There is no question that 2023 was a record year for the Blu-ray format. No other year comes close … in short, a blowout!
The preliminary count (which will continue to expand in the week’s ahead as below the radar entries are added to the various databases) is that there were 8,044 new Blu-ray SKUs entering the marketplace during the course of the year.
To put that number into context, in 2022 the number was 6,034 and the previous year, 2021, the final count was 4,813. In 2020 (during the pandemic, when theatres were forced to shutdown) the total number of Blu-ray new releases was 3,333.
Why the explosion in new Blu-ray titles?
There are several factors, which makes it a bit complicated to say “Oh, it’s because of (pick something).”
First, let’s start with the mega-trend that is not only driving the title explosion, but causing fundamental changes to the distribution and retail community. In a word, MOD (manufacturing on demand), which pushed Ingram out as a distributor and is driving Best Buy out of the market.
In short, traditional distribution (retail and wholesale) is simply not equipped to handle a MOD environment. How do you meet consumer demand on a title-by-title basis without stocking the SKUs? Are you going to set up little Blu-ray title manufacturing stations in thousands of retail outlets (is that even possible) to meet consumer demand?
In 2020, there were 1,918 traditionally replicated Blu-ray titles and 1,415 MOD releases. By 2023 the numbers had dramatically shifted, with 1,720 replicated titles on Blu-ray and a staggering 6,324 new MOD arrivals.
Within this shift, there is also the use of the Blu-ray format as a storage medium — cramming an entire eight to ten episode season of a new series on a single Blu-ray disc.
That was not the intention when Blu-ray was launch in 2006.
The second factor that is driving the unprecedented expansion of new Blu-ray releases is the source of the material … the source of the masters. Namely, streaming and the alphabet soup of VOD … no longer does someone have to used a shaky handheld recording device in a darkened theatre to get the latest hit movie. Nope, you just capture the feed on this streaming platform or that streaming platform, or shell out a couple of bucks for a 48 hour VOD “rental” and you have your master (security is a myth for these pros).
A whopping 1,587 series hit Blu-ray from “Helper” sources in 2023, while legitimate sources — both studio and boutique labels combined — managed to street 110 series, or roughly two per week on average during 2023.
That doesn’t mean there were 1,587 unique series, no, a popular series will often have competing “Helper” releases — consumers have to sort out who does the best job, with the best “transfers” and packaging. It is quite insane.
One, consumer acceptance of MOD Blu-ray (that’s important — capacity over HD), now couple that with the delivery of pristine masters, for not only new theatrical and series, but “old movies” (pre-1997, the launch year of DVD), music and more and the result is a new release pace on steroids.
There is one other factor driving the runaway horror show, which becomes obvious when you look at the numbers. The right’s owners — namely the studios and streaming services (Netflix, Apple TV, etc.) — have given up on enforcing copyright protections.
It’s just a cost of doing business, why play whack-a-mole … it’s not that they don’t care, it’s that they don’t understand the changing nature of the business, which they are driving with their inept management of assets.
Hello, Ingram closed up shop and Best Buy is exiting the physical media marketplace because of the rapid shift in the marketplace.
It’s as easy as One (MOD), Two (Masters) and Three (Asset Management) to see what is going on in the world of Blu-ray these days.
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