The Factsīlu-ray is not the only physical media that is suffering from the rise of streaming. The 'boutique Blu-ray culture' allows films, whether they are vintage, small or forgotten, to be kept alive and 'within the conversation'. Raftery adds: 'If your favourites aren’t on your shelves, there’s a chance they could disappear on short notice.' Streaming can be ephemeral, while a physical Blu-ray copy can serve as a back-up. The likes of Netflix and Amazon Prime Video are 'pushing a smaller, far more mainstream canon'. 'But one of the main driving forces behind the format's renaissance is the simple fact that the mainstreamers all have sizable gaps in their movie libraries.' He argues: 'Some are drawn to Blu-ray because of the unsatisfying video quality of streaming films for others, it's the sheer joy of tactile pop-culture paraphernalia, as some small-label discs come with elaborate packaging and hours of extras. According to Wired's Brian Raftery, there are 'sizable gaps' in the movie libraries of streaming services - something that the 'boutique Blu-ray culture' can fill. Blu-ray movie and TV show sales only came to £3.07n. According to a report by the Digital Entertainment Group, a further £3.47bn was made from the sales and renting of online movies and TV shows.īlu-ray, however, saw a 14.6 per cent drop from 2017. In 2018, subscription streaming took the lion's share of video sales with a 30 per cent year-on-year increase, making just under £10billion. Vaughan-Nichols says that 'the numbers speak for themselves' when you compare how much money is spent on streaming to Blu-ray sales.

The industry's leading manufacturer, with a market share of 37 per cent, is 'just beating the rush to the door'. Samsung, the company that launched the first commercial Blu-ray player over 10 years ago, is discontinuing new Blu-ray or 4K Blu-ray players in the US market. Vaughan-Nichols argues that Blu-ray is dead - and the end has been caused by the rise of streaming services. However, some argue that Blu-rays can fill the gaps in the movie libraries of streaming services. Samsung has announced it will no longer produce new players for the US market, and more could join the company, reports Perspecs.

Streaming services such as Netflix, Amazon Prime and Hulu could kill of the physical media.ĭespite only hitting our shelves over a decade ago, the Blu-ray could be soon a thing of the past.

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