September 17, 2024, 8:11 am | Read time: 9 minutes
Interest in DVDs and Blu-rays continues to decline, and this has consequences. Now Sony even wants to stop production altogether. For TECHBOOK author Woon-Mo Sung, this is a real tragedy. But hope dies last.
I love owning things that I like. Holding them in my hands, looking at them, sometimes even sniffing them and knowing: This is mine, this belongs to me. Without additional context, this sounds a little worrying, but don’t worry, it’s not about interpersonal relationships. It’s “just” about things – CDs, records, DVDs or Blu-rays. I love collecting them. Day in and day out, I look through my shelves with the voice of Gollum whispering in my head: “My precious!”. However, the end of Blu-ray makes me very sad because the decline of physical media is progressing inexorably.
Overview
Nothing beats having your own video library of DVDs and Blu-rays
Fortunately, I grew up in a time when the home video market was flourishing. Even as an elementary school kid, I was able to persuade my parents to rent or buy VHS tapes not only of child-friendly cartoons but also of the sci-fi action classic “Aliens” (rated R, but who cares).
The fact that I can call a copy of my favorite film my own and watch it whenever and as often as I want still feels like pure luxury today. Especially in times of the dominance of various streaming services such as Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, and Disney+. In my own small and lovingly curated video library of DVDs and Blu-rays, there are (at least in my eyes) almost exclusively highlights worth seeing that I enjoy watching repeatedly.
There’s aesthetic arthouse horror like “The Eyes of my Mother” (not available on any streaming subscription as of July 2, 2024) next to the nerdy indie romance “Me and Earl and the Dying Girl” or the action-packed “The Raid 2” next to the infamous Belgian media satire “Man Bites Dog” or the Japanese comedy “Beyond The Infinite Two Minutes”. “Top Gun: Maverick” on 4K Blu-ray? I can’t miss it either. And I even own three copies of the French classic “Hass.”
Thanks to DVDs and Blu-rays, movies are mine
I enjoy all of this without being subject to the vagaries of a shaky internet connection and opaque license agreements. Because when I buy a movie, it’s mine, period. With the exception of a seizure of all my belongings or a good old-fashioned burglary, no one can come along and simply take it away from me.
Because nowadays, buying often doesn’t just mean buying. I know I can easily buy titles digitally and often for much less. This saves time, materials, and space and will be easy on my back the next time I move house. Amazon, for example, does this, and it has long been the dominant way to get new video games.
If you buy digitally, you own nothing
But many people don’t realize this: No one tells you that, strictly speaking, you are only paying for the service of providing it. But if a contract changes behind the scenes, an agreement expires, or a service is even discontinued completely, your digital video library may unexpectedly disappear. This also applies to streaming subscriptions.
Apart from exclusive films and series, licensed works come and go on a daily basis. It’s easy to lose track. With my DVDs and Blu-rays, however, I now feel like an archivist of valuable cultural assets, hoarding them for posterity. And if I’m in the mood for a particular movie, I don’t have to track it down in various paid subscriptions – if it’s available at all.
Streaming is great, but …
Don’t get me wrong, I certainly recognize the benefits of streaming and have used it extensively in the past. The constant and, above all, convenient availability of numerous titles and some very watchable in-house productions at a relatively low price – who can resist that?
However, over time, I realized that the “everything at once” mentality just doesn’t suit me. When you could copy PlayStation games illegally back then, I suddenly had a pile of games. The short-term fulfillment of all my dreams quickly gave way to the realization that I now owned too many games to give them the attention they deserved.
It’s the same with streaming: I found myself opening Netflix and the like less and less often at home. And when I did, I simply clicked through some tiles and ended up watching nothing.
Sales more than halved in 10 years
That’s why the slow death of DVDs and Blu-rays makes me want to cry. With the advent of new streaming technologies, more and more people are turning to subscription-based offerings. The silver and blue disks are increasingly becoming shelf warmers.
According to Statista, DVD sales in Germany amounted to 163 million euros in 2023. Nine years earlier, it was still more than a billion. Blu-rays only generated 139 million last year, which is also a decline. Between 2013 and 2023, sales fell to 49.5 million units – that’s more than half.
The situation is similarly bleak in the rental market. The still active video stores generated only nine million euros in 2022, compared to 222 million in 2011. The declining interest is resulting in a dwindling number of rental companies. Most recently, there were reportedly only 345 conventional or vending machine video stores in Germany. According to the Statista survey, 52 percent of people in Germany are said to use a DVD or Blu-ray at least infrequently. This is almost 20 percent less than in 2014.
Sony’s plans are an ominous sign
The fact that such a large and, especially for Blu-ray, influential company like Sony is planning its long-term withdrawal from the business in these times is like a stab through the heart of collectors. As part of the Blu-ray Disc Association (which includes other companies such as Samsung, LG, and Philips), the Japanese company once played a key role in the development and market launch of Blu-ray. The decision to rely primarily on Blu-ray technology for the PlayStation 3 as the first ever games console is said to have been decisive for the medium’s triumph over the rival product HD-DVD at the time, as reported by “Focus“.
But that was once upon a time. As the Japanese newspaper “The Mainichi” claims to have learned from insider sources, Sony is cutting 250 of the current 670 jobs at one of its most important production sites for optical media. According to the sources, the company wants to cease production completely in the long term. It was not until 2023 that the film production division Sony Pictures announced that it would no longer distribute DVDs and Blu-rays in Germany.
Sony is not alone in this. Disney, also part of the Blu-ray Disc Association, is also giving up North American disc distribution – ironically to Sony, according to the US industry publication “Variety.” Due to recent developments, this will probably only be a temporary commitment. In Germany, this step was also taken in 2023. According to a press release, LEONINE Studios took over the task in Germany, while Sony has found a partner in Plaion Pictures.
The “Oppenheimer” case
The demise of DVDs and Blu-rays seems to be inevitable for the time being, at least for the broad mainstream market, even if it will come later than my colleague Adrian Mühlroth once predicted. Nevertheless, the medium is showing itself to be combative and also has prominent support for this.
Director Christopher Nolan, for example, said that fans should buy the physical edition of his multi-Oscar-winning masterpiece “Oppenheimer” “so that no evil streaming service” can come and take it away. A lot of attention and care had been put into the Blu-ray version. The fans were grateful. The rush for the 4k Blu-ray of “Oppenheimer” was so great that it sold out in the meantime, as “The Wrap” reported.
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Is there hope for fans?
Of course, such success is an exception these days. However, it shows that there is still a market for these discs. It may be getting smaller and smaller, but perhaps films and series can survive (and then come back?) on physical media in a similar way to vinyl records, for example. These were also considered dead for a long time and have been selling better and better for around ten years.
CDs have also recently experienced an unexpected upswing after 20 years of declining sales figures. This is thanks to big names such as Taylor Swift, Olivia Rodrigo, and Metallica. And even the music cassette and its Walkman are celebrating a small comeback.
Numerous specialized labels for arthouse or genre films already serve their fans with lovingly designed physical versions. The Criterion Collection has even released Netflix films and has long been world-famous among connoisseurs. In German-speaking countries, companies such as Nameless Media, for example, bring rough horror films such as “Terrifier” parts 1 and 2 onto the market with several unique covers. The editions of these sell out completely.
Sure, they won’t be the biggest editions. But if DVDs and Blu-rays could at least have a steady niche existence in the future, I would be very happy. Who knows, maybe one day, they will celebrate a revival. Other media show that contrary to expectations, more people like to hold their treasures in their hands after all. And perhaps there will also be a comeback due to the ever-increasing streaming prices that consumers are becoming increasingly frustrated with. After all, the Netflix hit series “Arcane” is also set to be released on Blu-ray.
I will remain loyal to physical media for as long as I can. I just love the ritual too much: peeling the foil off a new movie on the sofa in the evening, opening the case, holding the disc in my hand, and carefully sliding it into the drive. “My precious”.