Remember, y’all - Blockbusters still exist, and they’re called libraries! Your local library probably has hundreds of DVDs available for free.

What’s unrealistic is these companies expecting continuous growth year after year. This isn’t a product you need to buy more than one of. At 2024, it’s safe to assume that 90% of people who are willing to pay for a Netflix subscription have already bought one. The market was never infinite.

They really didn’t get that, the benefit of a streaming service, was convenience. It takes me an extra 5 minutes to find a free version, where as Netflix takes me 25 seconds. But then they increased the fee…. again, added ads, cutting everything after the first season, refused password sharing. At this point there’s no convenience. No ease of use. Just annoyance.

about the fan fiction joke, my mom was an english professor for decades and actually studied fan fiction. there are a lot of programs attempting to archive fan fiction. it’s actually more common than people would think for it to be looked at through an academic lens. it’s incredibly interesting to learn about the academic side of it

downfall of streaming means i hope everyone loves how to pirate again. piracy in the 00s was how i became a cinephile and watched world cinema, which led to me actually paying to attend film festivals to watch these films and support these filmmakers in real life and eventually actually work in film. if you are curious and love something enough, you'll be willing to pay for it.

This is why libraries are important!!!! Please support your local libraries! Donate, volunteer, vote, tell your representatives to invest in them. Not only are they spaces that hold onto copies of physical art that you can use for no upfront charge, they are ALSO FREE COMMUNAL SPACES which we are also losing to rampant capitalism.

I'm a media archivist. Not only will we lose finished media, but we'll also lose the raw footage as well. Converting from tape to digital is a super time consuming and expensive process. Therefore, it's reserved, as you said, for only what is deemed "important". A lot of our old tape machines are breaking down, and not many people still have the knowledge and expertise to fix them. Eventually, these machines will be unsalvageable and all this footage will be lost. Not to mention that tape itself disintegrates. So without tons of money and time, a lot of media, including like I said raw footage, will be lost forever.

The anxiety over never owning anything is how I feel about social media, actually. It seems like these goliath apps will inevitably fall and then where will these years of memories go? That really spooks me.

Netflix blocking password sharing was the the straw that broke the camel's back imo. Having the community feel of sharing passwords in a group of friends for netflix, hbo, apple tv etc. is so much better than forcing individualistic consumption of content. After all, streaming along to films/shows together and discussing it afterwards is half the fun! The worst part is - it worked. Netflix's profits increased after banning password sharing which makes me think other streaming companies will follow, i fear

My teenage job at Blockbuster largely consisted of getting yelled at by adults over their late fees

Justice for every single one/two season show I loved on Netflix, that was inevitably canceled so they could allocate more funding to making yet another season of Stranger Things

I think another underlying perpetuator of the streaming fatigue is the recent WGA/SAG-AFTRA strike. Prices continue to rise on the consumer level, but we know that money is not going to the writers and actors, even though none of the media on these streaming services would exist without the writers and actors behind it. I know that when Netflix asks me for another $3 every month, that extra money is not going to the people who actually put in the most work and creative energy to be able to create the shows and movies I'm paying to watch. I have zero idea where that money is going, and that's so incredibly frustrating as a consumer.

tv killed radio and streaming killed tv. i wish we could go back to the golden era of tv shows being 6 seasons and 22 episodes long. nowadays all we get is tv shows being 3 seasons with 8 episodes and they take 2 years or more to produce

Honestly I never watch real tv anymore, like not even Netflix or Hulu or anything, I’m almost exclusively on KZfaq. It’s just easier 🤷‍♀️

Hard driving your work is becoming more and more important for writers. My first ever freelance piece at i-D magazine is lost because Karlie Kloss decided to buy the site and make it a newsletter instead. Dead links are way too common

Many silent films pre-1927 don't exist anymore because celluloid was so flammable and films were considered throwaway. So much was lost. It hurts my soul that 30 years of the internet will have the same fate.

Isn't it wild that streaming platforms are now discovering that the best structure for entertainment is, in fact, the TV way? Staggering releases means people stay interested for longer (so many platforms now release episodes weekly or a few episodes at a time), selling commercials keeps your company financially viable and bundling many services together so we don't have to pay for individual -channels- platforms.

one thing is always certain: mina slays every single outfit in every single video

If buying isn't owning, piracy isn't stealing

The worst part is when they remove something from their own studio and it’s not accessible anywhere cos no physical copy was released 😞 if you do need to find physical media the library does help

mina!!! please get external storage 😭 as a video artist, you saying u don't have copies of your videos had me spiraling

Greed has completely ruined streaming. Everybody and their brother and their cousin has a streaming service that's not worth the money. And what pisses me off is I have like seven streaming services and every time I'm looking for a specific movie it's not on any of them so I started buying DVDs of the movies I can't find on streaming services off eBay for a few dollars. I've grown quite a collection because nothing's on any of the streaming services except for their stupid really really horrifically crappy originals. I honest to God never thought I would buy another DVD player and take up space in my house with DVDs but here we are. Pirate Bay here I come.

Also Netflix keep cancelling their shows after one or two seasons, it’s so annoying. Thats what made me quit on them.

When the first couple of streaming services started popping up & pulling their content from Netflix, my friend and I predicted that eventually all the networks would have their own streaming site. But eventually people would get annoyed with paying for multiple separate platforms. So some company will come along and strike a deal with most streaming companies to bundle them together and bam we basically have cable again accept it's through the internet.

It’s not JUST STREAMING TOO it baffles me how many apps require a subscription of $6-9+/month. Strava? That’ll be $12/month. Spotify? $6/10/month. Duolingo? $6/month Runna? $12/month? Like guys… COME ON. I miss the days of one time purchase (even though I was in elementary school when that was a thing)

remember when the literal point of Hulu was to stream TV shows free online (with ads)

Since Netflix keeps cancelling shows after the 2nd season despite solid viewership because some algorithm told them the first two seasons gets the most engagement, I feel no responsibility to support them in any way. If they consider their shows disposable junk with no re-watch value, I will treat them as such.

Its interesting what you said about people preferring low budget. I like watching youtube videos because they're always filmed in someone's house, making me more connected to the creator and making it more relatable and comforting to watch, even with the good quality lighting and camera. It would feel weird if they suddenly moved to a studio so I kind of get it.

The paradox of the digital age: everything we create is in a cloud forever but also “nowhere” forever. I remembered legendary photos we took 20 years ago that got lost when a device broke or whatever, and all we can do about it now is reminisce about the experience and the cool photo that once marked it. 😢

Streaming is like this close to going full circle and just becoming cable

I feel the same way about video essays on KZfaq. Some of them are brilliant and very contemporary, but will be lost in a matter of decades. I’m planning to download and save a sample of them in my digital archive, to preserve present content for the future, when video formats and language have changed drastically.

The thing that has made me return to scouring charity shops for dvds again was moving country and changing my amazon account country....who knew you lose all your "bought" films and tv shows when you do that? Never ever "buying" virtual media again

Id almost rather just buy DVDs again--pay once have it forever. I dont like paying minth after month when i only watch specific titles.

20:55 This baffled me the most. Why on earth would you turn on something new as "background noise"? When I'm gonna watch a new show or movie, I treat it how I would if I was in a theater: have a snack but otherwise give it my undivided attention. You save the "background noise" viewing for shows and movies that you've seen a bajillion times.

MINA PLEASE CREATE AN ARCHIVE OF YOUR WORK AND BACK IT UP 😱😱😱

The fact even wattpad has subscription and you have to pay for the best fanfics is crazy.

The editing of episodes of shows without warning the audience or giving them the option to see an earlier available version is what really scares me. There's a lot of questions on censoring and propaganda that must be discussed. That is why I support pirating, we need to have a way to access things that companies have removed.

Talking about lost media: this is why libraries are so vital. Through the legal deposit system, they *have* to preserve and archive everything, regardless of quality. I've been to the archives of the French National Library and it has kilometers of shitty VHS preserved, and mountains of video games, including educational ones no one wanted to keep. A famous japanese composer worked on an obscure educational game in the 90s and they were the only one to still have a copy.

What grinds my gears is that the reluctance to release streaming original shows/movies on DVD is becoming a more common occurence and just the slow withdrawal of physical media from most retailers. It's painful to find an incredible peice of work that engages you but can only be accessed through a platform.

Literally I refuse to pay for Netflix after they kicked me off my Dad’s account. The way they handled that role out makes me not want to support them at all.

it's overwhelming as a poor person living in a 3rd world country the amount of streamings and content I cannot access because it costs an amount I cant spare. either this or my favorite cartoons and movies are simply not available or quiquly put out of the streaming service (I'm looking at toy hbo max) so yeah, basically my only resource is piracy when the one thing I like to watch is not available in any viable way.

I was radicalized the day I found out that Ever After (1998) was nowhere to be found on the internet but we had the DVD...that disk is a family heirloom now

That’s why my husband has been buying all his all time favourite movies and TV shows on DVD. He doesn’t want to risk them being at the mercy of these platforms to decide when or if they will be available anymore. Not to mention that they can sometimes edit the original because someone suddenly decided that certain scene is no longer “appropriate” for whatever reason 🙄

We also have to accept that things will go into the abyss of the oblivion eventually. Nothing is preserved 'forever', let alone everything that humanity produces

I am a DVD girl! No commercials! watch as many times as you want! let your friends borrow it!

For someone who functions entirely the "high seas" way when it comes to movies and series, it feels impossible to imagine how anyone lives like this. Paying 50, 60, 100 bucks a month for all your streaming services? For movies you might not even own anymore next month if it's taken off? I'm freaked out whenever I remember a majority of people somehow put up with it.

I feel like these companies are taking advantage of society's collective addiction to content. (I'm not saying I'm not addicted!) Seeing how heartless and vacant The Rings of Power was was the final straw that made me want to get back into reading again and learn how to knit, just because I don't want to be used up and spat out by some company that does not have my interests at heart, or the interests of passionate artists, for that matter.

Hi Mina! Have you ever looked into the KZfaqr merch industry and its ecological footprint? I think this would make an excellent video topic and not many people have researched it in depth yet.

For years me and my dad were the weirdos holding onto our collection of dvds and constantly getting told to just get rid of them, its so vindicating to have people now talking about how nice dvds are compared to streaming!

The Netflix menu has way too many categories and the same content shows up in different categories. It takes forever to find something to watch and what you end up with is usually pretty terrible.

As an Archivist and Librarian who's ended up specializing in media, your part on owning nothing and loosing so much content is what I preach every day! Thank you for elevating this problem on your platform, it's really scary how so many people don't realize we've created a dark age as internet and digital born content is not being systematically saved like past physical media.

goddd there's so many pieces to this conversation...on the DVD vs streaming end an important bit that's completely and utterly lost w streaming is bonus content!! blooper reels, director's commentary, behind-the-scenes, games even!! the ANIMATED barbie movies had blooper reels for christ's sake lmao. obv not all DVDs had bonus content but i think it's important to point out that in many cases you were getting more than just the movie. there's no place for that in streaming tho. and on the subject of censorship & compensation for streams--i think platforms like nebula are really great for video essayists but it IS another subscription. wonderful video like always!!

The point about that we continuously pay but don't own anything really hit me. Also the fact that the media of my youth is extremely perishable. Sometimes it feels like, at the same time, we live in an overabundance of content and the wasteland of creativity, because the pressure to profit is so enormous. Great video, Mina.

streaming was the best when watching online for free in a grey area of legal was the only form of streaming and everything was available on youtube

the part on not being 'second screen enough' at 21:07 is so interesting because while that would be pretty unfortunate to get as a show note, I feel like that's the type of content that I watch on youtube the most. I like having it while I'm eating, doing chores, studying, or smth else, bc it feels like easily digestible content. To be honest, although I've watched all your videos for example I'd be hard pressed to remember anything from a couple videos back because usually none of the content is very relevant to me and I don't think I retain much, but I just enjoy hearing you talk about stuff you've researched in a well-organized fashion. I think this is also why longer videos are popular, as someone who watches and really enjoys Jenny Nicholson's evermore video despite not having been and not ever planning to go to that park. Once I've started a long video, I can just let it play on and it becomes kind of like a 'comfort video' in a sense that sitcoms/familiar shows are just nice as background noise, so that's probably also in part why those videos can continuously do well. Reminds me of how streaming services who wanted to be 'prestige television' are now really wishing they had sitcoms like Friends or the Big Bang Theory.

I feel the fatigue so much. I open Netflix, want to watch a specific movie, it's not there anymore, start scrolling and end up not watching anything because it's just too much. I still have dvds of my favourite movies so I can watch them at any time I want and I don't get overwhelmed by the amount of dvds I have.

The problem with streaming is also the huge number of shows getting produced by the streamers and then cancelled for no reason - one ludicrous example being Our Flag Means Death, which had incredible viewing figures, very passionate fans, and was basically given very little budget for its second season, and then cancelled despite once again being at the top of their series viewing figures. I'm also pissed off at the loss of I'm Not OK With This, Lockwood and Co, Shadow and Bone, Cloak and Dagger, and probably more that I'm forgetting. Here in the UK it's also a bit of a lottery as to what is going to be on which platform, for instance The Great seasons 1 and 2 are on one platform but season 3 is on another, and I still haven't found how to watch season 9 of Brooklyn 99! Anyway, yes, streaming fatigue is definitely upon us and it sucks.

I would like to thank my sister’s friend for showing 11-year-old me certain amazing websites that saved me from spending money on streaming.

i like to do my hair and makeup while watching your videos they are the perfect length and also you talk so clearly i don’t need to be watching your lips or subtitles to understand, and added bonus your style is amazing so i get lil inspirations before i start (edit) 2 minutes left in the video and im abt to do my lipstick and blush yall when i say this I MEAN IT PERFECT LENGTH FOR MORNING GET READY

That’s what stresses me out about streaming, there are so many movies that have essentially ceased to exist if a digital version is not available. People are saying get DVDs from the library, I grew up gettting DVDs from the library and let me tell you 75% of them were scratched, so the likelihood of actually getting through the entire thing is slim. I wish someone could work on archiving old movies…that’s a streaming service I would pay for nothing new all movies 20+ years old

All this talk of media archiving and modern censorship reminds me of my own personal vendetta against Disney: their treatment of the Muppets Christmas Carol. In the original release, there is a sad song in the middle that really helps to humanize Ebenezer Scrooge. It's honestly one of the most poignant points of the film. It made it into theatres and on the VHS. But then when Disney bought the rights, their decided it was too "sad" for children, and suddenly that scene was cut out entirely. Gone. It wasn't on the DVDs and it sure as heck wasn't on Disney+. The first time I tried to stream it (we lent out our VHS and we never got it back [still salty about that] ), I was so confused when the movie skipped right over such an integral piece of the plot. I will never not be mad at the executives.

My biggest fear is that these new good movies won’t even get a dvd/blu-ray release - if Netflix doesn’t get into physical media (even if it’s only collectors editions of thete biggest successes) these movies and series will be lost. I wonder what the ramifications for film historians/scholars will be when they can’t get access to these movies/shows how will they be able to write about them?

My biggest issue is that those big companies have become way to comfortable. Netflix not allowing one of its best features, (Sharing accounts) amazon prime having the AUDACITY to charge more for no adds (no adds were also one of the huge advantages of streaming services) AND the fact that they cancel so many good shows.. so basically everything that made streaming services better than normal tv has been removed lmao

One of the saddest things about Netflix in particular is how they would not renew shows for more seasons if it wouldn’t bring any more subscriptions, which was the case even if these shows had massive fan bases. I stand in solidarity with my fellow Anne with an E fans 😔🤚

Growing up in the '90s without cable nor a need for it, I understand that everyone needs to get paid, but TV has been free for so much of my life that it feels very strange to me that people I know actually pay for streaming services. It's very much the Watcher thing; KZfaq has been free for so long that it doesn't feel good to be asked to pay for it now, or lose what you're used to. But that's very much true of every streaming service, if you're old enough to remember when Hulu was free, when everything was released on DVDs you could just get from the library, when most mainstream TV was just on the free channels everyone had.

Watching Mina’s videos when I’m procrastinating studying doesn’t feel like procrastinating because it’s well researched and actually teaches me sth

Oh Mina!!! You need to keep all your original work, not just the final edit! You can’t ever loose this amazing body of work

‘Let’s just go back to DvDs!’ No TV’s or laptops nowadays have anywhere to put them💀

I feel as though these companies are underestimating our exhaustion with having to throw money - that none of us have - around every. which. way. Eventually, streaming will get _too_ expensive & we'll all collectively decide to use alternative methods until they take down the prices. 2024 is the year of giving absolutely no fucks, and I can only hope that someday these companies will realise that and start being _reasonable_ for once.

If there is something I want to watch, I will subscribe to one streaming service for one month. After I immediately make my payment, I go in and immediately cancel so it doesn’t auto-renew. This keeps me entertained while also saving my money.

there's a dvd rental place near my apartment and honestly it's so fun getting to browse the shelves and see what title sticks out before you can even think of what you want, not to mention how nice it is to be able to ask staff for recommendations when you cant decide what you want to watch

This is soooo comprehensive! You went into topics I didn’t expect just from the title. Ugh well done you! Alsoooo I love saltburn too can you please please do a deep dive on that movie?

I grew up as a pirate. I checked out netflix during that window when netflix was p decent and had most things, before it had many competitors. Got sucked in for a while, got lazy. But I'm happy to say I returned to my roots and I'm never looking back.

I love collecting DVDs from the thrift store and flea markets. There’s an abundance of them at the thrift store, and I spend most of my time in the DVD and CD section. I found a Criterion worth almost $30 for $1.99 at Goodwill. Plus if a film is hard to find physically in thrift stores, eBay has an abundance of DVDs. Physical media is great. I don’t have to go looking around on streaming platforms for one of my favorite films anymore hoping I can find it.

I really liked your deep dive on this! I would love for you to do more videos on this topic as i do believe there’s more that could be talked about 🧡

Mina! I must tell you that I talked about you and your videos during my AP lang argument essay! thanks for making such well researched and interesting videos that have stuck with me enough to remember to use them as evidence🙏🙏🙏

The way streaming uses content reminds me a bit of how some creators use KZfaq. Many channels don’t creating evergreen content, and are mainly creating clickable, trendy, and discardable content. They are just worried about quick engagement.

Wouldn't it be so ironic if DVD made a huge comeback

My apt building makes everyone have a cable /internet package and i love it fr. It’s nice to just turn on the TV and watch whatever is there vs. needing to decide on something like with streaming. Plus it includes on demand so i need less streaming services, apps, etc. because i can just watch a lot of stuff through my main cable company.

The Take has a great essay about what streaming has done to classic movies. They push and push more of what's new and what they "think" their viewers would like. I know there's Criterion and Prime Video, but they're the only main stream streaming services that have a decent vintage movies selection

Love love love your take on the disappearance of 2000-2010 content. There is something a bit scary about it. I mean I'm 26 I spent quite a lot of time on those foregone websites. Now half of the stuff I was doing / watching has probably vanished. It's like having your childhood stuff thrown away lmao

The muzak idea is wild because literally no one would pay to subscribe to muzak, and even if people are on their phones watching things, if they're paying for it that implies that they value it. If they just want background noise/visuals they'd use KZfaq.

im always left amazed by your videos. the detail, research and presentation is so intriguing. thanks mina!!!!

I already commented BUT i gotts say, i've seen a good number of vids talking about "too many subscriptions/streaming services" but this one goes much more in-depth and it's so great. Thank you Mina, for always being the best ❤ Also, as someone who loves hours-long video essays/analyses, it's pretty rare to watch the whole thing in one sitting. There's only a few creators that i can sit and watch with my full attention for 2+ hours

I’ve been stealing digital media for 20 years and I’m not stopping, but I’ve been buying/burning disks for just as long and that’s also not stopping. You know what radicalized me recently? When I found out that Amazon cut out hours of content from Hunters, including most harsh and resonant scenes, like the human chess scene - arguably the one deserving of preservation most. I didn’t even like the show that much, but I was so incredibly incensed by this I had to download a pre-cut copy for archival purposes

I'm convinced whoever says cable was better never had cable. Episodes or whole ass movies being unconviently cut and then you had to wait like 5 minutes to continue it, and therefore a 2 hour movie would turn into a 3 hour one. Not to mention how they always just played the same movies and episodes over and over again. Plus if you wanted to watch something then you had to schedule your day around that.

I never thought I would have an existential crisis over wattpad not existing anymore...

really enjoyed this video mina! your vids are always interesting, well-researched, and well produced.

I really enjoy how your videos take one current event and recontextualizes it within larger historical and cultural phenomena. It’s my favourite format of video essays.

I was on Amazon Prime a couple of days ago and I was watching the Bob Marley documentary from 2012. My mom came in and thought I was watching the biopic that came out on Paramount Plus weeks after that. That's how bad this problem is.

just the fact you added Jaime French in the beginning

I will say I think the aspect that you didn't cover enough to offer context was the financial aspect of the current streaming situation. Its not just netflix offered a large library on demand for a smaller price than cable originally for them to increase the price on consumers, but that the current financial situation of those consumers is constantly changing. The financial disconnect of the media and the consumer is not just on this parasocial level we see with watcher, but is indicative of sentiments towards these more established production houses. At the beginning of financial hardship viewing a piece of media with extravagant production can be viewed as a type of escapism, however there is a point where that scale tips. If a consumer is experiencing financial hardship and they are watching a piece of media that has a very high budget but they feel like the media doesn't match that budget its going to breed resentment. We had a case study of sorts with marvel. People are not just burnt out with the over saturation of the media but with the increase of production. People still think fondly of the original Iron man despite it being lower production budget (though still a very big budget) than later marvel movies because it wasn't reliant of the spectacle of the production. Endgame was a spectacle of a movie and though it did well, for many of the audience if felt like a stopping point. Further if a night at the cinema is the price of groceries for a few days, or a subscription is the price of a meal that day and thats a financial decision that you have to consciously weight, then a movie being bad is a far bigger upset than it would be for people where that is not a decision they have to think about.

This new era of streaming really made me realize how important my dwindling physical media collection was! Now I have started growing my DVDs, CDs, VHS tapes, physical video games, and vinyls again. I feel very happy when I want to engage in some media and all I have to do is open a cupboard and pull it out. I’ve always been poor, like couldn’t always afford wifi and bills and such, so I didn’t stop using dvds until around 2019, I think that’s why it’s so easy and comfortable for me anyways

Seeing this video right after hearing that Netflix, Peacock, and Apple TV are gonna be offered in a bundle is hilarious. Someone on Twitter did mention that all of the bundling could be because the businesses are failing and they are banding together to stay afloat.

Your video essays are amazing. I learn more from you that from anything I learnt in university.

playstation removed a bunch of games that people bought too - spending over $70-$100 per game and it was just removed with no refund because they lost their partnership with someone - the only way to get the game back is through piracy. if you already paid for something is it ethically even wrong to pirate it if it was "stolen" from you?

23:24 small correction, the Dutch subtitles are actually swedish!

To me netflix has always reigned supreme because their video player actually.... work. I've been trying out some other streaming services and the apps are totally broken. I decided to take a netflix break when the password crackdown happened and me and partner couldn't travel seperately while sharing and I've been loving audiobooks, radio and public service streaming.

Omg Mina 😭😭 not you not having a backup of your content!! Girl you should have 2 😳 💘💘 protect your work

A banger once again... luved this... Additionally with people having just media fatigue in general I believe we will see a large change in how media is consumed and displayed.