Is Amazon stopping DVD sales?

[Alexandra]

I noticed this morning that when I searched for "ballet performance DVDs" nearly every one that came up on the list said to hurry, only 1 in stock, or 5 in stock, etc. There were very few "More on the way" notices.

Has anyone else noticed this, or read/heard that Amazon is no longer going to sell ballet DVDs?

[CharlieH]

I’ve noticed that the US Amazon site is pushing downloads above physical DVDs and BluRays. Probably a sign of the times as more Americans ditch traditional TV in favor of computers. Electronics stores in the US, such as Best Buy, have cut back on the manufacture and sales of DVD players & recorders. It’s all going the way of the old VHS. However, DVDs are still available and easily searchable in amazon.co.uk and other international sites. It’s a little sad that it will soon be hard to physically own a ballet or movie, to place on a shelf, just as physical books are becoming a thing of the past.

[Jack Reed]

Good question, Alexandra.  In agreement with CharlieH, my guess - it's only that - is that this is "progress."  More and more, such sales are becoming "downloads" - the files are available in "the cloud" - actually some hard drives in California - and sometimes you can pay for the privilege of saving that data - the video and the audio - to your computer.  But not always; sometimes you can only buy a subscription to view or listen to the recorded performance, and then only as long as it remains "up" - available - on those remote systems. 

I was just on Amazon myself looking to buy a recorded music performance, and was offered "streaming only."  Once you hear it, the data leaves your computer, and apparently you have to go back to Amazon to hear it again, depending whether your subscription is still running and whether they've not taken it down in the meantime.  They want us to pay and to keep on paying.  Is this partly how Amazon got to $3 billion or whatever they're worth?  

Myself, I like to have a collection - I have about a thousand CDs and DVDs here - where I can access some favorites when I feel the need - if I don't get a good dose of good dance or music once in a while, something is missing from my life!  And with me there's a good chance that what I need isn't all that popular enough to make its continued availability worthwhile.  And you may want to have material on hand for planning lectures for your courses, as well. 

(I'm willing to pay a reasonable amount for that overture I'm hankering for right now, having heard it on the radio recently - which I thought was the principle behind the iTunes store originally: sell each song cheap and the kids will stop ripping off the pop-music industry, which looked like going under as a result - but all I'm finding is it's in multi-disc sets, and $35 for a 10-minute overture doesn't seem to me what Steve Jobs had in mind in those days.)

My other guess is that VAImusic and ArkivMusic (which does sell a few ballet DVDs) will continue on, as small, niche sellers seem to, for some time.  Small is beautiful, but I don't think Amazon got to be worth $3 billion by thinking small.  They're not going to do us any favors.

(Thanks for the tip about amazon.co.uk, CharlieH, I'll have to try that.  Maybe I can just buy a download of that overture.  If I can convince that site I'm in the UK...)

(End of rant.  For now.)

[pherank]

On 3/28/2018 at 11:32 AM, Jack Reed said:

Good question, Alexandra.  In agreement with CharlieH, my guess - it's only that - is that this is "progress."  More and more, such sales are becoming "downloads" - the files are available in "the cloud" - actually some hard drives in California - and sometimes you can pay for the privilege of saving that data - the video and the audio - to your computer.  But not always; sometimes you can only buy a subscription to view or listen to the recorded performance, and then only as long as it remains "up" - available - on those remote systems. 

I was just on Amazon myself looking to buy a recorded music performance, and was offered "streaming only."  Once you hear it, the data leaves your computer, and apparently you have to go back to Amazon to hear it again, depending whether your subscription is still running and whether they've not taken it down in the meantime.  They want us to pay and to keep on paying.  Is this partly how Amazon got to $3 billion or whatever they're worth?  

Myself, I like to have a collection - I have about a thousand CDs and DVDs here - where I can access some favorites when I feel the need - if I don't get a good dose of good dance or music once in a while, something is missing from my life!  And with me there's a good chance that what I need isn't all that popular enough to make its continued availability worthwhile.  And you may want to have material on hand for planning lectures for your courses, as well. 

(I'm willing to pay a reasonable amount for that overture I'm hankering for right now, having heard it on the radio recently - which I thought was the principle behind the iTunes store originally: sell each song cheap and the kids will stop ripping off the pop-music industry, which looked like going under as a result - but all I'm finding is it's in multi-disc sets, and $35 for a 10-minute overture doesn't seem to me what Steve Jobs had in mind in those days.)

My other guess is that VAImusic and ArkivMusic (which does sell a few ballet DVDs) will continue on, as small, niche sellers seem to, for some time.  Small is beautiful, but I don't think Amazon got to be worth $3 billion by thinking small.  They're not going to do us any favors.

(Thanks for the tip about amazon.co.uk, CharlieH, I'll have to try that.  Maybe I can just buy a download of that overture.  If I can convince that site I'm in the UK...)

(End of rant.  For now.)

Just a note: I've tried to purchase downloadable music from amazon.uk (I reside in the US) and it is disallowed having something to do with international payment issues. Given that I've used PayPal to pay for other purchases from the UK, it doesn't make a lot of sense, but I thought I would warn you. DVDs/Blu-rays may be different, but music downloads have their own set of rules.

Edited March 31, 2018 by pherank

[orangerose]

Don't worry, they're not stopping ballet DVD sales!

On Amazon "(#) in stock - order soon" means that they still have stock available and that a restock hasn't been ordered yet. "More on the way" means there are currently none in stock, and a restock has been ordered.

[Balletwannabe]

Most of the DVDs (not ballet) that are in my wishlist, now say they're only in stock for prime members.  They changed something recently; it's never said that before.

[Marta]

For anyone who might not already know: Other sources for dance DVDs and VCs, both new and used, are eBay and Arkiv Music.

[California]

Another great source for dance DVDs: https://www.vaimusic.com/

Sign up for their e-mail list and and you'll get notice of their regular sales.

[Drew]

My computer is not coordinated with my television and the latter has a very much larger screen so downloading as opposed to owning a dvd is not a great solution at this time. I hope Amazon does continue to stock DVDs.

[sandik]

1 hour ago, Drew said:

My computer is not coordinated with my television and the latter has a very much larger screen so downloading as opposed to owning a dvd is not a great solution at this time. I hope Amazon does continue to stock DVDs.

Me too -- I'm still not much of a downloader, for all kinds of reasons.

 

[orangerose]

12 hours ago, Balletwannabe said:

Most of the DVDs (not ballet) that are in my wishlist, now say they're only in stock for prime members.  They changed something recently; it's never said that before.

They've done this for a few years now. Occasionally certain DVDs and other items will be made exclusive to Prime members for a while. Usually it's DVDs available for a cheap price, in order to encourage people to just plunk down and buy the Prime membership.

[CharlieH]

On 3/28/2018 at 2:32 PM, Jack Reed said:

Good question, Alexandra.  In agreement with CharlieH, my guess - it's only that - is that this is "progress."  ...

(Thanks for the tip about amazon.co.uk, CharlieH, I'll have to try that.  Maybe I can just buy a download of that overture.  If I can convince that site I'm in the UK...)

(End of rant.  For now.)

Jack, I’ve never experienced any problem when ordering DVDs or books from any of the international Amazon sites (UK, Japan, France, Germany, wherever). If there are problems with downloads, I do not care because I’d never pay for something that I can’t physically own and place on my shelf.