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The End of Physical Media?

General

With my self published book, I understand the cost benefits of digital over physical copies. I kept my price low for the book so that it was affordable. I get about 67 cents for each physical copy. Even with the price a dollar less, I get over twice that amount for digital. Is it a wonder why companies are starting to scale back their physical media for profit. So this scaling back keeps the physical costs high.

I recently learned this lesson when I started looking for a music soundtrack. Turns out the company never made a physical copy. In fact, they have only released the music to streaming services (I will talk about that later). So I was unable to get the soundtrack. But this made me start to do some research.

I was in Best Buy recently with my daughter and her husband. This was a good size store unlike the one in my town. I was surprised to find no movie section and at the time, I didn't notice an audio CD section either. Records are apparently the new craze so everyone has a small section of them. Doing some more research, it appears Best Buy has decided to stop selling physical music back in July 2018 and I didn't even notice but now they have stopped selling physical movies as of early 2024.

While I am a fan of digital copies, I do collect some physical copies. One that I am still looking to get is The Flash Season 9 (final season) on Blu-ray. Unlike the past eight seasons, this season does not include a digital copy. I find this out long after they had the digital copy on sale for $15 and it has never been on sale again since. The physical copy has gotten as low as $18 but is now backup to $25 and does not show any signs of coming down again. In fact, it appears to be looking to go higher. Soon, it may be cheaper for me to buy the complete series with digital copy than to purchase the final season in both formats.

Streaming Services

We have seen specifically Disney keeping content only on its streaming platform for videos and now to find out some of their soundtracks are also limited to streaming platforms. Companies are going to a more rent monthly rather than pay once to own approach. Granted Disney did recently release several of their Disney+ shows to physical format in the fall of 2023. I am hoping this trend continues as I believe many fans (while enjoying the streaming option) would eventually like to own the shows (and music) they have discovered on the streaming platforms. 

I am one who would prefer to own my content which is why I very much like to own my digital content and prefer it to be part of the Movies Anywhere process where I can watch it on a variety of platforms. I have most of my content in Fandango At Home (formerly known as Vudu). I have noticed some quality issue since the acquisition lower a bit. I will continue to use Fandango At Home as my primary digital locker. I just hope studios like Paramount join Movies Anywhere someday soon in case the quality deteriorates further.

Even if Paramount does join, I am still left with several digital TV series that could be lost if Fandango At Home ever goes away. There are also several smaller movie studios that are not part of Movies Anywhere that I would lose if this occurs. This is where I do keep physical copies of some treasured shows like The Flash and some movies franchises like Star Wars, Star Trek, Harry Potter, and Lord of the Rings.

Going Forward

This is why I am concerned about this new trend by retailers no longer selling physical copies. Some might argue that they have streaming services so they don't have to be concerned about loosing content but they would be wrong. Netflix is the first that I discovered that will rotate out content. Occasionally, they will bring the content back but that is not a guarantee they will. In 2023, we even saw Disney, who owns their content, drop shows like Willow and movies like Artemis Fowl so I say there are no guarantees with streaming services keeping content forever.

Many feel safe purchasing physical copies. Something I learned recently that questions physical copies is called Disc Rot. This is apparently a thing especially with one specific studio who would occasionally put their DVDs in cardboard disc holders. You can look Disc Rot up on YouTube and find some interesting videos about movies sealed for years being unreadable due to Disc Rot. These DVDs worked fine when new but do to unknow factors, the disc will turn cloudy and be unreadable. 

This does not include issues with discs being damaged by other means. I have had DVDs shatter or become damage by environment elements like extreme temperatures. So what is the solution. I love physical media that includes digital content. I understand that studios can make more with digital than they can with physical media. There may be nothing we can do going forward. Studios may continue to put out less physical media and they may force us to a streaming service to watch content. The future is uncertain going forward. This is just a message to let you know change is already occurring whether you are aware of it or not. Hopefully, you will be prepared for what is to come.

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