Buying physical movies (and music)

[Lucius Paisley]

There were no records at $1.85, more like $7. Still have all of mine, even though the turntable took a tumble on a cement floor and may not work.

It's called hyperbole. However...

And before you say it, obviously these records are not the kind that would ever be worth $6000 to anybody.

 

[tanta07]

Spotify and YouTube to a lesser extent, have rendered CDs completely obsolete. There is no scenario where I would want one or need one, that I can really think of..

Any place without WiFi and/or cell signal?

 

[nickmsmith]

Any place without WiFi and/or cell signal?

You can download any playlist you like, with Spotify. No signal needed once downloaded. On computer or mobile. You can have thousands of songs ready to go in an instant, with no signal.

It really was a game changer for me. 12 bucks a month for the family plan. Well spent for a family that loves a variety of music. It is one subscription I never plan to get rid of.

 

[tanta07]

You can download any playlist you like, with Spotify. No signal needed once downloaded. On computer or mobile. You can have thousands of songs ready to go in an instant, with no signal.

It really was a game changer for me. 12 bucks a month for the family plan. Well spent on a family that loves a variety of music. It is one subscription I never plan to get rid of.

Intersting. I'm very slowly starting to enter the 21st century. May take me a while.

 

[nickmsmith]

Intersting. I'm very slowly starting to enter the 21st century. May take me a while.

I resisted for a long time myself!!

movie and TV streaming is a different animal. You can subscribe to 10 different streaming platforms, and still be missing a lot of movies/shows.

but for music, Spotify has nearly everything besides Garth Brooks and a few others that have opted out. It’s amazing. Apple Music and others may be similar. Not sure.

 

[Impulsive guppy]

I copied my cd’s to the iPod, and stream with SiriusXM.

 

[CalicoSkies]

You can download any playlist you like, with Spotify. No signal needed once downloaded. On computer or mobile. You can have thousands of songs ready to go in an instant, with no signal.

It really was a game changer for me. 12 bucks a month for the family plan. Well spent for a family that loves a variety of music. It is one subscription I never plan to get rid of.

I've used Spotify, though not a whole lot. Sometimes I forget you can download songs from it. Can you play the songs anywhere though, or only through Spotify? I wouldn't mind being able to download the songs and put them on my Plex media server, for instance.

Also, even though I'd buy albums, I still find it weird to think of paying a monthly fee for listening to music. Sometimes I'd go a while without buying an album from an artist I like, but I can still listen to all my music. Also, I would imagine they may remove music sometimes? That could get annoying. And I would imagine there might be some music I like that they just don't have.

 

[Neil.C]

Still have my old CD's.

I still play them and actively seek them out in charity shops - 3 for a £1 around here!

Not interested in streaming or whatever.

 

[Cali Dude]

I still like blue ray-dvds. It's nice to have shows like "Sopranos" or "Game of thrones." I love CDs too.

 

[Thrup'ny Bit]

Still have my old CD's.

I still play them and actively seek them out in charity shops - 3 for a £1 around here!

Not interested in streaming or whatever.

The charity shops round here won't take CDs and DVDs any more because they can't get rid of the ones they already have.

 

[fommof]

I ditched physical copies of movies and music (well, most of them) long time ago since they take a lot of space and they are not very practical to me.

Streaming was never an option for me since I don't like being dependant on internet connection.

So, I keep everything in hard disk drives (with backups).The HDD capacities are great nowadays and not as expensive as they used to be 20 years ago. On the other hand, in terms of movies, I am still on the FHD/1080p wagon, no interest in 4K whatsoever.

And I can access everything I like with just a few clicks since 99% of the time I enjoy both movies and music them via computers.

 

[bbarott]

Not me. Having the stuff on-hand isn't worth the space it takes to store all that crap. Plus the format invariably ages, first it was VHS then DVD and now Blu-Ray is showing its age. I'm over it.

 

[crawdaddy]

Funny thing, the wife decided that I needed to get rid of stuff...so I tried to sell a bunch of DVD's and some Blu-Rays as a set for about .50 each.....after a couple of weeks of zero interest (even tried to give them to a retirement home nearby, no dice, even they stream)...I gave them to a local charity.....

I also had my laser disc player along with a bunch of movies up for sale and that package sold the first weekend with a lot of interest.

 

[nickmsmith]

I've used Spotify, though not a whole lot. Sometimes I forget you can download songs from it. Can you play the songs anywhere though, or only through Spotify? I wouldn't mind being able to download the songs and put them on my Plex media server, for instance.

Also, even though I'd buy albums, I still find it weird to think of paying a monthly fee for listening to music. Sometimes I'd go a while without buying an album from an artist I like, but I can still listen to all my music. Also, I would imagine they may remove music sometimes? That could get annoying. And I would imagine there might be some music I like that they just don't have.

Yep you can only play it on the Spotify app.

they don’t remove stuff super often. The only album I was looking for that ever disappeared was the 1999 Rippingtons album, but it came back on a month later, and has stayed since.

 

[bbarott]

I resisted for a long time myself!!

movie and TV streaming is a different animal. You can subscribe to 10 different streaming platforms, and still be missing a lot of movies/shows.

but for music, Spotify has nearly everything besides Garth Brooks and a few others that have opted out. It’s amazing. Apple Music and others may be similar. Not sure.

For music I'll buy hardcopy for sure, and if it isn't avaliable I'll buy lossless format and make my own. Music is worth the trouble, vids not so much.

 

[Engine Swap]

I bought records like a madman during "vinyl winter". Have between 4-5K. Paid an average of $1 each. I'm a gear junky and I like the physical act of playing a record. I like the limitation and constraints of the format - an artist has to put out a body of work to fill both sides, as opposed to a playlist.

Like CDs too. I just "re-lasered" a 1988 Kyocera player and my local library has tons of good stuff.

Open to streaming options, if a good provider emerges.

 

[CalicoSkies]

I ditched physical copies of movies and music (well, most of them) long time ago since they take a lot of space and they are not very practical to me.

Streaming was never an option for me since I don't like being dependant on internet connection.

So, I keep everything in hard disk drives (with backups).The HDD capacities are great nowadays and not as expensive as they used to be 20 years ago. On the other hand, in terms of movies, I am still on the FHD/1080p wagon, no interest in 4K whatsoever.

And I can access everything I like with just a few clicks since 99% of the time I enjoy both movies and music them via computers.

Where do you buy movies that are available for purchase as just a downloadable video file? As an alternative to physical media, I suppose I wouldn't mind that so much. But it seems that most of the time, you'd buy a movie on a physical disc and it would have a code that you could redeem online for the movie in streaming format - and then it's usually only playable on one streaming service.

Not me. Having the stuff on-hand isn't worth the space it takes to store all that crap. Plus the format invariably ages, first it was VHS then DVD and now Blu-Ray is showing its age. I'm over it.

What do you mean by 'showing its age'?

Funny thing, the wife decided that I needed to get rid of stuff...so I tried to sell a bunch of DVD's and some Blu-Rays as a set for about .50 each.....after a couple of weeks of zero interest (even tried to give them to a retirement home nearby, no dice, even they stream)...I gave them to a local charity.....

I also had my laser disc player along with a bunch of movies up for sale and that package sold the first weekend with a lot of interest.

I think it's interesting that some people just don't want them around, but others like them. At one point, my ex wife wanted some newer copies of some of her favorite movies (on blu-ray/dvd) so she could watch them again. She had them on VHS, and we didn't have a VCR to play them on.

When I had my house, at one point I had a shelf with my blu-ray/DVD movies on it in the living room near the TV. We were thinking of selling the house and looking for another house, and there was a real-estate agent who described my movie shelf as an "eyesore". I wondered if that was really so uncommon that a shelf of movies is an eyesore?

Also interesting that there seems to be more interest in older formats like laserdisc and vinyl..

Yep you can only play it on the Spotify app.

they don’t remove stuff super often. The only album I was looking for that ever disappeared was the 1999 Rippingtons album, but it came back on a month later, and has stayed since.

One thing I just don't like is when they restrict you to play the media only with a certain app.

I bought records like a madman during "vinyl winter". Have between 4-5K. Paid an average of $1 each. I'm a gear junky and I like the physical act of playing a record. I like the limitation and constraints of the format - an artist has to put out a body of work to fill both sides, as opposed to a playlist.

Like CDs too. I just "re-lasered" a 1988 Kyocera player and my local library has tons of good stuff.

Open to streaming options, if a good provider emerges.

Years ago I had seen Kyocera cell phones, but I didn't realize they had made CD players.

 

[Scott Baxendale]

It seems many people these days tend to watch movies & TV shows via online streaming. I do that to an extent. I also still like to buy physical copies of movies I really like. Maybe I'm just hanging onto an old tradition?

One frustrating thing about the trend is that if I want to upgrade some of the movies in my collection (i.e. from 1080p blu-ray to 4K), it has become harder to sell the ones I have. It seems not many people are interested in buying. Not too long ago, I realized they had released the Indiana Jones movies in 4K, so I bought that set. I've put my 1080p blu-ray set up for sale, but nobody has bought it.. I've had ads for it on OfferUp & Craigslist, and I've had it up on eBay for a few weeks now with no buyers. I thought Indiana Jones was popular enough that someone would want to buy it, but it seems not.

Recently they started making 4K releases of the Star Trek movies (so far, there's a set of just the first 4 movies released in 4K). I have a blu-ray (1080p) collection of all the Star Trek movies that I've put up for sale, but no bites yet. I thought the Star Trek movies were still popular enough..

It seems that physical copies of movies just don't sell like they used to. I've seen some stores in my area that have just stopped carrying movies & TV shows on blu-ray/DVD.. I guess I can understand why, but it's a bummer at the same time.


Edit: The main reason I like having my own copy of the movies & things I really like is that I can watch them any time I want and not have to rely on streaming services. Internet and streaming services can be unreliable sometimes.
Also, Amazon Prime is the only streaming service I'm paying for too, though I don't watch it very often (I mainly have Amazon Prime for Amazon's free 2-day shipping, as I tend to shop on Amazon frequently enough).

That’s how they get you. You will have to just hang on to those blu ray discs or give them away until around 20 years from now when some kids discover how good Blu-ray really was and can still buy a player at a thrift store for $3. Vinyl went away for awhile. In 2001 you couldn’t sell a vinyl record and now they can’t make them fast enough. By the way, vinyl is the only way I purchase or listen to music. I’ve never downloaded a song from iTunes or Spotify. Cassettes are making a comeback right now and old prerecorded cassettes are increasing in value. The same thing has happened with video games too.

patience and packratting is your solution.lol.

 

[nickmsmith]

Where do you buy movies that are available for purchase as just a downloadable video file? As an alternative to physical media, I suppose I wouldn't mind that so much. But it seems that most of the time, you'd buy a movie on a physical disc and it would have a code that you could redeem online for the movie in streaming format - and then it's usually only playable on one streaming service.


What do you mean by 'showing its age'?


I think it's interesting that some people just don't want them around, but others like them. At one point, my ex wife wanted some newer copies of some of her favorite movies (on blu-ray/dvd) so she could watch them again. She had them on VHS, and we didn't have a VCR to play them on.

When I had my house, at one point I had a shelf with my blu-ray/DVD movies on it in the living room near the TV. We were thinking of selling the house and looking for another house, and there was a real-estate agent who described my movie shelf as an "eyesore". I wondered if that was really so uncommon that a shelf of movies is an eyesore?

Also interesting that there seems to be more interest in older formats like laserdisc and vinyl..


One thing I just don't like is when they restrict you to play the media only with a certain app.


Years ago I had seen Kyocera cell phones, but I didn't realize they had made CD players.

I use it on my phone primarily, so using the app is more handy than anything else for me. I have it everywhere I go.

 

[lbpesq]

Our fairly extensive DVD collection, which usually gathers dust, has come in quite handy the last few years when PG&E (California’s power utility) has turned off our power (Public Safety Power Shut-off) for 2-3 days at a time during fire season. Our little generator puts out enough to run the fridge, a few lights, and the TV/DVD player.

Still use CDs, too. We have an old 200 disc carousel that I put on random song play. I also still use CDs in the car. No problems with lost signal or no satellite connectivity.

Of course, I’m also still using my Pono Player, so I’m really out if it, hehehehe.

Bill, tgo