Best Buy and Netflix recently announced that they would stop selling DVDs by 2024. This shocking decision was seen by industry experts and film connoisseurs as yet another fatal blow on the already dying world of physical media and cinematic preservation. Other retail chains promising to continue selling DVDs and mocking Best Buy and Netflix online did little to stem the dread and pessimism that has been clouding movie lovers for the past few years.As dire as things are for the home video sector are right now, it isn’t entirely hopeless. Physical media may never return to the heights it enjoyed during its peak in the ’80s to the 2000s, but it isn’t going to completely vanish the way some people fear or actually want it to. In light of current events within the entertainment industry, shifting audience mindsets, and more, physical media is arguably more important than it ever has been.Why Physical Media Must Survive For Film’s SakeEven at the medium’s peak and devoid of cultural nostalgia, physical media was far from perfect. Formats like VHS and LaserDisc were too impractical and expensive to collect, DVDs and Blu-Rays were committing the same mistakes that comic books did by prioritizing the collectors’ market too much, and rental chains such as Blockbuster were selective and exploitative by design. Similarly, some people understandably preferred watching movies in the comfort of their home over spending money at the cinema for a film and viewing experience they may end up hating. It’s easy to see why everyone fell for streaming’s promises of convenience and choice in its earliest days. For a time, it really seemed as if streaming was the future, especially during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns. Studio heads and shareholders were intent on making this so by making more media exclusive to streaming. They even proudly boasted that video and theaters were dead. But as pandemic restrictions eased up and as seismic shifts within the industry and audience values occurred, streaming’s avaricious, self-made bubble showed signs of bursting.Studios Suspending Creator Deals Is a Cynical Ploy to End WGA Strike
Best Buy and Netflix recently announced that they would stop selling DVDs by 2024. This shocking decision was seen by industry experts and film connoisseurs as yet another fatal blow on the already dying world of physical media and cinematic preservation. Other retail chains promising to continue selling DVDs and mocking Best Buy and Netflix online did little to stem the dread and pessimism that has been clouding movie lovers for the past few years.
As dire as things are for the home video sector are right now, it isn’t entirely hopeless. Physical media may never return to the heights it enjoyed during its peak in the ’80s to the 2000s, but it isn’t going to completely vanish the way some people fear or actually want it to. In light of current events within the entertainment industry, shifting audience mindsets, and more, physical media is arguably more important than it ever has been.
Even at the medium’s peak and devoid of cultural nostalgia, physical media was far from perfect. Formats like VHS and LaserDisc were too impractical and expensive to collect, DVDs and Blu-Rays were committing the same mistakes that comic books did by prioritizing the collectors’ market too much, and rental chains such as Blockbuster were selective and exploitative by design. Similarly, some people understandably preferred watching movies in the comfort of their home over spending money at the cinema for a film and viewing experience they may end up hating. It’s easy to see why everyone fell for streaming’s promises of convenience and choice in its earliest days. For a time, it really seemed as if streaming was the future, especially during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns. Studio heads and shareholders were intent on making this so by making more media exclusive to streaming. They even proudly boasted that video and theaters were dead. But as pandemic restrictions eased up and as seismic shifts within the industry and audience values occurred, streaming’s avaricious, self-made bubble showed signs of bursting.
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