Boycotting streaming services in supporting physical media

Since 2023, I started boycotting streaming services (Netflix, Max, Disney+, Paramount+ and Amazon Prime), because first off I was extremely pissed at Paramount for being such lazy asses for not releasing Loud House Seasons 4-6 (now 4-7) and as well as The Casagrandes Seasons 2-3 including their movies on physical media which they deserved to be, instead they rely on streaming services, then when I found out such services will price jack ya that’s an utter highway robbery, they even do that in Canada while we were suffering from stupid inflation too. While DVDs, BluRays and now 4K UDH have bonus features (commentaries, deleted scenes, bloopers, games), audio languages and superior picture and audio quality, all streaming services lacks all of that which is utterly pathetic. And that’s not the worse part, streaming services even kills off (removes) shows, animations and movies without any reason.

I’d found some articles and videos on YouTube that people are supporting physical media and collecting massively as they can and I’d give them and everytime and when I posted my comments I always leave #BoycottStreamingServices and #SupportPhysicalMedia everytime and even in social media like Twitter I posted the same and I even expressed why I did, I even once posted these hashtags to Miguel Puga (creator of The Casagrandes) and expressed that “The Casagrandes Movie” should be out on physical media too. So you see why I’m angry at Paramount as of then and still continue my anger towards them? They keep relying on Nickelodeon shows to be on Netflix, but I guarantee ya those shows will be the victim of Netflix animation hell hole. Now because of them, they resorted me to get these movies and shows on DVD/BluRay unofficially like I got both “Loud House Movie” and “The New Adventures Of Winnie The Pooh” on BluRay from Etsy and “Glitch Tech” on DVD from eBay.

Most people don't buy physical media. That's why Best Buy don't sell CDs or DVDs anymore. Although they do carry a few records (vinyl). Even the video & CD section in Walmart is very small now. They don't put CD/cassette players in cars anymore and most newer PCs & laptops don't have a disc drive. If people watch movies & TV shows on their phone, they don't have to spend money on discs. This is also why Billboard & the RIAA today counts a certain amount of streams as a sale of an (physical) album & for chart positions, although nobody bought anything. Not even a download. The majority is never going back to physical media, because there's an entire generation that grew up without it. Napster was the beginning of the end for that. Even with new movies at movie theaters, many of them go to PVOD or streaming on average of 5 or 6 weeks after release.

Also many of the streaming services make their own content. So that's the only way you can see it. I doubt that the majority of it is pirated/bootlegged. Like I don't think people pirate those many Christmas romantic comedies on Lifetime. There are many things that will never get an official release for various reasons. Such as the owners don't want to (Porgy & Bess from 1959), legal issues, it's too obscure, music clearances (sometimes the original music is changed), or content considered offensive by modern audiences (Disney's Song Of The South, Warner Brothers 'Censored 11"). A lot of old stuff is lost, deteriorated, or destroyed by fire/weather.

DuranDuran said:

Most people don't buy physical media. That's why Best Buy don't sell CDs or DVDs anymore. Although they do carry a few records (vinyl). Even the video & CD section in Walmart is very small now.

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That’s what’s makes me mad and not trust them. I’ve been to both Wal-Mart and Best Buy last year during Christmas shopping and they still sell physical media, well Wal-Mart has more than Best Buy have, if they got rid of them I’ll force myself to boycott and I will wear signs to prove my point. If companies don’t care about physical media, then they’re just pushing us to buy those unofficially or download and burn them into discs.

PoP said:

That’s what’s makes me mad and not trust them. I’ve been to both Wal-Mart and Best Buy last year during Christmas shopping and they still sell physical media, well Wal-Mart has more than Best Buy have, if they got rid of them I’ll force myself to boycott and I will wear signs to prove my point. If companies don’t care about physical media, then they’re just pushing us to buy those unofficially or download and burn them into discs.

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Why would they stock something that the general public is not interested in? I don't think Best Buy ever made that much money from CDs or DVDs, because they usually sold them for really cheap as a loss leader. Best Buy really wanted people to buy appliances & computer equipment. There's a few records stores where I live. They sell new release cassettes and even 8-tracks. There's "Record Store Day" & "Cassette Store Day". But cassettes are not popular enough for a mainstream department store like Walmart & Target to sell. The main MTV channel stopped showing music videos years ago, except maybe a few in the middle of the night. It's reality TV shows. If MTV remained a music video only channel, they most likely would be off the air now. I don't even know why they still have the Music Video Awards. Which was not even on MTV, but on the regular free network CBS. People watch videos on Youtube. Like DVDs made the old video rental stores like Blockbuster obsolete. Because DVDs were generally cheap, compared to VHS tapes. Video rental stores existed because many VHS movies were costly. Like $90 (US) or more for one tape.

Also decades ago there were stereo stores like Radio Shack. People played music on a boombox or a cheap component home stereo. The average person today listens to music on their phones with earbuds or Beats headphones. They can have a playlist with hundreds of songs rather than carrying a Walkman where you only have 1 tape or CD, maybe a radio on it. Why would people buy a CD when they can listen to music for free on Youtube. Entire albums are on Youtube, uploaded by the record labels. Drake & Taylor Swift have so many songs chart on the Hot 100 because people are streaming their entire albums. It's not like Drake is a big CD seller. Probably the only artists that have some physical media sales are Taylor Swift & Adele, maybe Bruno Mars.

With movies & TV, a lot of people don't watch them more than once. So that's why they stream or rent discs from Redbox. It's like people in the past who only listened to the radio, but didn't buy records, tapes, & CDs. There are people on Youtube making videos reacting to old songs/TV & movies/movie trailers, which they are streaming. Decades ago, people didn't watch other folks watching or listening to something. It's a different audience now. Younger folks also tend to have a shorter attention span. That's how some songs today become hits from TikTok videos.

I buy mostly physical media but I stream too. I have the new Superman pre-ordered on 4K Blu-Ray.

The only streaming I’m fine with is YouTube and maybe PlutoTV. But seeing the stupid changes YouTube is doing like the AI age verification and everybody fighting against it in the US. If it happens in Canada or any other countries doing it, I’d boycott YouTube so fast that my plans for content will be dead.

I have a fairly old car, so this maybe unrelatable to those who have newer car models.
I recently purchased some CDs to listen to in the car as I missed hearing music from large speakers rather than my phone. Now, I am not blaring my music, but the music definitely sounds miles better in my car system than on my phone, now when I play music on my phone it sounds tinny and less immersive in comparison. I wouldn't boycott anything digital but I certainly still see the value of physical media.

Listening to History on the car system, really loud on a long journey is a whole experience, and I feel I hear things I didn't even notice before.