Sales of physical media including 4K Blu-ray, Blu-ray and DVD are rising, according to major British retailer HMV (reported via BBC).
According to HMV chief executive Phil Halliday, sales of “physical visual” content have increased overall, noting that “4K and Blu-ray have done particularly well”. Reported figures suggest that HMV’s “visual category” has seen a 5% increase in sales in the first half of 2024 (as a spokesperson told the BBC).
Despite this increase in physical media sales for HMV, digital entertainment and retail association Era reports that DVD and Blu-ray sales fell 4.7% in the first half of 2024which means that overall sales are still declining.
It’s still positive news for the physical media market, though, and follows other positive reports about the “declining” format from earlier this year, including news that Sony is taking over distribution of Disney’s physical media output following fears that Disney was planning to halt sales of 4K Blu-ray after it halted sales in Australia last year.
Earlier this year, it was also confirmed that two major US retailers have committed to offering 4K, Blu-rays and DVDs in their stores: Gamestop and Fred Meyer. This means that there are new places where you can physically buy 4K Blu-rays.
While sales are still falling, it is undeniable that a lot of effort is being made to keep physical media alive and in some cases, namely HMV, some retailers are seeing increased sales. If streaming is theoretically so easy and convenient, why is this?
Streaming sites aren’t as great as they seem
Streaming services have overtaken physical media in popularity due to their massive libraries that are available without taking up any of your space since no physical discs are required. But in the past year or so, there has been a lot of negative backlash against some of the top streaming services, like Netflix, Prime Video, and Disney Plus.
The main issue is price. Since the start of 2024 alone, we’ve seen an eye-watering price hike on Disney Plus in Australia and New Zealand (split into two plans, with Premium costing an extra AU$48 / NZ$48 per year). We’ve been warned to prepare for another Netflix price hike this year, and Max could also see its prices hike in the US – up from the $19.99 it already costs for its 4K subscription.
In 2023, it was also reported that Disney Plus and Netflix price hikes made streaming more expensive than cable TV for many households, when saving money was one of the main reasons for ditching cable TV in the first place.
Another issue is ads. Streaming sites now offer ad-supported tiers for less on their streaming sites, but some of these are just as expensive as their standard, ad-free tiers used to be. Prime Video defaulted users to this new ad-supported tier when it switched over, and unless you pay an extra $2.99/£2.99 a month you’re going to get these ads – something that’s not going to happen with 4K Blu-rays.
Finally, there’s another problem people face: changing libraries. All too often, when people want to stream the best Netflix movies or the best Prime Movies, they find that the film they wanted has disappeared due to changes in corporate agreements. It’s frustrating to rely on one of these sites to store your favorite movies, only to find that months later it’s gone – which is why people are turning to 4K Blu-rays and other physical media, so they can have a permanent copy without worrying about it disappearing. Even in cases where you’d think there’s no chance of a movie disappearing, it happens – companies like Disney Plus and Max remove movies and shows they’ve produced themselves, for business reasons that often remain officially unclear.
Blu-ray revolution
When I tested the same movies on Blu-ray versus Netflix and Disney Plus, I found that picture quality wasn’t the biggest difference (although it was still better on Blu-ray, as shown in the comparison image above with John Wick4 (Prime Video on the left and Blu-ray on the right), but rather sound quality – which was miles above Blu-ray. It’s another fundamental reason why it’s so important to keep physical media alive: to give home theater fans the best possible quality at home.
Combining the best 4K Blu-ray player, the best TV, and the best soundbars creates a much more immersive experience than streaming actually could. And because streaming sites are locking away certain features like 4K, Dolby Atmos, Dolby Vision and more behind higher price points, the value of 4K Blu-rays that pack many of these features into a single disc becomes even greater.
Final thoughts
It’s great to see that there is hope for the physical media industry and while sales are still generally declining, I don’t believe that 4K Blu-ray is dying. There are efforts to keep it alive from Sony, retailers like GameStop and HMV, and not to mention the great work from companies like Arrow Video and Criterion who do excellent restorations, remasters and reissues of classic films, giving home cinema fans the releases they crave.
It is important to provide an alternative to streaming sites that think they can constantly change their prices, run ads, and change libraries whenever they feel like it. Physical media is more important now than ever, because its success must send a message to these sites that their users have a limit to how much they are willing to accept.