ayase said:
I thought the Blu-ray Disc Association expressly forbid SD content being released on BD?
Interesting detail! I'd be interested in reading up on this further.
Couple of things I'd pick out of your comments above - not to argue with 'em, but because they're interesting:
ayase said:
Re: Pricing - Anime makes its profit in Japan, and it seems the licence holders view the international market as less of a way of making extra money and more as a threat to the Japanese domestic market due to lower prices and fears of reverse importation. International transactions are easier than ever thanks to the internet and global (semi-)free trade, so higher prices are back and they're back to stay.
That's pretty much how I see it. It's apparent that the problem with price-point lies with Japanese licence holders and the fees they ask for. I've spoken to two industry insiders working Stateside (I'd name names, but they might not thank me for it!) who described those fees as 'making it almost impossible to turn a profit'. Which is sobering to contemplate.
It actually seems to me that, the more I learn about the business of licensing, distributing and selling anime, it must be a VERY financially precarious venture. One guy I'm friendly with in comics retail has commented to me that he's seen numbers at various stages which suggest it's an unsustainable market. But common sense says there must be some gain in it, otherwise I doubt we'd see anybody actively putting it out there at all.
Bottom line for me, though, is what I stated in my last posts. Too high a price = fewer sales, and certainly fewer sales to casually interested people. That problem is exacerbated when those casually interested types may by now be used to paying at a lower price point, and then start going to the extent of actively boycotting releases, publicly slagging off distros, seeking less than legal means to view shows, etc. because they feel hard done by.
Then again, lower price doesn't necessarily = more sales and profit. So it's a thorny one.
The mechanics of the industry are certainly changing. I thought it was interesting that recently Andrew from AoA mentioned high numbers of people streaming shows, with that being an avenue for reaching new fans. But I'm 100% convinced that there's no need to see ANY disproportionate increase in price over what we're typically seeing shows retail for right now. And enough people complain to me that they feel priced out of the market that it feels fair to say that some physical releases are becoming unaffordable.
I keep banging this drum because it seems to me that all concerned in the business of flogging this stuff basically need to work out how to sell it to more people and how to keep prices competitive. It's how literally every other business on the face of the planet works, even in entertainment. Without product being accessible and affordable, it'll never reach a wider base, and if you go too far the other way, it WILL die. Or aspects of the market will, at least. Maybe not quickly, but inevitably.
But... I've said way more on this now than is really appropriate in this thread.
I'll let somebody else comment on the other stuff Discotek announced...
