Yes, it sure does, and most of the people saying it have no clue what the original context is. They're using it to represent "the other" who they hate and who they think is trying to destroy their way of life. (Which I suppose in some ways is true)
The thing is, it's not restricted to movies. Corporations are all shifting towards models of non-ownership. Music, video games, car leases, subscription services, companies buying up single family homes that's making home ownership harder for average people. It's far more profitable to rent you something in perpetuity than sell it to you once.
@@CerealAtMidnight But this "other" is trying to destroy our way of life. It's in the very source of the vision from WEF itself. They are promoting a future where you don't own a house, a car or any other large physical entity. They are combining this with a Neo-Fascist / Neo-Marxist society with no privacy, and no individual agency. This is "the other", this is the vision of the socialists and the ultra-rich globalists. What we are seeing is a rebirth of the fascism of the 30s and 40s (that looks very much like the national socialism of Germany) combined with the Marxism of the Soviet Union. It's not wrong to identify these people, they exist, and they are very busy trying to take away what we have.
@@martianwoodpeckerThat last sentence says it all. That's exactly their logic with media. I might not have known where the phrase comes from originally, but the point the phrase is used to make still stands.
They ultimately want to charge the customer EVERY time they watch a movie. They hate the fact you can buy a physical copy and watch it dozens or even hundreds of times for a one-off cost. The music industry is the same. They can only do this if physical media doesn't exist.
Owning a physical copy of a film is pointless as you get bored watching one film after another dozen times . There’s far too much content out there to even watch a film more than twice!
@@CerealAtMidnight It's a different conversation entirely, but do you ever fear piracy could successfully be killed? I know, a lot of people scoff at the idea because when there's a will there's often a way. But what happens if internet policies continue to get worse? And some day soon ISPs will have the technology to crack down putting total automated surveillance on everybody's entire internet usage? Even if some tiny groups of people still figure out a way, if the ISPs are successful in just making it too difficult/risky for the overwhelming majority of the public to even consider piracy, the practice will essentially be dead or very close to it. And I think all it will take is a coalition of ISPs like Comcast and others (who have financial investment in the entertainment industry) to decide to lobby congress and enact a complete crackdown on it all.
"you will own nothing and like it" is not just reserved for physical media I've seen the younger generations using it when it comes to home ownership, car leases, etc.
The idea of the phrase is that large corporations are trying to push their customers into subscriptions where the consumer can be charged for a lifetime instead of once. The result of this is as everything becomes digital the ownership of the media is held entirely by the company and when paying for the product you only pay for the licence to view it.
@@jamied1579☝️This! I own all the older movies I want. I've stopped buying anything except in a rare case because there's nothing coming out that I want to view over and over. Once is enough.
Thankfully there have only been a few instances of that, and I believe they've been corrected as soon as we protested. It's funny though: when The French Connection was censored, thousands of people bought the Blu-ray---from Disney, who censored The French Connection.
It's not just censorship. For instance, The Englishman Who Went Up a Hill But Came Down a Mountain is available for streaming on Amazon Prime Video here in Canada. Well, guess what? It's the freaking old Canadian DVD edition (from Alliance Atlantis, which have changed hands a few times over the past several years and haven't been called that in forever) in 4:3, and with no subtitles either (when it's one of those movies that require them because of the thick Welsh accent).
For me collecting is mostly about the perks of physical releases (I love higher fidelity, bonus materials, feeling of owning a collection, etc.) but I can't deny there is also a small mix of paranoia of "what happens if the streaming model DOES prevail?" Or at the very least, a near future where physical media is finally no longer supported or licensed out by the major studios, what happens? Even if it's just certain films belonging to specific studios no longer available. Because lately it seems studio attitudes towards removing shows/films from existence to save money is becoming more acceptable among the major streamers. So, as horrifying and absurd as it may sound, could that attitude eventually be applied to any older films they don't care to provide to the public any longer? When every new project becomes "hours of content" competing for audiences' time, will the studios that hold a monopoly decide to shelve their older film libraries to promote only the newer stuff? When the day comes when we will have no (legal) alternatives to access certain films/series beside the old remaining physical copies still out there, as unlikely as that reality hopefully may even be, the threat of that dystopian nightmare still feels plausible enough I'd rather just be prepared for that future. It's a great time right now for physical media and I just want to buy these great releases while we know we'll have them.
Here in New England, there is a chain of stores originally based in Maine called Bull Moose. They sell all BD, 4K, DVD, CD. They expanded to New Hampshire and now there are about 11 or 12 locations between the 2 states. They were going to expand to Massachusetts, but the taxes are too high. They carry Scream Factory, Severin, Vinegar Syndrome, Mondo Macabro, etc. The guys who run Vinegar Syndrome run a place called The Archive in Bridgeport Connecticut. Last I heard, they were opening another store elsewhere in Connecticut. There are new mom and pop places popping up here in Boston. There will always be cinephiles. I'm in a nursing home, trying to walk again. There is a nurses aide here, who is 18 years old. She told me her favorite film is La Bamba. I predict streaming will crash and burn before 2030. People will be fed up with the high bills, lack of selection and the clampdown on password sharing.
SO here's the big question: streaming is already billions in the hole. At what point do the studios say "well, this didn't work." And when they do, what do WE do? Do we go back to cable? We certainly can't afford to buy everything we want to own at 30-50 bucks a pop.
I love Bull Moose. The Salem NH location is the closest to me. I just heard they're going to be moving it to Plaistow NH. That Salem store has a boutique section in their Blu-rays, and the largest DVD section I've ever seen. I hope its new location isn't too much of a pain to get to.
@@Mr_Ghoulie I checked on Maps because, even though I am in this nursing home, I plan to get out of this place and spend so much at Plaistow that their heads will spin. From what l gather, Plaistow is only 15 minutes away. The only other Bull Moose I went to was the one in Portsmouth, NH. That was a 2 hour drive each way from my place in Wellesley, MA. As opposed to 40 minutes to get to Salem, one thing I will miss is stopping by the SPCA place on the border, where they have horses and cows.
@@CerealAtMidnight I believe the streaming services will consolidate into just a couple of services. I believe that Netflix has shown it can be profitable but only at a certain sized customer base. I also believe that the studios have to realize that their content is not as valuable to the public as they think it is. When a streamer is paying $500 million for the rights to "The Office" that makes it very hard for a streamer to be profitable. Licensing fees are going to have to come down to a reasonable amount.
I don't subscribe to a single streaming service other than Prime Video which comes with my Prime Membership. For me it's 100% physical media and I don't see that changing anytime soon.
Never did get rid of my movies! Many of us knew back then that you are at the mercy of companies if you get rid of what you own! I have also continued to buy CDs & vinyl albums! I believe in supporting the people who make what we watch/listen to, not the corporations!
I never understood why film fans would pay a monthly sub rather than adding a few movies per month to a collection. Discs were the only way to get a guaranteed uncut versions, or foreign films with subs and dubs.
From Wikipedia: "You'll own nothing and you'll be happy" is a phrase originating in a 2016 video by the World Economic Forum (WEF), summarising an essay written by Danish politician Ida Auken. The phrase has been used by critics who accuse the WEF of desiring restrictions on ownership of private property.
This is so true. They did it to the radio industry... a whole bunch of execs who don't like music, don't understand radio, and just continue to drive the whole thing into the ground.
Your point that it's a bigger issue than media is spot on. The same thing is happening in tech, finance, cars, groceries, etc. Basically every industry. The biggest companies in every sector have run out of ideas for how to keep growing and keep their shareholders happy so they start gobbling up smaller rivals and jump on whatever new trend comes along whether or not they understand it or know how to implement it.
Streaming isn't an inherently unsustainable model. The way it's being handled right now is. It being as fractured as it is is what makes it unsustainable - if there were only a handful of companies streaming then they'd all be thriving. Even with the fracturing, Netflix is still quite profitable at the moment despite all of their ills.
@@chrisjfox8715 Netflix is insanely in debt: to the tune of tens of billions. Their strategy involves exponentially increasing subscriber numbers to pay off interest on the debts while taking on ever more debt. However, there's going to be a point where the numbers dwindle and seriously drop. The drop-off after the lockdowns nearly tanked them. When the time comes, they'll go bankrupt very quickly. Streaming isn't profitable when you're willing to make $8 million off a $200 million Scorsese film by not giving it a proper cinema release and paid home video release before putting it on streaming.
The truth is you OWN NOTHING that you "BUY" Digitally the "OWNERS" of the content can take it from you at any time! That is my gripe with the industry as a whole.
You are ABSOLUTELY right! I lost my interest in movies since 2016 and on because movies today(mostly) are crap and not worth my time, although in the last 2 years or so I have been watching OLDER MOVIES. I think that is how I found YOUR Channel! You love the older stuff and I THANK you for keeping it ALIVE!😎👍
I highly recommend Arsenic and Old Lace, and Moviewise just now reviewed a movie called The Old Clock, which I've just purchased as it's right up my alley.
if streaming services told you they would Cut the Music and audio quality - and cut up all the classic movies and then randomly cut movies with no notice - no one would support streaming
I'm baffled at people who say stuff like, DVDs? They still exist? Or whatever? It's always a doomsday situation. Yes, discs on any format still exists.
Greed drove Hollywood to streaming. They honestly believed they could replace cinema and physical media, while getting subscriptions forever and have all the money to themselves. Hollywood also stopped taking risks. Movies became stale and boring. Things move in trends. Somewhere this will balance out. I honestly believe that streaming and physical media will exist for a very long time as viable business models.
I had one of my brothers mate round looking at my shelves full of physical media, he says it's worthless, it's all about streaming now. Nobody will stop me buying physical media😊
Worthless to who? You're buying them for you, not for others. They have worth to you. A few years ago, I was in a store picking up some movies for black friday and some guy saw the movies in my cart and was like, "You know you can watch all those for free online." Trying my best not to let out the biggest sigh, I was just like, Mm-hm. That's cool. Take care. Bye bye
The decline started 10 or so years ago when studios started putting movies out on digital a week or so before they were on disc. That was a blatant ploy to get people to stop buying discs but they haven’t been called out on that enough. The joke’s on them though because now I can watch PIRATED copies of these digital movies (in 4k and Atmos most of the time). If the discs were still in stores I’d do the right thing and buy them, but they’ve been discouraging that. I’m not going to pay for digital movies, if they want me to watch them that way then I’ll just steal them.
Sadly no they started making garbage movies I wouldn't even pirate to watch. Hollywood has been on the decline for likely 20 years, just the last 10 are noticeably much worse. It's why people buy older films and TV shows. It's why even on streaming people watch say Friends rather than current comedy shows. poor quality content these days
I agree especially about the apathy. If everyone wanted physical media it would be everywhere making lots of money. When I used to talk about how I had hundreds and hundreds of movies (now 2000+) people would be kind of impressed. Now they say things like “why?” or “oh, I just stream stuff.”
Stopped buying anything on kindle. Now I pay more to ger the physical book. Slowly searching out used copies of the books I bought on kindle over the years. Just don't want to let digital stuff magically disappear someday.
I think that the powers that be want you to own nothing and like it. I think we as the consumers have forced them to sell us physical media which is what they dont want. So, yes I still think they want us to own nothing and like it but the market has forced the powers that be to make physical media.
I don't think this statement applies to physical media. My biggest fear is studios censoring content as a form of virtue signaling that they really don't believe in (i.e. Disney). I'm in my mid 40's now. There is so much product being released I would have to spend almost every waking hour watching tv to keep up. There's so much backlog currently in my collection it will take months to get through it all. This doesn't even include titles that are announced or releases that I want to own. Think of all the content coming out every month from labels like Kino, Warner Archive, Severin, VCI, Vinegar Syndrome, Shout, MVD, the list goes on. I for one can't keep up there's so much.
One reason I haven't bought much physical media lately: they're not putting out movies on 4K. If they ONLY release that film on 1080p disc, when the studios know damn well they could spend an extra dollar to produce a disc with TWICE the resolution, they will not get my money. 1080p is an outdated format and it's ridiculous that they would expect people to buy that and then buy the 4K a year later
Not true old movies are always coming out on 4K with new special features We’re getting sudden 4K with van damme and poltergeist 2 on 4K can’t hardly wait and red eye 👁️ to finish up august 🙏🙏🙏💿💿💿💿💿👍👍👍👍👍👍
@@RobertQuant Plus two M. Night movies at the same time! I recently dropped money on Avengement (highly recommended!), the Green Knight, Fist of Legend and the Spongebob Movie. Yeah, it's not happening as quickly as I'd like, but these movies are dropping bi-weekly, and sometimes bi-weekly!
I agree with your main point, I will say on a grander scale beyond movies I think the corporate overlords are the ones who want to sell you the same thing as many times as possible. Subscriptions forever, incomplete products or take functionality away from products to sell and repackage later, and I think that is a form of never truly owning anything. Planned obsolescence etc, I think that’s somewhat apparent.
Well, some of that is just business. Selling the same asset as many times as possible is just good business. And I say that as someone who is excited about the new 4K announcement for The Lady From Shanghai, a movie I already own FOUR copies of!
I've mentioned this in a past video but I think a lot of this comes from the way the gaming industry is handling digital and major companies like Ubisoft saying literally what is in your thumbnail.
I can't speak to games, since that's not my world and I don't know anyone who makes them or sells them. I'm not really sure how any corporation thinks they can stop fans from owning something in a world where piracy is as easy as clicking a couple of buttons.
I agree that it is from the videogame industry but with Sony and Microsoft closing studios and laying off employees, the gamepass type model is stagnant and starting to fail.
Then you get Assassin's Creed Shadow physical release indicating " Internet required to install the game." So I guess you don't even own the physical."
@@DavidMander-rs4uk My favorite among those being Have Gun Will Travel, Emergency!, The Streets of San Francisco and The Bob Newhart Show, among others.
I went to the electronics department of my local Walmart Supercenter and asked if they had The Crow 4K in stock and they guy said: "We don't carry titles like that anymore because most people don't buy movies anymore. We only have popular movies like Transformers." Lol meanwhile they have David Cronenberg's Shivers, Children Of The Corn, and I Know What You Did Last Summer out on the shelves.
I think you missed the point. “They want you to own nothing & Like it” doesn’t just pertain to movies. Video game industry is moving away from physical games & when a studio shuts down a server you can no longer play that game. All the major book retailers other than Barnes & Noble went out of business when the fad of buying books digitally started. There are no more music stores & big box stores that use to carry music now have moved to just collectible vinyl. The automotive industry has priced people out of buying new cars & we have seen a huge uptick in leases. You pointed out they want you to stream & you pointed out they still want to sell you stuff. The point is that goes hand in hand. They want to sell you the same thing every month. That service to listen to music. That service to watch movies. That service to watch TV. That automotive lease that when it runs out you have to start another. The goal is you own nothing so you have to pay forever. These companies are not trying to sell you on digital downloads. Those are a thing in music, movies, & books, however they want you to rely on streaming. Because it use to be if there isn’t a movie you want to buy in a month you just don’t spend the money & watch one you already own. But with streaming if they don’t release something you want to watch that month, they know you will stay subscribed because you don’t own anything else to watch & they make it difficult to unsubscribe & easy to forget to unsubscribe. The key is retention. The only streaming service to succeed at that is Netflix but that’s what every streaming service wants, you to pay them every single month for the rest of your life.
@@AdjourArcaneNo, most consumers click the “buy” option on digital media and think it means they own it because it says buy. Then when it’s delisted they complain online.
Huhhh ur actually wrong 😑 my boyyy Not everyone is only streaming I love physical media myself and know people that buy cds 💿 and records There’s still music stores 🏬 that still exist depends where u live at Japan 🇯🇵 cds are number 1 over there and Germany 🇩🇪 they don’t support streaming and here in Los Angeles we have Aomeba records music store 🏬 in Hollywood and they make a lot of money on physical media Yes 👍 I understand most of the stuff is online know but physical media will always be around to sell and 1 more thing Amazon know sells cd 💿 transports for new cars that don’t have cd 💿 players 😅😅😅😅 so problem solved No more excuses 😅😅😅😅
He responded with snark, but to make his point for him: If these companies could get you to pay for streaming _and_ buy the physical copy, they would happily do that. If everyone is paying for streaming _and not buying physical,_ then physical must go away due to economical imperatives, not because of corporate chicanery.
To your point regarding the genuine love for physical media, just look at Christopher Nolan. He made damn sure that OPPENHEIMER would have a 2 DVD Set, which I happily bought to add to my 22 year old DVD Collection. Universal had no problem with that demand. Another source of revenue. Hello? Name a company that ever said NO to making more money. Cue the crickets....😂❤
New movie intrest is on the decline because of all the politics forced into new movies - Old Movie intrest couldnt be higher - highest streamed shows are all 90's 80's shows - people still watch that stuff constantly
physical media may be dying in north america, but when i was in japan last year people were buying lots of it... because brick and mortar retail is still thriving over there. i think its because their communities are more walkable and people go shopping as part of their walking commutes every day. also malls are still a strong "third place" over there. i went to several shops over there that sold cds and blu rays / 4ks and the stores were doing great business. even more shocking / surprising, there were tons of young people buying the physical media too. i think in the west we have self-fulfilling prophecies. they think physical media is dying, so retail shops pull out of the business entirely, so physical media dies more. its a snake eating its own tail. i think movies can absolutely have a resurgence like vinyl has. i think cds can too. the boutique blu ray scene is a good start. maybe we need a "record store day" for movies lol. but streaming will never stop sucking. and all of these legacy film companies will continue to kill themselves. just like indie vinyl labels started the resurgence of vinyl, boutique blu ray labels will hold up the movie market. who's going to be the boutique blu ray taylor swift? christopher nolan? lol
This is a really interesting take because as someone who lives abroad. I recently travelled to Paris and noticed the same thing that you did. There is a very vibrant shopping culture there and a strong physical media presence. I walked through various shops like Gilbert Joseph, FNAC and Metaluna among others and was refreshingly surprised with how different the take is over there. Physical media is definitely becoming more online on a worldwide basis but the record store analogy is 100% where this goes in a world where Boutique labels do tend to still stand out. Italy is my next trip and Japan is on my bucket list as one of the places I most want to visit .
@@CultofCinema Put Japan first in your list, Aaron, and remember one name (for many places): MANDARAKE Is japanese heaven on earth, in Japan! Greetings from Sweden!
Honestly I don't really care for new releases... So I don't need those on physical media. Most movies and series today are kind of disappointing and generic. I have all my favorite movies from past decades on DVD and I can rewatch them. Also I even discover new stuff from the 40s, 50s, 60s and so on every week. There is so much old stuff and it is way better for me anyways.
The biggest issue I think is that all of our attention spans have been diminishing for years so wanting to actually OWN a title seems silly now. Most people probably think they will have no desire to ever watch something more than once so why own it? This is fed by streaming and RUclips (I myself even have problems with YT videos that are too long!) and the instant fulfillment of our fast speed internet culture. I have cut back on my physical media purchases simply because my impatience has increased with watching stuff. A lot of what streams and is produced as entertainment now is very disposable and not worth owning even on an aesthetic level so we are training our tastes and attention spans to be less patient and jumping from one thing to another.
How many Gen Xers have a short attention span? Even many millennials grew up the way we Gen Xers did! The short attention span is in line with Gen Z & the new generation! Besides, a fan of movies/tv shows will always want to watch those when they want! Physical media will always be king! You people also leave out the used market on physical media! Can’t get actual numbers, only take a rough estimate! Blu Ray sales last year were in the billions! Add in a rough estimate of used sales & the market is larger than streaming! People are realizing they are at the hands of corporate America & they want to own & watch what they want whenever they want! They don’t want to depend on a streaming service possibly having what they want to see!
🤔😒... Apparently not Disney. They have hundreds and hundreds of films that they could be restoring and putting on 4KUHD that collectors, like myself, would pay premiums for... No... Let's put Moonknight on 4k that only a few people give a crap about... But let's skip over and hold onto The French Connection. Occasionally, Evil_Corp bends when there is enough outrage from the general public, for example Aliens. Why did it take until now to get it? Disney and Cameron... But for the most part Disney is a bunch of pricks. They won't license it to smaller studios, but they won't do it themselves either.
I'm like a dinosaur Heath! You're correct about streaming & that's why I don't subscribe to very many services anymore! Thank you for keeping us informed! I appreciate your channel!
Interesting point. Yves Guillermo of Ubisoft actually said that gamers have to get used to not owning games, so some int eh c suite are actually saying we should own nothing. However, in that case, the product he wants to sell is an Ubisoft + subscription. I feel that since Covid, corporate leadership has become worse, and I suspect that as the actual talent retired, or whatever they did, those without the experience at that high level have been suddenly thrust into these positions and, of course, have no clue what to do. It feels like, for example, suddenly making a military Lieutenant into a General, and having them fight a war.
But genuinely, if these streamers are losing so much money, do you not think it would make sense (from a financial standpoint of these companies) that they would band together and edge towards releasing physical media again? If people had no other choice but to buy physical media to watch their favourite shows/movies, they will inevitably do so, no? All these subscription based services, people will always just register and un-register whenever they feel like with regards to streaming services. One months sub is the cost of one physical disc practically, it literally only makes sense for them to make physical media dominant again.! But of course in modern times, convenience seems to overrule everything else on the consumer side of things.
If the audience is there to BUY that physical media, then yes, but the audience is not there. Despite the decay of streaming and how much money it continues to lose, physical media is not growing, it's shrinking. With 60-100 disc releases hitting every single week, that audience is still shrinking, not growing. My end statement is true: most people just don't care.
@@CerealAtMidnight I definitely agree with your sentiment. Nothing will return to what it used to be like regardless of whether there is a renaissance of sorts, that's just how things change. Definitely the younger generation just seem to care less about movies (be it in the theatre or at home watching) and prefer YT and other sources of 'content', sad shame really.
As I get older, I'm a lot less worried about what other people are doing. I'm realizing time is short and we should all probably just try to find some happiness instead of being so angry at one another all the time.
@@CerealAtMidnight I believe that the whole concept of Home Theater is dying too which then takes down physical media. Too many younger people are content to watch movies/shows on a phone or small computer screen nowadays.
A lot of people I talk to in my daily life prefer watching tv shows over movies. That’s just my experience. They’ll ask me if I’ve seen the latest show on streaming and rarely ask me what movies I’ve watched lately.
The question is, what is the answer? Movie theaters are hurting. People complain that “we are tired of reboots and Super hero movies” and when original movies come out, they don’t go and see it. Fall Guy is a great example. So I see the whole thing in general. It’s not just physical media, streaming is hurting and movie theaters are hurting. I hope all of this survives.
Sadly, I don't know that there is an answer. My conclusion that the audience just doesn't care about movies anymore and has moved on means they're going to be hard to get back--and Hollywood is in no shape to win them back anyway. The studios are fragmented, the creators are frustrated, and the entire creative landscape feels desolate.
I believe that quote is going around physical media circles due to there being an overlap between tv/movie collectors and physical game collectors. The Ubisoft CEO recently made a statement around wanting to get gamers comfortable with not owning their games in favor of streaming/SAAS, so that quote has basically become a rallying cry when protesting AAA games in favor of physical media.
The real issue is that movies that are being made now in general are not worth buying because they stink. Steaming can't get an audience because the quality of the movies stink.
I kinka disagree with Heath, here. Studios may not want to force folks into streaming, but I absolutely believe they push people to buy digitally over physically. Why else would you be able to buy movies digitally weeks or months before the physical copies are released? They don't have to pay for manufacturing or distributing the discs if they are selling digitally. Then, you don't truly "own" digital copies as they are perpetual rentals for as long as the platform you "bought" them on have the rights to offer those films to you. I think THAT is where "they want you to own nothing and like it" comes from. Well, that and car makers.
Another great video from RUclips's gold standard of physical media and cinema analysis (aside from me lol) People do tend to put on their doom hats and look for the shadow-y evil corporations. Doctor Who recently moved its streaming over to Disney Plus outside of the UK because it made more sense. Now its just being streamed there but to didn't stop people from their cringe takes on how Disney will ruin Doctor Who. Apathy is the true enemy cannot be a more dead on comment. Also might I suggest it as a possible t shirt ? It's not just physical media , look at how films are doing now in theatres. Some will say but look the films have changed, but honestly we have changed. When you can have a big screen tv that outputs dolby atmos sound quality and watch without someone talking, kicking your seat or over-priced food its going to be tempting to wait to watch films in the comfort of your living room. Businesses will always be run shockingly like businesses. It's something we need to expect without putting on the tin foil hats. Another great video with a brave take.
How did these corporate people because its people get like this? Greedy? Were they brought up wrong? Did their weak mind get poisoned? How did they go from good kids to corporate assholes?
You tell'em Heat tell'em!🤑 I'm 100% physical I don't stream. I know this young woman who's a horror fan and streams everything and when I buy movies that comes with a digital download I give them to her. My younger cousins have never seen a VHS or bearly know what a magazine is. And of course everything they consume is through computer laptops or tablets. And don't care about movies at all. What do they consider entertainment? Tik Tok!😭 The old geezers like me are the ones who keep movies alive. Good topic and cool video Heath!👉🙂👈
Disney is still putting out Blu Rays & DVDs! They put out Disney Plus exclusives on Blu Ray for crying out loud! Disney has seen the demand for physical media! Brick & mortar stores are not going anywhere! They have seen a rise in sales! November/2/2024, we went to our local targets shopping center & the place was packed! It was bumper to bumper traffic with people leaving after they shopped!
That saying actually comes from the world economic forum from around 2017. I can understand why the physical media crowd has latched onto it though. I think it has more to do with the cyclical economy that some are calling for in the name of sustainability.
Yeah, it was never about physical media, but now it's become a battle cry for physical media fans every day. I literally hear it daily, or almost daily.
@@CerealAtMidnightI think some of that is a side effect of being at the center of a physical media platform/community. I'm friends with some of the owners/employees of various boutique labels and spend a lot of time around their tables at horror conventions and I don't hear much of this talk from physical media collectors in real life.
I lost my interest in New Hollywood. So I spend my time watching movies from 1930 to 2000. After that,everything's a retread and the stars just are not there...fortunately I own over 10,000 dvds and blue rays. I'm 53, and I grew up in the 70s and 80s and those movies will keep me warm me until my dying day. I'm good with that....
Like another youtuber said: “We have been living in a post-music ‘industry’ since the mid-2000s”. I hope this doesn’t happen to movies and tv shows (yet), because while writing a book and producing music expenses have gone ridiculously down, it isn’t there yet for film & TV. Yes, post-production has gone down over the years but everything else is still quite expensive to put together. I wholeheartedly agree with your analysis, it’s (sadly) more of a cultural downfall and greed than anything else. Netflix to me is the equivalent of Spotify, making everything sound (look) homogeneous, pushing “content” rather than art or quality entertainment that will be there for generations to come.
Very topical video and commentary. What I find interesting is that almost the exact same thing is happening in the video game world right now, where mega corporations are consolidating all these smaller studios and spending tons of money and they're all in the red and no one at the top knows what to do. You mentioned music and print being dead, I'm guessing video games will be next.
I think most of the problem isn’t streaming taking over it’s just that buying physical media is expensive, and in these ridiculously awful economic times people are struggling to put food on the table, pay rent, mortgage, car payments, hospital bills etcetera, that there is little to no money to enjoy good things like Blu-ray’s and cds or lp records. You fix the damned economy and return value to the dollar then people will start enjoying this stuff again.
Insightful as always. I think the most compelling thing you said is that people just aren't as interested in movies anymore, and I will take this a step further, which essentially reinforces the title of the video. People in general are not interested in owning things anymore, and instead want experiences. Instead of buying a movie or video game for someone's birthday, many will buy concert tickets or take them out to a bar/restaurant/club/whatever. I think this is very prevalent in the millennial generation and younger now. I keep wondering if my blu-ray collection will end up worthless since things are only worth what someone is willing to pay. Will anyone pay for these movies in 30 years? Only time will tell.
Thanks, and yeah, I think about this a lot too. I'm starting to have DVDs fail on me, so I'm realizing that all these movies I bought and thought I'd have to watch when I was 60 or 70 might not even play in a decade or two. Collectors are wired for OCD and tangibility, but it doesn't mean much when the technology we've been collecting fails over time.
Thanks Heath you are spot on. Tik-Tok, podcasting, youtube, etc. and so many other things are competing for our attention (For myself my theory is that anybody will be able to make their own movies exactly how they want with total creative control through A.I.). Yes, there will always be a demand from the public for entertainment but as they say "the times are a changing".
Also- Overall in other words, movies just don't hold a dominant monopoly on our attention culturally anymore as they did for audiences in the 20th century. Just look at the decline of Oscar viewership ratings over the years as one indicator
I agree Heath. Movie interest has declined in some age groups . I also think rising cost of living & inflation has made people reassess their lining standards .
Great point about the rising cost of living. And the cost of home media goes up constantly, too. A nice 4K can now cost $40-50, which buys a fair amount of groceries.
I have never understood why the studio streaming services, after the theatrical run, do not move their movie first to PPV and Physical media and then to the streaming service 6-12 months later. Moving it so quickly to streaming hurts the box office since why pay $15-$20 to attend a movie when I can wait a few weeks and see it on the streamer.
I don't feel like we're talking about the same thing.. **This is more in line with video game companies where they are purposely releasing digital and online only games
@@CerealAtMidnightsorry just edited to add; I've seen this saying all over the gaming space and I think it's just bleeding into all physical media spaces. Obviously with the insane vinyl releases, they want us to buy the same physical copies in slightly different colors over and over again.
I see. Yeah, I see it in the video game community and it has definitely infiltrated the film collector community. I should mention I am a 100% digital gamer at this point, so I'm not too upset about it.
Some very valid and true points are made in this video. But I will say that I do think there is at least SOME truth to the statement, "they want you to own NOTHING and like it." In other words, rather than having customers buy something once (i.e. a physical disc of a movie), they would rather sell an ongoing subscription and get people to pay for these things continuously... at least in theory. Yes, their primary goal, especially at the executive/leadership level, is to make money, and they will generally try to to what they can to achieve that goal... including selling physical media if it comes down to it. But - even if it was a miscalculation on their part given how most of these streaming services have been doing - there does seem to be a pretty clear cut effort to undermine their own physical media releases, when sometimes these streaming services get the movies (after their theatrical runs) either before the physical release or so shortly thereafter that it gives people little incentive to purchase it. If there wasn't at least some desire to have streaming services replace physical media rather than be in addition to it, they would likely let the physical releases come out first, and then have the movie go on the streaming services a couple/few months later. And in that case they would probably make more money overall. But they have stopped promoting physical media and even gone to these lengths to undercut it. And with the general public getting so used to streaming and digital distribution as a result, that's why many don't even realize that discs are still being made. I think the reason why we Disney has even been putting out physical releases of some of the Disney+ Marvel and Star Wars shows for those who want them is more in response to the streaming service not being profitable like they had hoped, and them desperately trying to find ways to make at least some more money off of the shows that they have already dumped a lot of money into. I think that is why it took so long for them to even start releasing them physically. They likely had no intention of ever doing so early on.... hoping the service would be very profitable and people would keep their subscriptions to be able to watch and rewatch these shows. But it hasn't been panning out that way, so they did what they had to under the circumstances. I don't deny that there are some people at these studios who do care about physical media and want to bring out quality releases. And it is great that there are at least some people advocating for it. I don't think this mentally necessarily extents to EVERY single person working any given studio. But it is a mentality that exists to some extent higher up the ladder with those who ultimately hold the decision making power of where to allocate more resources and what things to advertise and promote. So, yeah, consumer behavior does drive this. But the actions of the higher ups that make these decisions do, at minimum, help influence consumer behavior. And in that regard, things did not end up the way they are now completely on accident.
I think you’re 100% right. I would however say that folk should get their favourite movies on physical media now before second hand prices go through the roof. I want physical media purely so I know I’m getting exactly the movie I love. The only political aspect for me is how politics could demand that streamed content could be censored on the whim of a given unfair ideology.
I think the general population underestimates the stupidity of corporate executives. These are people with a very narrow experience of life and business, and are promoted straight from business school to positions well above their ability.
I haven’t gotten any New releases in a long time, only because I still have some many Things to watch. Also I grew up around VHS tapes and DVDs and I’m a firm believer in physical media. My latest purchase on Dvd was the IT Crowd since it unfortunately got taken off of Netflix, I’m really stoked to have it in my Collection.
I’ve lost patience with TV, especially episodic dramas. Simply I don’t have the time to invest in 7+ hours. Movies rule as it’s 2 hours or so and that’s it. Beginning, middle and end… done. I love that switch 2 hours off time from life in one sitting, especially in a cinema.
This is so true, there is no grand conspiracy. Gotta say, you really made me chuckle at 8:46 "guys, we're talking about physical media here" hahah Personally I don't think the industry is gonna die. It might change but it won't die.
People turned to RUclips because RUclipsrs made better content. Not just entertainment but news. That's Hollywood's fault. It's been a long time since I've seen a new movie, personally. Or watched a new show. The top things streamed are older TV shows like Friends, The Office, Gilmore Girls. I teach high school. Those kids only talk about old TV shows when they talk about them at all (except when Wednesday was first made on Netflix). They mostly talk about old movies when they talk about movies. Stuff their parents introduced them to. The big problem is there are too many choices. The streaming companies also only make really short seasons of shows and often gives up after one season because they don't get enough views. Of course they don't! It's not like it used to be where there was only a few choices. Especially in the 50s and 60s with 3-4 channels. Even cable/satellite, while they added a lot of channels, didn't really change American TV habits as much. There were water cooler shows. Honestly, most of the DVDs I buy are secondhand because I'm just filling in old movies and shows I would like to watch but have no access to (I have my absolute favorites). Or ones that it's just cheaper to buy 1 DVD than to pay for 1 month of a streaming service. My newest purchase is "The Bob Newhart Show." I used to watch episodes of it on Hulu (when I had Hulu). $35 with free shipping got me the entire series from ebay. I plan to buy "Newhart" maybe once summer ends. When you buy secondhand though, you aren't really giving companies like Disney the money. Someone else did years ago, yes, but you aren't. I'm pretty much done with Disney except I would love some of the old Mickey Mouse cartoon DVDs that are really expensive secondhand but have a lot of those old cartoons. It's so easy to get Looney Tunes like that. Warner Bros./Discovery kept putting those DVDs out for years and in compilations. Not so easy with Disney.
I do find it hilarious myself. Just because a couple of big box stores decide to stop carrying physical media doesn't mean it's the end.😆 I worked 35 years in Retail Management for specialty companies ie Sam Goody/Musicland Group, Blockbuster Music and Blockbuster Video and unfortunately times changed the way consumers purchase items has changed. I mean, when Amazon came along, it changed everything. I actually worked over 10 years for Blockbuster Music and Video division during the time when they had the opportunity to buy Netflix for some $50 million and Blockbuster big wigs turned down the chance because Netflix was working on the beta version of it's streaming service. The big executives said who is going to stream. We all know how that turned out. The funny thing is to look at how well physical media sales are strong. Clearly not like they used to be back in the day. Studios big and small are remastering catalog classic films either to release on 4K ultra hd or to have a new master of the film due to films ages. I'll keep buying physical media as long as studios keep releasing them. Another great video. Thanks for sharing.
I think the corporations sort of know that most people have moved away from physical media and are focusing on Streaming. Whether we like it or streaming is the future of how movies are viewed. I still think there should be physical media on everything they put up streaming but that’s not going to happen when they want you to watch it on Netflix or prime or whatever platform they have. I don’t think they want you to own nothing and like it. I think it’s a business and they need your 20 bucks a month or so. Problem is it was easier for Netflix when Netflix was the only streaming. Not everyone can afford every platform so they have to either put everything on physical media to recoup costs for people that can’t afford to stream but want to own all the seasons of a series. Or they have to figure out a way to make it cheaper by having these bundles which will end up like cable.
I have kids & yes they like playing video games, watching shows, watching RUclips & TikTok/Reels but they also like going to the movies. My oldest son goes to the movies all the time. This younger generation may not be interested in owning physical media (they buy digital movies) but they do support & enjoy going out to the theater to see movies. In a way they too are keeping physical media alive.
7:27 🫴🏿 The WEF The World Economic Forum (WEF) predicted that, by 2030, individuals would own nothing and be happy. This article examines the prediction from a property perspective.
I think a lot of mostly guys have turned their homes into movie shrines simply because they tried to live up to our father's ideal vision of a modern picket fence house family but didn't succeed for one reason or another, due to a lot of heartless hate-filled women out there. We tried, we were kicked aside and shoved into the gutter now all we want to do is watch horror and cult movies for the rest of our lives to cover up those wounds. We're not the troublemakers, all we do is sit at home watching monster movies till the break of dawn and then work our day job so we have enough money to buy more monster movies on VHS and DVD. Yes it's true, Full Moon, Vinegar Syndrome, Massacre Video and Terror Vision Films are slowly but surely producing a very slim select few movies on VHS again. We need new VCRs the ones we have are running rough with age.
So we need to bring back an interest in movies. How do we do this? I beleave there will always be a niche group who continues to care about movies but what can we do to get them back to the masses?
Shut down the IP crap machine, starve the studios, and Hollywood will be forced to create new things that are fresh, interesting, and draw people back to the theater. Or they'll just use AI. Honestly, it could go either way, but the onus is on US. We've got to stop feeding bad practices.
I think when it comes to video games the saying is more applicable, particularly with the prevalence of the pay-to-play model and the shift towards consoles not having optical drives. That all feels more deliberate.
"you will own nothing, and like it!" originalities from the interpretation of something Klaus Schwab from the WEF said
Yes, it sure does, and most of the people saying it have no clue what the original context is. They're using it to represent "the other" who they hate and who they think is trying to destroy their way of life. (Which I suppose in some ways is true)
The thing is, it's not restricted to movies. Corporations are all shifting towards models of non-ownership. Music, video games, car leases, subscription services, companies buying up single family homes that's making home ownership harder for average people.
It's far more profitable to rent you something in perpetuity than sell it to you once.
@@CerealAtMidnight But this "other" is trying to destroy our way of life. It's in the very source of the vision from WEF itself. They are promoting a future where you don't own a house, a car or any other large physical entity. They are combining this with a Neo-Fascist / Neo-Marxist society with no privacy, and no individual agency.
This is "the other", this is the vision of the socialists and the ultra-rich globalists. What we are seeing is a rebirth of the fascism of the 30s and 40s (that looks very much like the national socialism of Germany) combined with the Marxism of the Soviet Union. It's not wrong to identify these people, they exist, and they are very busy trying to take away what we have.
@@martianwoodpeckerThat last sentence says it all. That's exactly their logic with media.
I might not have known where the phrase comes from originally, but the point the phrase is used to make still stands.
Exactly! @@martianwoodpecker
They ultimately want to charge the customer EVERY time they watch a movie.
They hate the fact you can buy a physical copy and watch it dozens or even hundreds of times for a one-off cost.
The music industry is the same.
They can only do this if physical media doesn't exist.
I agree. That is what studios would love. That was the business model behind DivX back in the day.
A pipe dream when piracy is so accessible.
Owning a physical copy of a film is pointless as you get bored watching one film after another dozen times . There’s far too much content out there to even watch a film more than twice!
@knownpleasures 1000s of collectors will disagree with you... including myself, and Heath, more than likely.
@@CerealAtMidnight It's a different conversation entirely, but do you ever fear piracy could successfully be killed? I know, a lot of people scoff at the idea because when there's a will there's often a way. But what happens if internet policies continue to get worse? And some day soon ISPs will have the technology to crack down putting total automated surveillance on everybody's entire internet usage? Even if some tiny groups of people still figure out a way, if the ISPs are successful in just making it too difficult/risky for the overwhelming majority of the public to even consider piracy, the practice will essentially be dead or very close to it. And I think all it will take is a coalition of ISPs like Comcast and others (who have financial investment in the entertainment industry) to decide to lobby congress and enact a complete crackdown on it all.
"you will own nothing and like it" is not just reserved for physical media
I've seen the younger generations using it when it comes to home ownership, car leases, etc.
And video games aswell, theres the thing Ubisoft said about gamers better get use to not owning there games.
I'm glad I own my car!
@@Ron2600_ That quote is out-of-context from most people who quote it. He was talking about a trend, not a strategy.
The idea of the phrase is that large corporations are trying to push their customers into subscriptions where the consumer can be charged for a lifetime instead of once. The result of this is as everything becomes digital the ownership of the media is held entirely by the company and when paying for the product you only pay for the licence to view it.
and said licence is removed once another streaming company buys the rights...
it's not the decline of "physical media" but rather it's the decline of people
Too true.
And the decline in modern movies.
most new movies are absolute shite
@@jamied1579☝️This! I own all the older movies I want. I've stopped buying anything except in a rare case because there's nothing coming out that I want to view over and over. Once is enough.
They're far from being mutually exclusive.
The anxiety I think stems partly from censorship. We want movies as they were originally presented, not edited or removed altogether.
Thankfully there have only been a few instances of that, and I believe they've been corrected as soon as we protested. It's funny though: when The French Connection was censored, thousands of people bought the Blu-ray---from Disney, who censored The French Connection.
Corporations always own the answer to the problem they create.
It's not just censorship. For instance, The Englishman Who Went Up a Hill But Came Down a Mountain is available for streaming on Amazon Prime Video here in Canada. Well, guess what? It's the freaking old Canadian DVD edition (from Alliance Atlantis, which have changed hands a few times over the past several years and haven't been called that in forever) in 4:3, and with no subtitles either (when it's one of those movies that require them because of the thick Welsh accent).
For me collecting is mostly about the perks of physical releases (I love higher fidelity, bonus materials, feeling of owning a collection, etc.) but I can't deny there is also a small mix of paranoia of "what happens if the streaming model DOES prevail?" Or at the very least, a near future where physical media is finally no longer supported or licensed out by the major studios, what happens? Even if it's just certain films belonging to specific studios no longer available.
Because lately it seems studio attitudes towards removing shows/films from existence to save money is becoming more acceptable among the major streamers. So, as horrifying and absurd as it may sound, could that attitude eventually be applied to any older films they don't care to provide to the public any longer? When every new project becomes "hours of content" competing for audiences' time, will the studios that hold a monopoly decide to shelve their older film libraries to promote only the newer stuff? When the day comes when we will have no (legal) alternatives to access certain films/series beside the old remaining physical copies still out there, as unlikely as that reality hopefully may even be, the threat of that dystopian nightmare still feels plausible enough I'd rather just be prepared for that future. It's a great time right now for physical media and I just want to buy these great releases while we know we'll have them.
Here in New England, there is a chain of stores originally based in Maine called Bull Moose. They sell all BD, 4K, DVD, CD. They expanded to New Hampshire and now there are about 11 or 12 locations between the 2 states. They were going to expand to Massachusetts, but the taxes are too high. They carry Scream Factory, Severin, Vinegar Syndrome, Mondo Macabro, etc.
The guys who run Vinegar Syndrome run a place called The Archive in Bridgeport Connecticut. Last I heard, they were opening another store elsewhere in Connecticut.
There are new mom and pop places popping up here in Boston. There will always be cinephiles. I'm in a nursing home, trying to walk again. There is a nurses aide here, who is 18 years old. She told me her favorite film is La Bamba.
I predict streaming will crash and burn before 2030. People will be fed up with the high bills, lack of selection and the clampdown on password sharing.
SO here's the big question: streaming is already billions in the hole. At what point do the studios say "well, this didn't work." And when they do, what do WE do? Do we go back to cable? We certainly can't afford to buy everything we want to own at 30-50 bucks a pop.
I love Bull Moose. The Salem NH location is the closest to me. I just heard they're going to be moving it to Plaistow NH. That Salem store has a boutique section in their Blu-rays, and the largest DVD section I've ever seen. I hope its new location isn't too much of a pain to get to.
@@CerealAtMidnighttry to throw contracts at people as a last ditch effort to save streaming.
@@Mr_Ghoulie I checked on Maps because, even though I am in this nursing home, I plan to get out of this place and spend so much at Plaistow that their heads will spin. From what l gather, Plaistow is only 15 minutes away. The only other Bull Moose I went to was the one in Portsmouth, NH. That was a 2 hour drive each way from my place in Wellesley, MA. As opposed to 40 minutes to get to Salem, one thing I will miss is stopping by the SPCA place on the border, where they have horses and cows.
@@CerealAtMidnight I believe the streaming services will consolidate into just a couple of services. I believe that Netflix has shown it can be profitable but only at a certain sized customer base. I also believe that the studios have to realize that their content is not as valuable to the public as they think it is. When a streamer is paying $500 million for the rights to "The Office" that makes it very hard for a streamer to be profitable. Licensing fees are going to have to come down to a reasonable amount.
“Never ascribe to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity.”
I don't subscribe to a single streaming service other than Prime Video which comes with my Prime Membership.
For me it's 100% physical media and I don't see that changing anytime soon.
I actually donated all my dvds when netflix came out. I thought it was like a digital library. Boy was I wrong. Building it back now
Haha, same.
Never did get rid of my movies! Many of us knew back then that you are at the mercy of companies if you get rid of what you own! I have also continued to buy CDs & vinyl albums! I believe in supporting the people who make what we watch/listen to, not the corporations!
I never understood why film fans would pay a monthly sub rather than adding a few movies per month to a collection. Discs were the only way to get a guaranteed uncut versions, or foreign films with subs and dubs.
From Wikipedia: "You'll own nothing and you'll be happy" is a phrase originating in a 2016 video by the World Economic Forum (WEF), summarising an essay written by Danish politician Ida Auken. The phrase has been used by critics who accuse the WEF of desiring restrictions on ownership of private property.
This is so true. They did it to the radio industry... a whole bunch of execs who don't like music, don't understand radio, and just continue to drive the whole thing into the ground.
Phile Hendrie was basically saying that for his entire career.
Nobody wants you to own nothing and like it. Speak to the CEO of Ubisoft. He said EXACTLY that.
Said that they do or don't? That statement was a bit confusing.
He was talking about a trend, not a strategy.
Your point that it's a bigger issue than media is spot on. The same thing is happening in tech, finance, cars, groceries, etc. Basically every industry. The biggest companies in every sector have run out of ideas for how to keep growing and keep their shareholders happy so they start gobbling up smaller rivals and jump on whatever new trend comes along whether or not they understand it or know how to implement it.
the streaming model is unsustainable and therefore will inevitably implode
Yes, and when it does, it's looking more and more like it will take the business down with it.
@@CerealAtMidnight exactly
So what you're saying is, buy all the toilet paper?
Streaming isn't an inherently unsustainable model. The way it's being handled right now is. It being as fractured as it is is what makes it unsustainable - if there were only a handful of companies streaming then they'd all be thriving.
Even with the fracturing, Netflix is still quite profitable at the moment despite all of their ills.
@@chrisjfox8715 Netflix is insanely in debt: to the tune of tens of billions. Their strategy involves exponentially increasing subscriber numbers to pay off interest on the debts while taking on ever more debt. However, there's going to be a point where the numbers dwindle and seriously drop. The drop-off after the lockdowns nearly tanked them. When the time comes, they'll go bankrupt very quickly. Streaming isn't profitable when you're willing to make $8 million off a $200 million Scorsese film by not giving it a proper cinema release and paid home video release before putting it on streaming.
The truth is you OWN NOTHING that you "BUY" Digitally the "OWNERS" of the content can take it from you at any time! That is my gripe with the industry as a whole.
You are ABSOLUTELY right! I lost my interest in movies since 2016 and on because movies today(mostly) are crap and not worth my time, although in the last 2 years or so I have been watching OLDER MOVIES. I think that is how I found YOUR Channel! You love the older stuff and I THANK you for keeping it ALIVE!😎👍
same!...there is a lifetime of older films to explore and enjoy.
Like when Steve Reeves or Gordon Scott plays Hercules, the son of Zeus.
I highly recommend Arsenic and Old Lace, and Moviewise just now reviewed a movie called The Old Clock, which I've just purchased as it's right up my alley.
@@Selrisitai Appreciate it! I’ll look them up!👍
if streaming services told you they would Cut the Music and audio quality - and cut up all the classic movies and then randomly cut movies with no notice - no one would support streaming
I'm baffled at people who say stuff like, DVDs? They still exist? Or whatever? It's always a doomsday situation. Yes, discs on any format still exists.
They aren't too bright.
Greed drove Hollywood to streaming.
They honestly believed they could replace cinema and physical media, while getting subscriptions forever and have all the money to themselves.
Hollywood also stopped taking risks. Movies became stale and boring.
Things move in trends. Somewhere this will balance out. I honestly believe that streaming and physical media will exist for a very long time as viable business models.
I had one of my brothers mate round looking at my shelves full of physical media, he says it's worthless, it's all about streaming now. Nobody will stop me buying physical media😊
The various thrift stores don't seem to think it's worthless. Most outlets filter through stuff and sell it online.
Sure, as long as what you want to watch is available to stream and you subscribe to every streaming service.
I'd tell him he's worthless
Physical media is like any other hobby. There are those that enjoy it and those that could care less.
Worthless to who? You're buying them for you, not for others. They have worth to you.
A few years ago, I was in a store picking up some movies for black friday and some guy saw the movies in my cart and was like, "You know you can watch all those for free online." Trying my best not to let out the biggest sigh, I was just like, Mm-hm. That's cool. Take care. Bye bye
The decline started 10 or so years ago when studios started putting movies out on digital a week or so before they were on disc. That was a blatant ploy to get people to stop buying discs but they haven’t been called out on that enough.
The joke’s on them though because now I can watch PIRATED copies of these digital movies (in 4k and Atmos most of the time). If the discs were still in stores I’d do the right thing and buy them, but they’ve been discouraging that. I’m not going to pay for digital movies, if they want me to watch them that way then I’ll just steal them.
Sadly no they started making garbage movies I wouldn't even pirate to watch. Hollywood has been on the decline for likely 20 years, just the last 10 are noticeably much worse. It's why people buy older films and TV shows. It's why even on streaming people watch say Friends rather than current comedy shows. poor quality content these days
I agree especially about the apathy. If everyone wanted physical media it would be everywhere making lots of money. When I used to talk about how I had hundreds and hundreds of movies (now 2000+) people would be kind of impressed. Now they say things like “why?” or “oh, I just stream stuff.”
The prices are getting higher on streaming so good luck people paying for a licensed not to own anything 😅😅😅😅😅
Stopped buying anything on kindle. Now I pay more to ger the physical book. Slowly searching out used copies of the books I bought on kindle over the years. Just don't want to let digital stuff magically disappear someday.
And it's happened more than once!
I think that the powers that be want you to own nothing and like it. I think we as the consumers have forced them to sell us physical media which is what they dont want. So, yes I still think they want us to own nothing and like it but the market has forced the powers that be to make physical media.
My Walmart just completely removed its physical media aisle and now only has a $5 bin.
I don't think this statement applies to physical media. My biggest fear is studios censoring content as a form of virtue signaling that they really don't believe in (i.e. Disney). I'm in my mid 40's now. There is so much product being released I would have to spend almost every waking hour watching tv to keep up. There's so much backlog currently in my collection it will take months to get through it all. This doesn't even include titles that are announced or releases that I want to own. Think of all the content coming out every month from labels like Kino, Warner Archive, Severin, VCI, Vinegar Syndrome, Shout, MVD, the list goes on. I for one can't keep up there's so much.
It's "You'll own nothing and be happy".
One reason I haven't bought much physical media lately: they're not putting out movies on 4K. If they ONLY release that film on 1080p disc, when the studios know damn well they could spend an extra dollar to produce a disc with TWICE the resolution, they will not get my money. 1080p is an outdated format and it's ridiculous that they would expect people to buy that and then buy the 4K a year later
I agree with you 100% but somehow we get outvoted by a majority of people still buying DVD even though it's inferior to both... by a lot.
Not true old movies are always coming out on 4K with new special features
We’re getting sudden 4K with van damme and poltergeist 2 on 4K can’t hardly wait and red eye 👁️ to finish up august 🙏🙏🙏💿💿💿💿💿👍👍👍👍👍👍
@@RobertQuant Plus two M. Night movies at the same time! I recently dropped money on Avengement (highly recommended!), the Green Knight, Fist of Legend and the Spongebob Movie.
Yeah, it's not happening as quickly as I'd like, but these movies are dropping bi-weekly, and sometimes bi-weekly!
I agree with your main point, I will say on a grander scale beyond movies I think the corporate overlords are the ones who want to sell you the same thing as many times as possible. Subscriptions forever, incomplete products or take functionality away from products to sell and repackage later, and I think that is a form of never truly owning anything. Planned obsolescence etc, I think that’s somewhat apparent.
Well, some of that is just business. Selling the same asset as many times as possible is just good business. And I say that as someone who is excited about the new 4K announcement for The Lady From Shanghai, a movie I already own FOUR copies of!
@@CerealAtMidnight Yeah absolutely
I've mentioned this in a past video but I think a lot of this comes from the way the gaming industry is handling digital and major companies like Ubisoft saying literally what is in your thumbnail.
I can't speak to games, since that's not my world and I don't know anyone who makes them or sells them. I'm not really sure how any corporation thinks they can stop fans from owning something in a world where piracy is as easy as clicking a couple of buttons.
I agree that it is from the videogame industry but with Sony and Microsoft closing studios and laying off employees, the gamepass type model is stagnant and starting to fail.
Then you get Assassin's Creed Shadow physical release indicating " Internet required to install the game." So I guess you don't even own the physical."
Yes! That Xbox news last week is a mess. They bought all those developers and then fired them? Nice job, huge corporation.
@@scaps2200Even worse, that seems to be some form of DRM they're sneaking in.
Noticed you have a whole bunch of TV show box sets behind you, many of 'em classics, and quite a few of which I have as well.
I was looking at the same thing. haha
Quite a few I have too! 👍
@@DavidMander-rs4uk My favorite among those being Have Gun Will Travel, Emergency!, The Streets of San Francisco and The Bob Newhart Show, among others.
Corporate greed and incompetent company CEOs who only see $$$ and have no idea what the general public actually wants. I think that nails it.
I went to the electronics department of my local Walmart Supercenter and asked if they had The Crow 4K in stock and they guy said: "We don't carry titles like that anymore because most people don't buy movies anymore. We only have popular movies like Transformers." Lol meanwhile they have David Cronenberg's Shivers, Children Of The Corn, and I Know What You Did Last Summer out on the shelves.
Uninformed sales people at Walmart. Please excuse me for not being shocked.
Sounds about right there’s the apathy I’m talking about.
Saw the Crow on the shelf at my local Wal*Mart, so. . . .
The Crow is at my local Walmart, and keeps selling out.
I think you missed the point. “They want you to own nothing & Like it” doesn’t just pertain to movies. Video game industry is moving away from physical games & when a studio shuts down a server you can no longer play that game. All the major book retailers other than Barnes & Noble went out of business when the fad of buying books digitally started. There are no more music stores & big box stores that use to carry music now have moved to just collectible vinyl. The automotive industry has priced people out of buying new cars & we have seen a huge uptick in leases. You pointed out they want you to stream & you pointed out they still want to sell you stuff. The point is that goes hand in hand. They want to sell you the same thing every month. That service to listen to music. That service to watch movies. That service to watch TV. That automotive lease that when it runs out you have to start another. The goal is you own nothing so you have to pay forever. These companies are not trying to sell you on digital downloads. Those are a thing in music, movies, & books, however they want you to rely on streaming. Because it use to be if there isn’t a movie you want to buy in a month you just don’t spend the money & watch one you already own. But with streaming if they don’t release something you want to watch that month, they know you will stay subscribed because you don’t own anything else to watch & they make it difficult to unsubscribe & easy to forget to unsubscribe. The key is retention. The only streaming service to succeed at that is Netflix but that’s what every streaming service wants, you to pay them every single month for the rest of your life.
I didn't miss the point. Maybe you missed mine?
You missed the point. Most consumers WANT to own nothing.
@@AdjourArcaneNo, most consumers click the “buy” option on digital media and think it means they own it because it says buy. Then when it’s delisted they complain online.
Huhhh ur actually wrong 😑 my boyyy Not everyone is only streaming I love physical media myself and know people that buy cds 💿 and records There’s still music stores 🏬 that still exist depends where u live at Japan 🇯🇵 cds are number 1 over there and Germany 🇩🇪 they don’t support streaming and here in Los Angeles we have Aomeba records music store 🏬 in Hollywood and they make a lot of money on physical media Yes 👍 I understand most of the stuff is online know but physical media will always be around to sell and 1 more thing Amazon know sells cd 💿 transports for new cars that don’t have cd 💿 players 😅😅😅😅 so problem solved No more excuses 😅😅😅😅
He responded with snark, but to make his point for him: If these companies could get you to pay for streaming _and_ buy the physical copy, they would happily do that.
If everyone is paying for streaming _and not buying physical,_ then physical must go away due to economical imperatives, not because of corporate chicanery.
To your point regarding the genuine love for physical media, just look at Christopher Nolan. He made damn sure that OPPENHEIMER would have a 2 DVD Set, which I happily bought to add to my 22 year old DVD Collection. Universal had no problem with that demand. Another source of revenue. Hello? Name a company that ever said NO to making more money. Cue the crickets....😂❤
there are so many Fox movies people want to buy but Disney won't release them on physical media they want to make people subscribe to watch them
At this rate, people are end up going to be OK with something like "toothbrushes as a service".
New movie intrest is on the decline because of all the politics forced into new movies - Old Movie intrest couldnt be higher - highest streamed shows are all 90's 80's shows - people still watch that stuff constantly
I rarely watch anyything post 2000. Everything is bland and ugly now.
physical media may be dying in north america, but when i was in japan last year people were buying lots of it... because brick and mortar retail is still thriving over there. i think its because their communities are more walkable and people go shopping as part of their walking commutes every day. also malls are still a strong "third place" over there. i went to several shops over there that sold cds and blu rays / 4ks and the stores were doing great business. even more shocking / surprising, there were tons of young people buying the physical media too.
i think in the west we have self-fulfilling prophecies. they think physical media is dying, so retail shops pull out of the business entirely, so physical media dies more. its a snake eating its own tail.
i think movies can absolutely have a resurgence like vinyl has. i think cds can too. the boutique blu ray scene is a good start. maybe we need a "record store day" for movies lol. but streaming will never stop sucking. and all of these legacy film companies will continue to kill themselves. just like indie vinyl labels started the resurgence of vinyl, boutique blu ray labels will hold up the movie market.
who's going to be the boutique blu ray taylor swift? christopher nolan? lol
This is a really interesting take because as someone who lives abroad. I recently travelled to Paris and noticed the same thing that you did. There is a very vibrant shopping culture there and a strong physical media presence. I walked through various shops like Gilbert Joseph, FNAC and Metaluna among others and was refreshingly surprised with how different the take is over there. Physical media is definitely becoming more online on a worldwide basis but the record store analogy is 100% where this goes in a world where Boutique labels do tend to still stand out. Italy is my next trip and Japan is on my bucket list as one of the places I most want to visit .
@@CultofCinema Put Japan first in your list, Aaron, and remember one name (for many places): MANDARAKE Is japanese heaven on earth, in Japan!
Greetings from Sweden!
Physical media sales are up year over year, troll.
Honestly I don't really care for new releases... So I don't need those on physical media. Most movies and series today are kind of disappointing and generic.
I have all my favorite movies from past decades on DVD and I can rewatch them. Also I even discover new stuff from the 40s, 50s, 60s and so on every week. There is so much old stuff and it is way better for me anyways.
Everyone has personal preferences and opinions but when I hear someone say it was better in my day, it kind of makes me laugh. And I am 55 years old!
I agree that the movie studios have lost the ability to make movies of interest.
Fall Guy is incredible and Furiosa is being hailed as the best movie of the year!
The biggest issue I think is that all of our attention spans have been diminishing for years so wanting to actually OWN a title seems silly now. Most people probably think they will have no desire to ever watch something more than once so why own it? This is fed by streaming and RUclips (I myself even have problems with YT videos that are too long!) and the instant fulfillment of our fast speed internet culture. I have cut back on my physical media purchases simply because my impatience has increased with watching stuff. A lot of what streams and is produced as entertainment now is very disposable and not worth owning even on an aesthetic level so we are training our tastes and attention spans to be less patient and jumping from one thing to another.
How many Gen Xers have a short attention span? Even many millennials grew up the way we Gen Xers did! The short attention span is in line with Gen Z & the new generation! Besides, a fan of movies/tv shows will always want to watch those when they want! Physical media will always be king!
You people also leave out the used market on physical media! Can’t get actual numbers, only take a rough estimate! Blu Ray sales last year were in the billions! Add in a rough estimate of used sales & the market is larger than streaming! People are realizing they are at the hands of corporate America & they want to own & watch what they want whenever they want! They don’t want to depend on a streaming service possibly having what they want to see!
@ I would like to respond specifically to what you wrote, but my mind wandered before I could finish reading it.
"You will own nothing, and be happy" This is how you create slaves.
I think you are 100% right about everything you said. Companies are in business to sell things.
🤔😒... Apparently not Disney. They have hundreds and hundreds of films that they could be restoring and putting on 4KUHD that collectors, like myself, would pay premiums for...
No... Let's put Moonknight on 4k that only a few people give a crap about... But let's skip over and hold onto The French Connection. Occasionally, Evil_Corp bends when there is enough outrage from the general public, for example Aliens. Why did it take until now to get it? Disney and Cameron...
But for the most part Disney is a bunch of pricks. They won't license it to smaller studios, but they won't do it themselves either.
I'm like a dinosaur Heath! You're correct about streaming & that's why I don't subscribe to very many services anymore! Thank you for keeping us informed! I appreciate your channel!
Interesting point. Yves Guillermo of Ubisoft actually said that gamers have to get used to not owning games, so some int eh c suite are actually saying we should own nothing. However, in that case, the product he wants to sell is an Ubisoft + subscription. I feel that since Covid, corporate leadership has become worse, and I suspect that as the actual talent retired, or whatever they did, those without the experience at that high level have been suddenly thrust into these positions and, of course, have no clue what to do. It feels like, for example, suddenly making a military Lieutenant into a General, and having them fight a war.
But genuinely, if these streamers are losing so much money, do you not think it would make sense (from a financial standpoint of these companies) that they would band together and edge towards releasing physical media again? If people had no other choice but to buy physical media to watch their favourite shows/movies, they will inevitably do so, no? All these subscription based services, people will always just register and un-register whenever they feel like with regards to streaming services. One months sub is the cost of one physical disc practically, it literally only makes sense for them to make physical media dominant again.! But of course in modern times, convenience seems to overrule everything else on the consumer side of things.
If the audience is there to BUY that physical media, then yes, but the audience is not there. Despite the decay of streaming and how much money it continues to lose, physical media is not growing, it's shrinking. With 60-100 disc releases hitting every single week, that audience is still shrinking, not growing. My end statement is true: most people just don't care.
@@CerealAtMidnight I definitely agree with your sentiment. Nothing will return to what it used to be like regardless of whether there is a renaissance of sorts, that's just how things change. Definitely the younger generation just seem to care less about movies (be it in the theatre or at home watching) and prefer YT and other sources of 'content', sad shame really.
As I get older, I'm a lot less worried about what other people are doing. I'm realizing time is short and we should all probably just try to find some happiness instead of being so angry at one another all the time.
@CerealAtMidnight if there were no streaming, the audience would be the same size for physical media that it was in its heyday
@@CerealAtMidnight I believe that the whole concept of Home Theater is dying too which then takes down physical media. Too many younger people are content to watch movies/shows on a phone or small computer screen nowadays.
I will not comply.
A lot of people I talk to in my daily life prefer watching tv shows over movies. That’s just my experience. They’ll ask me if I’ve seen the latest show on streaming and rarely ask me what movies I’ve watched lately.
Love this video. Thank you for speaking out on this.
The question is, what is the answer? Movie theaters are hurting. People complain that “we are tired of reboots and Super hero movies” and when original movies come out, they don’t go and see it. Fall Guy is a great example. So I see the whole thing in general. It’s not just physical media, streaming is hurting and movie theaters are hurting. I hope all of this survives.
Sadly, I don't know that there is an answer. My conclusion that the audience just doesn't care about movies anymore and has moved on means they're going to be hard to get back--and Hollywood is in no shape to win them back anyway. The studios are fragmented, the creators are frustrated, and the entire creative landscape feels desolate.
I believe that quote is going around physical media circles due to there being an overlap between tv/movie collectors and physical game collectors.
The Ubisoft CEO recently made a statement around wanting to get gamers comfortable with not owning their games in favor of streaming/SAAS, so that quote has basically become a rallying cry when protesting AAA games in favor of physical media.
And Phil Spencer recently referred to digital ownership as "entitlements". IE, they can be taken away.
The best thing about physical media is the special features that streaming will never include 😅😅
The real issue is that movies that are being made now in general are not worth buying because they stink. Steaming can't get an audience because the quality of the movies stink.
That’s why I only buy old movies cause there the best and it’s movies I grew up with 😅
I kinka disagree with Heath, here. Studios may not want to force folks into streaming, but I absolutely believe they push people to buy digitally over physically. Why else would you be able to buy movies digitally weeks or months before the physical copies are released? They don't have to pay for manufacturing or distributing the discs if they are selling digitally. Then, you don't truly "own" digital copies as they are perpetual rentals for as long as the platform you "bought" them on have the rights to offer those films to you. I think THAT is where "they want you to own nothing and like it" comes from. Well, that and car makers.
Another great video from RUclips's gold standard of physical media and cinema analysis (aside from me lol) People do tend to put on their doom hats and look for the shadow-y evil corporations. Doctor Who recently moved its streaming over to Disney Plus outside of the UK because it made more sense. Now its just being streamed there but to didn't stop people from their cringe takes on how Disney will ruin Doctor Who.
Apathy is the true enemy cannot be a more dead on comment. Also might I suggest it as a possible t shirt ? It's not just physical media , look at how films are doing now in theatres. Some will say but look the films have changed, but honestly we have changed. When you can have a big screen tv that outputs dolby atmos sound quality and watch without someone talking, kicking your seat or over-priced food its going to be tempting to wait to watch films in the comfort of your living room.
Businesses will always be run shockingly like businesses. It's something we need to expect without putting on the tin foil hats.
Another great video with a brave take.
Thanks, Aaron! That means a lot.
How did these corporate people because its people get like this? Greedy? Were they brought up wrong? Did their weak mind get poisoned? How did they go from good kids to corporate assholes?
You tell'em Heat tell'em!🤑 I'm 100% physical I don't stream. I know this young woman who's a horror fan and streams everything and when I buy movies that comes with a digital download I give them to her. My younger cousins have never seen a VHS or bearly know what a magazine is. And of course everything they consume is through computer laptops or tablets. And don't care about movies at all. What do they consider entertainment? Tik Tok!😭 The old geezers like me are the ones who keep movies alive. Good topic and cool video Heath!👉🙂👈
Disney is still putting out Blu Rays & DVDs! They put out Disney Plus exclusives on Blu Ray for crying out loud! Disney has seen the demand for physical media!
Brick & mortar stores are not going anywhere! They have seen a rise in sales! November/2/2024, we went to our local targets shopping center & the place was packed! It was bumper to bumper traffic with people leaving after they shopped!
That saying actually comes from the world economic forum from around 2017. I can understand why the physical media crowd has latched onto it though. I think it has more to do with the cyclical economy that some are calling for in the name of sustainability.
Yeah, it was never about physical media, but now it's become a battle cry for physical media fans every day. I literally hear it daily, or almost daily.
@@CerealAtMidnightI think some of that is a side effect of being at the center of a physical media platform/community. I'm friends with some of the owners/employees of various boutique labels and spend a lot of time around their tables at horror conventions and I don't hear much of this talk from physical media collectors in real life.
@@CerealAtMidnight it was about private ownership...buying physical media is private ownership...
I lost my interest in New Hollywood. So I spend my time watching movies from 1930 to 2000. After that,everything's a retread and the stars just are not there...fortunately I own over 10,000 dvds and blue rays. I'm 53, and I grew up in the 70s and 80s and those movies will keep me warm me until my dying day. I'm good with that....
Love these unscrpited videos
there’s an old saying when you play with fire then you get burned
It’s interesting when you get together with people, they don’t ask anymore what movies you’ve recently seen, they ask what shows you’re watching.
"Series" as they call them. Everybody has one to recommed or ask "Have you seen...?"
Like another youtuber said: “We have been living in a post-music ‘industry’ since the mid-2000s”. I hope this doesn’t happen to movies and tv shows (yet), because while writing a book and producing music expenses have gone ridiculously down, it isn’t there yet for film & TV. Yes, post-production has gone down over the years but everything else is still quite expensive to put together.
I wholeheartedly agree with your analysis, it’s (sadly) more of a cultural downfall and greed than anything else. Netflix to me is the equivalent of Spotify, making everything sound (look) homogeneous, pushing “content” rather than art or quality entertainment that will be there for generations to come.
Very topical video and commentary. What I find interesting is that almost the exact same thing is happening in the video game world right now, where mega corporations are consolidating all these smaller studios and spending tons of money and they're all in the red and no one at the top knows what to do. You mentioned music and print being dead, I'm guessing video games will be next.
Streaming is not personal ownership
I'm all in on physical media via the used/secondary market. I have a massive library of games and films/shows built off of used products.
I think most of the problem isn’t streaming taking over it’s just that buying physical media is expensive, and in these ridiculously awful economic times people are struggling to put food on the table, pay rent, mortgage, car payments, hospital bills etcetera, that there is little to no money to enjoy good things like Blu-ray’s and cds or lp records. You fix the damned economy and return value to the dollar then people will start enjoying this stuff again.
Insightful as always. I think the most compelling thing you said is that people just aren't as interested in movies anymore, and I will take this a step further, which essentially reinforces the title of the video. People in general are not interested in owning things anymore, and instead want experiences. Instead of buying a movie or video game for someone's birthday, many will buy concert tickets or take them out to a bar/restaurant/club/whatever. I think this is very prevalent in the millennial generation and younger now. I keep wondering if my blu-ray collection will end up worthless since things are only worth what someone is willing to pay. Will anyone pay for these movies in 30 years? Only time will tell.
Thanks, and yeah, I think about this a lot too. I'm starting to have DVDs fail on me, so I'm realizing that all these movies I bought and thought I'd have to watch when I was 60 or 70 might not even play in a decade or two. Collectors are wired for OCD and tangibility, but it doesn't mean much when the technology we've been collecting fails over time.
Nice job Heath. Appreciate the segment. By the way love the WKRP in Cincinnati box set. That’s my all time favorite show!
Thanks Heath you are spot on. Tik-Tok, podcasting, youtube, etc. and so many other things are competing for our attention (For myself my theory is that anybody will be able to make their own movies exactly how they want with total creative control through A.I.). Yes, there will always be a demand from the public for entertainment but as they say "the times are a changing".
Also- Overall in other words, movies just don't hold a dominant monopoly on our attention culturally anymore as they did for audiences in the 20th century. Just look at the decline of Oscar viewership ratings over the years as one indicator
I agree Heath. Movie interest has declined in some age groups . I also think rising cost of living & inflation has made people reassess their lining standards .
Great point about the rising cost of living. And the cost of home media goes up constantly, too. A nice 4K can now cost $40-50, which buys a fair amount of groceries.
With recent inflation, folks are cutting back on all entertainment.
I hope they eventually bring the original actors back and do a continuation of Sliders. Just ignore the last few seasons like they didn't happen.
I have never understood why the studio streaming services, after the theatrical run, do not move their movie first to PPV and Physical media and then to the streaming service 6-12 months later. Moving it so quickly to streaming hurts the box office since why pay $15-$20 to attend a movie when I can wait a few weeks and see it on the streamer.
My physical media collection is my precious
Same here.
I don't feel like we're talking about the same thing..
**This is more in line with video game companies where they are purposely releasing digital and online only games
Then what are you talking about?
@@CerealAtMidnightsorry just edited to add; I've seen this saying all over the gaming space and I think it's just bleeding into all physical media spaces. Obviously with the insane vinyl releases, they want us to buy the same physical copies in slightly different colors over and over again.
I see. Yeah, I see it in the video game community and it has definitely infiltrated the film collector community. I should mention I am a 100% digital gamer at this point, so I'm not too upset about it.
they should care
there is just incompetance all over the place
the consumer Needs to fight back
i never got rid of my physical games and started collecting movies and shows its sad my mom rather watch something else then get the copy and watch it
It’s kind of depressing I own like 95% of what is behind you !!! 😂
Yes, it's so depressing to actually own things. Grow up.
You could have stopped at the word "incompetence"
Some very valid and true points are made in this video.
But I will say that I do think there is at least SOME truth to the statement, "they want you to own NOTHING and like it." In other words, rather than having customers buy something once (i.e. a physical disc of a movie), they would rather sell an ongoing subscription and get people to pay for these things continuously... at least in theory.
Yes, their primary goal, especially at the executive/leadership level, is to make money, and they will generally try to to what they can to achieve that goal... including selling physical media if it comes down to it. But - even if it was a miscalculation on their part given how most of these streaming services have been doing - there does seem to be a pretty clear cut effort to undermine their own physical media releases, when sometimes these streaming services get the movies (after their theatrical runs) either before the physical release or so shortly thereafter that it gives people little incentive to purchase it. If there wasn't at least some desire to have streaming services replace physical media rather than be in addition to it, they would likely let the physical releases come out first, and then have the movie go on the streaming services a couple/few months later. And in that case they would probably make more money overall.
But they have stopped promoting physical media and even gone to these lengths to undercut it. And with the general public getting so used to streaming and digital distribution as a result, that's why many don't even realize that discs are still being made.
I think the reason why we Disney has even been putting out physical releases of some of the Disney+ Marvel and Star Wars shows for those who want them is more in response to the streaming service not being profitable like they had hoped, and them desperately trying to find ways to make at least some more money off of the shows that they have already dumped a lot of money into. I think that is why it took so long for them to even start releasing them physically. They likely had no intention of ever doing so early on.... hoping the service would be very profitable and people would keep their subscriptions to be able to watch and rewatch these shows. But it hasn't been panning out that way, so they did what they had to under the circumstances.
I don't deny that there are some people at these studios who do care about physical media and want to bring out quality releases. And it is great that there are at least some people advocating for it. I don't think this mentally necessarily extents to EVERY single person working any given studio. But it is a mentality that exists to some extent higher up the ladder with those who ultimately hold the decision making power of where to allocate more resources and what things to advertise and promote.
So, yeah, consumer behavior does drive this. But the actions of the higher ups that make these decisions do, at minimum, help influence consumer behavior. And in that regard, things did not end up the way they are now completely on accident.
I think you’re 100% right. I would however say that folk should get their favourite movies on physical media now before second hand prices go through the roof. I want physical media purely so I know I’m getting exactly the movie I love. The only political aspect for me is how politics could demand that streamed content could be censored on the whim of a given unfair ideology.
I think the general population underestimates the stupidity of corporate executives. These are people with a very narrow experience of life and business, and are promoted straight from business school to positions well above their ability.
This, 100%. They're not smart enough to create any grand global conspiracies. They fail upward.
I haven’t gotten any New releases in a long time, only because I still have some many Things to watch. Also I grew up around VHS tapes and DVDs and I’m a firm believer in physical media. My latest purchase on Dvd was the IT Crowd since it unfortunately got taken off of Netflix, I’m really stoked to have it in my Collection.
I’ve lost patience with TV, especially episodic dramas. Simply I don’t have the time to invest in 7+ hours.
Movies rule as it’s 2 hours or so and that’s it. Beginning, middle and end… done. I love that switch 2 hours off time from life in one sitting, especially in a cinema.
Great video Heath. Very interesting.
This is so true, there is no grand conspiracy. Gotta say, you really made me chuckle at 8:46 "guys, we're talking about physical media here" hahah
Personally I don't think the industry is gonna die. It might change but it won't die.
People turned to RUclips because RUclipsrs made better content. Not just entertainment but news. That's Hollywood's fault. It's been a long time since I've seen a new movie, personally. Or watched a new show. The top things streamed are older TV shows like Friends, The Office, Gilmore Girls. I teach high school. Those kids only talk about old TV shows when they talk about them at all (except when Wednesday was first made on Netflix). They mostly talk about old movies when they talk about movies. Stuff their parents introduced them to. The big problem is there are too many choices. The streaming companies also only make really short seasons of shows and often gives up after one season because they don't get enough views. Of course they don't! It's not like it used to be where there was only a few choices. Especially in the 50s and 60s with 3-4 channels. Even cable/satellite, while they added a lot of channels, didn't really change American TV habits as much. There were water cooler shows.
Honestly, most of the DVDs I buy are secondhand because I'm just filling in old movies and shows I would like to watch but have no access to (I have my absolute favorites). Or ones that it's just cheaper to buy 1 DVD than to pay for 1 month of a streaming service. My newest purchase is "The Bob Newhart Show." I used to watch episodes of it on Hulu (when I had Hulu). $35 with free shipping got me the entire series from ebay. I plan to buy "Newhart" maybe once summer ends. When you buy secondhand though, you aren't really giving companies like Disney the money. Someone else did years ago, yes, but you aren't. I'm pretty much done with Disney except I would love some of the old Mickey Mouse cartoon DVDs that are really expensive secondhand but have a lot of those old cartoons. It's so easy to get Looney Tunes like that. Warner Bros./Discovery kept putting those DVDs out for years and in compilations. Not so easy with Disney.
I do find it hilarious myself. Just because a couple of big box stores decide to stop carrying physical media doesn't mean it's the end.😆 I worked 35 years in Retail Management for specialty companies ie Sam Goody/Musicland Group, Blockbuster Music and Blockbuster Video and unfortunately times changed the way consumers purchase items has changed. I mean, when Amazon came along, it changed everything. I actually worked over 10 years for Blockbuster Music and Video division during the time when they had the opportunity to buy Netflix for some $50 million and Blockbuster big wigs turned down the chance because Netflix was working on the beta version of it's streaming service. The big executives said who is going to stream. We all know how that turned out. The funny thing is to look at how well physical media sales are strong. Clearly not like they used to be back in the day. Studios big and small are remastering catalog classic films either to release on 4K ultra hd or to have a new master of the film due to films ages. I'll keep buying physical media as long as studios keep releasing them. Another great video. Thanks for sharing.
I think the corporations sort of know that most people have moved away from physical media and are focusing on Streaming. Whether we like it or streaming is the future of how movies are viewed. I still think there should be physical media on everything they put up streaming but that’s not going to happen when they want you to watch it on Netflix or prime or whatever platform they have. I don’t think they want you to own nothing and like it. I think it’s a business and they need your 20 bucks a month or so. Problem is it was easier for Netflix when Netflix was the only streaming. Not everyone can afford every platform so they have to either put everything on physical media to recoup costs for people that can’t afford to stream but want to own all the seasons of a series. Or they have to figure out a way to make it cheaper by having these bundles which will end up like cable.
I have kids & yes they like playing video games, watching shows, watching RUclips & TikTok/Reels but they also like going to the movies. My oldest son goes to the movies all the time. This younger generation may not be interested in owning physical media (they buy digital movies) but they do support & enjoy going out to the theater to see movies. In a way they too are keeping physical media alive.
7:27 🫴🏿 The WEF
The World Economic Forum (WEF) predicted that, by 2030, individuals would own nothing and be happy. This article examines the prediction from a property perspective.
I hope movies don't become dead art forum like disco music is. I LOVE the art of filmmaking and it'll be very depressing if it goes away.
I think a lot of mostly guys have turned their homes into movie shrines simply because they tried to live up to our father's ideal vision of a modern picket fence house family but didn't succeed for one reason or another, due to a lot of heartless hate-filled women out there. We tried, we were kicked aside and shoved into the gutter now all we want to do is watch horror and cult movies for the rest of our lives to cover up those wounds. We're not the troublemakers, all we do is sit at home watching monster movies till the break of dawn and then work our day job so we have enough money to buy more monster movies on VHS and DVD. Yes it's true, Full Moon, Vinegar Syndrome, Massacre Video and Terror Vision Films are slowly but surely producing a very slim select few movies on VHS again. We need new VCRs the ones we have are running rough with age.
Simple answer... You can't buy it to own a copy? Make your own! Get a VPN and sail the seven seas... Problem solved.
So we need to bring back an interest in movies. How do we do this? I beleave there will always be a niche group who continues to care about movies but what can we do to get them back to the masses?
Shut down the IP crap machine, starve the studios, and Hollywood will be forced to create new things that are fresh, interesting, and draw people back to the theater. Or they'll just use AI. Honestly, it could go either way, but the onus is on US. We've got to stop feeding bad practices.
I think when it comes to video games the saying is more applicable, particularly with the prevalence of the pay-to-play model and the shift towards consoles not having optical drives. That all feels more deliberate.