No More Video Recordings?

[2000Cadet]

15 hours ago, over60 said:

A couple weeks ago I tried inserting a DVD movie I've had many years into my DVD player but it took three tries before it finally accepted it. I decided it was time to look for a new DVD player so I went online to websites that rate DVD players and found one site that rated my six year old player as still the best in it's category. The way technology advances so quickly that was a red flag.

So I did some research online and it appears that the DVD/CD formats are being phased out, quickly. The current younger generation is only interested in digital audio/video files they can download to their phones/TVs/computers. They are not buying DVD players. Therefore, the manufacturers of DVD/CD players are getting out of the business, or at least scaling back which will reduce supply and raise prices and this is not good news if you're someone like me (75 years old) who has more than a thousand DVDs/CDs, including ALL the DCI videos going back to the beginning.

I thought I would check with the DCI store to ask if they had plans for adding digital championship recordings to the Blu-Rays and DVDs. The DCI store is now powered by PepWear in Texas. I sent the following question to the Pepwear Zendesk Support group: "Has DCI ever mentioned to you about offering digital videos in the future?" Their response was, "Unfortunately, to my knowledge DCI is no longer going to be making Blu Ray's and DVD's." That didn't answer whether DCI was going to sell digital products but it did shock me that they would not be offering any more DVDs and Blu-Rays!

So, I went directly to DCI and asked the same question and here was their response,

 "We are not planning on selling physical Blu-rays or CDs any longer. We also are not planning on selling video downloads other than those that are already available.

We are planning on offering Audio downloads for 2022.

Sincerely,
DCI.org Support"

Notice that DCI's response did not mention DVDs, just Blu-Rays and CDs. It bothers me that they will not be offering digital downloads which is the wave of the future. This is especially bad for me with all those movies and CDs I've accumulated over many years. They cost a LOT of money and I don't want to have to pay in the future every time I want to see a movie I already paid for and own but might not have a DVD player! So, the only thing I can think of is to buy a couple new DVD players now while they are still available at reasonable prices. I suggest you might do the same, especially if you have a large collection like me. Then I thought maybe I could find a way to convert my DVDs/CDs to digital formats to put on USB thumb drives or external hard drives that I could use with my TV but even if I could do that HUGE job, that's over a thousand conversions and my pc would probably melt because video processing is very intensive.

To help clarify the situation I emailed DCI earlier today and asked "I heard you will not be selling Blu-Ray discs or CDs anymore. Will you still be selling regular DVDs?"

They just responded,
"We do not currently have plans to sell physical audio or video media in the future. However, we do have have digital audio and some video downloads available on Marching Music Downloads:

https://marchingmusicdownloads.com

Digital audio downloads are also available on Amazon and iTunes. Thank you for your interest.

Sincerely,
DCI.org Support"

Wow. Say it ain't true!

The only good news is that I learned earlier in the year that Tom Blair will be producing/directing the 3 days of the championships this year so we should have the best views of the shows but it's a shame the performances from now on will only live in our memories, with the exception of the scattered videos that may get posted to YouTube if that will still be allowed.

For some reason this information is giving me negative vibes about DCI's situation. I hope this is not a portent of trouble. Perhaps DCI doesn't want to be bothered with the digital rights issues anymore, especially if the video sales were not profitable. Am I over-thinking this? (It wouldn't be the first time; I'm a card-carrying pessimist.) Hopefully someone knows something I don't and everything will be fine.

Any thoughts?

As someone who works in IT, I am not really surprised by the fact that physical media is no longer around. Technology changes and we have to change with it. I guess youtube will have to suffice. 

[gak27]

1 hour ago, Continental said:

I remember bringing drum corps CDs with me while travelling/renting a car and constantly leaving a CD in the slot when I returned the car.  I'm sure the reaction of some who turned on the radio was close to “WTF am I listening to?”

BITD I only had AM in my first car and would put my boombox on the back seat to play music via cassette.  It didn't take long to memorize the button layout to be able to play / reverse / switch sides / change volume with one hand and not take my eyes off the road.

[Tony Flores]

16 hours ago, Terri Schehr said:

My 2020 Honda has no CD player.  I couldn’t believe it. 

Same w/ my 2019 Honda Accord Hybrid. i love using my Apple Carplay though. Ripped all of my DCI media and uploaded to apple music

[Tony Flores]

As soon as I purchased the Legacy Collection and DCI DVD's & Blu-Ray's, I Ripped them down  to the do an image file and converted each show to a format I can watch on my tablet. JIC the media crapped out. Also ripped the audio files to lossless and uploaded to my Apple Music Account. Marching Music Downloads offers audio download in an AIFF lossless format

[Continental]

14 minutes ago, Tony Flores said:

Same w/ my 2019 Honda Accord Hybrid. i love using my Apple Carplay though. Ripped all of my DCI media and uploaded to apple music

My '78 Honda Civic had a feature where when I took left turns, the passenger side door would open.   It was free.  I didn't have to pay for it.  Had it had a CD player, I'm sure they would have flown out of the car never to be seen again. 

[CadetPhan]

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Edited August 5, 2022 by CadetPhan
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[CrownBariDad]

I'm ok with digital/streaming media as long as anything I purchase can be downloaded and played totally offline. I don't want to buy something that only plays online and then later the lawyers cut off access for some reason or another. 

[Terri Schehr]

10 minutes ago, CrownBariDad said:

I'm ok with digital/streaming media as long as anything I purchase can be downloaded and played totally offline. I don't want to buy something that only plays online and then later the lawyers cut off access for some reason or another. 

I just don’t know what to do with all these CDs.  I moved on with technology but the stuff you’re left with…albums, cassettes, vhs tapes, dvds, cds…. I got rid of a bunch of it when we moved but I still have some in the 3rd bedroom tv console…just sitting there waiting for me to die and someone will have to get rid of my junk. 

[year1buick]

I wish they could work out something with the likes of Spotify, Tidal or Amazon Music to allow streaming/downloadable high definition audio recordings. But I’m not holding my breath. 

[over60]

Now that everyone knows DCI will not be selling videos anymore, including digital files, how many people in the stands will now completely ignore the warning given by DCI at every show about fans not making any audio or video recordings? ("It's the law".) Is there any way to physically stop people from doing this?

I suggest people who will be recording performances from now on begin wearing disguises since we all know that there are video surveillance cameras literally everywhere. Just sayin'.