25.2 billion in 2014 but only $13.1 in 2018. That's a drop in the ballpark of 50 percent.
Don't expect 8K Blu-rays or other emerging quality-focused formats to turn the tide, either. Market data published by Forbes showed that the aging, low-definition DVD format still accounts for 57.9 percent of physical media sales, and 4K Blu-rays are only 5.3 percent. With drops that sharp, you'd expect apocalyptic financials for companies making and distributing movies. However, while there are certainly losers in this trend, the overall industry actually grew over the same period. Home entertainment spending grew 16 percent in 2018 thanks to surges in consumer spending on digital video services from players like Netflix, Amazon, and Hulu. The report says that subscriptions to online streaming services grew 27 percent globally to 613.3 million in 2018, surpassing cable subscriptions (at 556 million) for the first time ever. "However, cable still drives more overall revenue than streaming -- it was the highest revenue platform in 2018, with $118 billion globally," Ars notes.
Don't expect 8K Blu-rays or other emerging quality-focused formats to turn the tide, either. Market data published by Forbes showed that the aging, low-definition DVD format still accounts for 57.9 percent of physical media sales, and 4K Blu-rays are only 5.3 percent. With drops that sharp, you'd expect apocalyptic financials for companies making and distributing movies. However, while there are certainly losers in this trend, the overall industry actually grew over the same period. Home entertainment spending grew 16 percent in 2018 thanks to surges in consumer spending on digital video services from players like Netflix, Amazon, and Hulu. The report says that subscriptions to online streaming services grew 27 percent globally to 613.3 million in 2018, surpassing cable subscriptions (at 556 million) for the first time ever. "However, cable still drives more overall revenue than streaming -- it was the highest revenue platform in 2018, with $118 billion globally," Ars notes.
Well that's not so shocking (Score:5, Interesting)
How are you going to sell as much physical media when physical retail stores keep closing, and Amazon keeps trying to push customers to do streaming?
fp?
So where is holographic storage? (Score:2)
You know, the supposedly next big thing in "inexpensive" write-once storage.
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>"How are you going to sell as much physical media when physical retail stores keep closing, and Amazon keeps trying to push customers to do streaming?"
And when discs are barely offered. And when prices are still too high. And in my case, when I want at least 3D for those movies which were and are still not offered. Jacking up prices by offering 4K discs, which nobody really needs or wants, didn't help either. And make sure to frustrate customers who BUY YOUR STUFF with irritating "previews" and unsk
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Why buy new? I buy used copies. They only need to work once for me to successfully rip them. After that, the disc goes on a shelf and we watch the ripped copy from Plex.
Everyone buys LPs here (Score:5, Funny)
DVDs and CDs are so last decade.
Everyone around here buys LPs, except those who realize tape is even better.
No, I'm not joking.
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Never liked tape. A pop here and there is infinitely preferable to that hiss. (And yes, I'm one of those.)
The CD and the Damage Done (Score:1)
THE CD AND THE DAMAGE DONE an editorial by Neil Young (c. 1992) [harpers.org]
I'm a huge Neil Young fan, but sometimes he has some ...interesting ideas.
(emphasis blow is mine)
We're living in the darkest age of musical
sound. When they started capturing music on
records a long time ago-on 78's--the sound was
pretty shaky.Then it got a little better, and from
that point on, right up to the beginning of digital recording,
everything that was done was better than the digital recordings
that are being made today. Digital is completely wrong. It's a farce.
They've improved digital technology to the
point where you can at least say,"Hey, that's music."
But your brain and your heart are starved for
a challenge, and there's no challenge, there are
no possibilities, there's no imagination. You're
hearing simulated music. Your brain is capable of
taking in an incredible amount of information,
and the beauty of music should be like water
washing over you. But digitally recorded music is
like ice cubes washing over you. It's not the same.
My album Everyone Knows This Is Nowhere is
now available on CD, but it's not as good as the
original, which came out in 1969. Listening to
a CD islike looking through a screen window If
you get right up next to a screen window, you can
see all kinds of different colors through each
hole. Well, imagine if all that color had to be
reduced to only one color per hole-that's what
digital recording does to sound. All that gets
recorded is what's dominant at each moment. I
would like to hear guitars again, with the warmth,
the highs, the lows, the air, the electricity, the
vibrancy of something that's real, instead of just
a duplication of the dominant factors. It's an insult
to the brain and heart and feelings to have
to listen to this and think it's music.
There's a certain emptiness in the air these
days.Youthink that it might be today'smusic, because
it just isn't as heartfelt as yesterday's.
Everybody says, "Well, business came in and took
over, and they ruined music," but that's just an
excuse. The real reason istechnical. It's not that
people don't have souls anymore. All these bands
have got huge souls and can't wait to play; they
just can't figure out why their albums don't sound
as good as some of the things they used to hear.
I've been making records for twenty-six years,
and I'm telling you: from the early 1980s up till
now, and probably for another ten or fifteen
years to come-this is the darkest time ever for
recorded music. We'll come out the other end
and it'll be okay, but we'll look back and go,
"Wow, that was the digital age. I wonder what
that music really sounded like. We got so carried
away that we never even really recorded it. We
just made digital records of it." That's what people will say-mark my words.
And then he started selling Ponos. I'm not a big enough of a Neil Young fan to buy one though.
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Young's entire argument applies at noticeably low resolutions. There is always a digital resolution at which any given expert will find a digital recording indistinguishable from a clean analog, assuming that such an analog recording exists.
Re:The CD and the Damage Done (Score:4, Insightful)
Young's entire argument applies at noticeably low resolutions. There is always a digital resolution at which any given expert will find a digital recording indistinguishable from a clean analog, assuming that such an analog recording exists.
For playback, CD is enough for any human ear.
There's a half-argument for going to 48kHz because it allows for a more gradual rolloff in the reconstruction filter, and I wouldn't argue against it, but all this 192kHz/24bit stuff being thrown around by "golden ears" is rubbish. 16 bits and 44/48kHz is more then enough for playback.
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What a load of pretentious crap.
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Wow. That is probably one of the most complex and ignorant things I've ever read on the subject.
Re: Everyone buys LPs here (Score:1)
Personally I love DVDs, if I can't buy a download without DRM then I'll buy the DVD. If I can't do either then I'll pirate it.
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DVDs and CDs are so last decade.
Everyone around here buys LPs, except those who realize tape is even better.
If only someone could figure out a way to get movies onto a tape of some kind. They could call it a video cassette. Or something.
Re:Yeah (Score:4, Funny)
Pretty sure sales of Betamax, VHS, and Laserdisc movies are down too... what's your point?
I know, right? And don't get me started on how hard it is to find good phonograph cylinders [wikipedia.org] anymore.
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Wish I had mod points
comments like this keeps me coming here
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You only get mod points when nobody has anything worth modding or they've already been modded appropriately or you want to join in on the discussion.
Or you take a few days off and they just expire.
That's not really true, but sometimes it feels like it.
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Wish I had mod points, too. Not to mod this up or anything. I just wish I had mod points.
Generation Smartphone with impaired eye-sight? (Score:5, Insightful)
I can only speculate that when you grow up watching stuff mostly on tiny smartphone displays, you are prone to impaired eye-sight. At my biblical age, I can still see within seconds whether a UHD BluRay conveys a true 4k image or is just a cheap 2k upscale. But many of my younger colleagues seem to not notice any difference, even when I point out the most obvious areas on a paused still image. And even less are they able to see how compression artifacts differ from ordinary motion-blur in high-motion scenes.
Therefore I expect the downward-spiral of readily available digital video quality will continue, with ever decreasing bandwidths and ever more aggressively "lossy" video codecs replacing actual image details with guesswork.
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What I find most disturbing about the trend is how the younger generation seems to have lost the ability to discern the abysmal video quality of streaming services from the usually way better video quality from physical media.
Ya, but they're watching things on their phones, tables, laptops, etc... and not 40" - 60" HDTVs so they probably don't even notice how crappy the experience is.
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I have a projector that is currently throwing a roughly 85" diagonal image. When I hold up my phone about a foot away it completely blocks the screen and has roughly the same number of pixels.
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The annoying thing with streaming is that the quality varies depending on available bandwidth, and the available bandwidth fluctuates often especially on consumer connections...
I'd rather download the whole movie at a decent quality, and then watch it, or watch it offline when i'm without connectivity (eg while flying).
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No, the annoying thing with streaming is you're renting your "owned" copy. At any time the copy can disappear off the streaming site (and it's happened many times).
Short of outright theft, Di
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https://xkcd.com/1683/ [xkcd.com]
These people hold their phone vertically while panning their child riding a bike. The septembers don't wander from the sign-laden, fenced-in areas of the internet, but the decays wrought (mostly by industries preying on them) by them have.
This includes audio, any media, any $aaS. And while I hate how it's affected systems, it's hard for me to blame an industry for just making the most lucrative moves. You might say that music has become shitty, has become all image, formulaic, etc etc,
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What I find most disturbing about the trend is how the younger generation seems to have lost the ability to discern the abysmal video quality of streaming services from the usually way better video quality from physical media.
I can only speculate that when you grow up watching stuff mostly on tiny smartphone displays, you are prone to impaired eye-sight. At my biblical age, I can still see within seconds whether a UHD BluRay conveys a true 4k image or is just a cheap 2k upscale. But many of my younger colleagues seem to not notice any difference, even when I point out the most obvious areas on a paused still image. And even less are they able to see how compression artifacts differ from ordinary motion-blur in high-motion scenes.
Therefore I expect the downward-spiral of readily available digital video quality will continue, with ever decreasing bandwidths and ever more aggressively "lossy" video codecs replacing actual image details with guesswork.
I had my CRT TV well into the time of LCD displays, just bought a 4k tv a year ago or so because the costs have come down. Honestly I still don't care about BluRay as a crappy show in UHD is still a crappy show and few good shows in standard definition lose much of what makes them a good show. Though I will admit a few documentaries or movies in UHD are fricken gorgeous compared to standard def.
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Like when TV stations advertise that they have the News in "high-def" -- it's the freaking news people.
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>"Though I will admit a few documentaries or movies in UHD are fricken gorgeous compared to standard def."
If by "standard def" you mean (480I/P), sure. I totally agree. But almost nobody at normal 10' viewing distance from a 70" 4K TV upscaling from *quality* 1080P can tell any difference between that and actual 4K (UHD) source material. And by almost nobody, I mean way less than 1%.... and even then, it is probably only due to HDR, not resolution.
4K Bluray is mostly a marketing scheme without utility
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>"Though I will admit a few documentaries or movies in UHD are fricken gorgeous compared to standard def."
If by "standard def" you mean (480I/P), sure. I totally agree. But almost nobody at normal 10' viewing distance from a 70" 4K TV upscaling from *quality* 1080P can tell any difference between that and actual 4K (UHD) source material. And by almost nobody, I mean way less than 1%.... and even then, it is probably only due to HDR, not resolution.
4K Bluray is mostly a marketing scheme without utility... already being rejected by the market mostly because the discs are not backwards compatible and cost more. Also rejected was 3D, although that actually adds something useful and interesting, especially when shot well. And THOSE discs ARE backwards compatible (can be played on any Bluray player through any TV in 2D). Plus, it is still the ONLY way to get quality 3D content.
Yeah, talking 480 vs UHD. I think the video looks smoother between 1080P and UHD, but it could all be in my head.
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Most people who arent videophiles get used to whatever they are watching within a few minutes.
The content is what matters most, for most people, and a way to relax. Heck how many people watch straight up cams, or did, back before web rips and the rapid release cycle made me never have to wait more than 6 months for any sort of show o
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And how much of that upgrade is due to 1080p vs 720p, and how much is due to the projector being newer and having a fresh bulb etc not to mention confirmation bias?
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What I find most disturbing about the trend is how the younger generation seems to have lost the ability to discern the abysmal video quality of streaming services from the usually way better video quality from physical media.
Oh the huge manatee!
It's not the youth, it's more or less everybody. They either can't tell, don't notice or don't care and it simply doesn't bother them. There's no reason they should care either.
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I just don't think it matters for most content. For every somber, low-contrast film like Aliens there's ten garish, high-contract flicks like Legally Blonde. Video quality only really matters when there's a lot of detail, or a lot of shades of black (perhaps from blackish, to none more black.) And unless you're in an ideal situation, you might not be able to see the difference either; it might be less significant than dust or reflections on the display. The same is true of audio quality, too. There are cert
mind candy vs. eye candy (Score:2)
I can still tell the difference, but I simply don't care. An idiot behind a ludicrously expensive camera is still just an idiot behind a camera. I can almost always tell if there's an idiot behind the camera within five minutes, regardless of video format.
More generally, camera = script + casting director + DP + director + editor, these being the core of the essential creative team (
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You're followed by a post saying overall sales are up.
And yet you're right. They'll still say it. If not to get their way lobbying, as the familiar pacifier put into the faces of The Holy Shareholders. Sorry I didn't bring you more free money, sirs. I would have, if it wasn't for those meddling pirates.
Missing major points (Score:5, Informative)
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Yep, I bet they are not including USED, SECONDHAND and GARAGE sales.
Some used outlets are thinking about not stocking DVD's and CD's - even the used shops are doing it tough. My motto is never buy retail.
Well, I am buying up big on those low def DVD's Streaming quality is shit, my internet speed it shit, and I am 100% intolerant of commercials and plugs - so streaming has a way to catch up. The day when streaming companies say, well -you did not use it enough that month, just pay us one dollar, .5 * $10 is
Because all the Blockbusters have closed (Score:2)
You have to wonder (Score:3)
what percentage of those sales are to Netflix and RedBox video rentals.
They have no way of tracking sales of "used" Blu-rays and DVDs, which are both pretty healthy, but the MPAA can';t profit off those sales (yet)
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>"what percentage of those sales are to Netflix and RedBox video rentals."
Apparently not enough because I have a dozen titles in my Netflix bluray queue that Netflix refuses to replace or the industry refuses to sell to Netflex. I watched 2 of a 3 disc series and the 3rd disc was damaged in shipping and I have now been waiting 2 *YEARS* for Netflix to get at least a SINGLE disc for the entire COUNTRY. And this was a major blockbuster, not something obscure.
The MPAA can't see the forest (Score:3)
for the trees apparently.
My guess is this is due to the fact that their executive levels are all staffed with older generations who grew up under different rules.
Time to hire some new blood if, for nothing else, to learn what needs to be modified with their business model.
Here's a tip:
The " new " generations doesn't want to be bogged down with physical stuff. They want the content available to them, on demand and a la carte, with an infinite choice of platforms to experience said content. ( Phones, Tablets, PCs, Consoles, etc )
They don't want to have to buy*:
( * Multiple times every time the format changes. See Betamax -> VHS -> Laserdisc -> DvD -> Blu Ray -> 4K -> Streaming -> ? )
1) An industry approved Smart Tv.
2) An industry approved content player.
3) An industry approved audio system.
4) A dozen different subscription services because exclusive content can only be found on Service X or Y.
Your physical media sales are down because the new generation is learning that, most of the time, steaming is " good enough ".
It doesn't compete with the likes of BluRay or 4K ( streaming video compression sucks and I have yet to see any stream with 7.1 DTS / ATMOS ) but " good enough " is where most of your sales are going to be.
If you don't do something about the exclusive content being locked into Service X, you're going to start seeing your streaming services die off as well and get replaced with the always reliable Yarr Matey versions.
The sooner you figure out that non-exclusive streaming is where things are going, the better the odds your business will survive to see the next evolution.
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Most people don't have the hardware to take advantage of higher quality video and audio anyway... Even a lot of people who buy a large tv set tend to use the built in speakers instead of having a decent sound setup.
Although that brings an annoyance, hdmi being a single cable instead of separate channels for audio and video forces you to upgrade your audio receiver at the same time as your tv set.
I have never held a blu-ray in hands (Score:2)
but am watching high-def videos daily. I've never had a blu-ray disk player either. Had dome DVDs and a player but haven't been using them for the past few years. Who ever buys this physical garbage any more when everything is available over the net?..
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There's advantages and disadvantages to both.
Sure, services like Netflix have tons of choice, but they rotate their selection. Or movies get pulled to be put on a competing service (IE: Disney+). Heck, even some movies that people bought the viewing rights to on iTunes were pulled, so you could no longer watch the movie that you paid for. There's also the odd time that the internet might go down. With physical media, you never have to worry about where to watch it, what service to register to or if it will
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Netflix and other streaming services aren't available in many countries. Search engines, torrents and large hard drives are. They are not subject to the limitations you list.
Streaming is not the product (Score:2)
Bad news bears for us that still want a digital product, but not in streaming form.
>bad for network infrastructure(creating a peak hour)
>bad for picking winners and losers(subscription models reward all)
>bad for quality(reducing bitrate reduces bandwidth costs)
>bad for accessibility(they locked 4k behind certain intel cpus and windows 10 edge browser)
>bad for portability(no internet, you're fucked)
>bad for editing and making the dankest memes(no file)
All I want is a steam like platform on