LOVEFiLM, RiP: 2002–2017
This DVD rental service pushed the envelope for movie buffs.
After 15 years, DVD rental service LOVEFiLM is closing for business. The company was founded in 2002, when it was known as DVDsOnTap during its first year of trading. LOVEFiLM merged with various rivals during its history, but found notable success around 2008 when it was reaching 1.4 million customers. This resulted in Amazon becoming a major shareholder.
In many ways LOVEFiLM’s fate was sealed when Amazon then bought the company outright in 2011, in a move seen as a way of Amazon to control a rival to their streaming service Amazon Prime Video. They kept LOVEFiLM going without shutting it down immediately (it was clearly making them good money), but they never advertised it as a good alternative to Amazon Prime. And now, after 6 years as a quiet corner on Amazon UK’s website, its loyal customers have received this e-mail:
“We have very much enjoyed delivering the LOVEFiLM By Post service to our customers. However, over the last few years we’ve seen a decreasing demand for Blu-ray and DVD rental as customers increasingly move to streaming. Due to this, we will be closing the LOVEFiLM By Post service on 31st October 2017.
Until then, you can continue to rent movies and TV shows on Blu-ray and DVD discs as usual. There is no need to take any action. You will not be billed for your LOVEFiLM subscription after 30th September 2017, and you can continue to enjoy the service until it closes on 31st October 2017.”
It’s undoubtedly true that streaming video-on-demand (SVOD) has become the most popular way for people to watch video at home. It’s more convenient than waiting for a postal delivery of a physical disc, and far cheaper than paying £10–20 to own just one DVD/Blu-ray outright. But I think it’s a huge shame to be losing a rental service.
Why, exactly? Do you just hate change and progress?
No, I just hate backwards steps for consumers who love quality and choice. Look at the two major benefits of LOVEFiLM over any SVOD service.
- Streaming has certainly improved by reaching a high standard of video and audio quality for most people’s needs. Most of the content is available in HD, and 4K is slowly becoming prevalent, but the fact remains that physical media offers the best experience. There’s no compression on a disc, so pictures don’t pixellate and there’s no unsightly ‘banding’ in dark scenes. More noticeably, SVOD still doesn’t offer True HD/DTS-HD or Dolby Atmos soundtracks. If you’re an audiophile with a good home theatre setup, there’s just no contest.
- The quality and variety of films on SVOD is infamously weak. In the UK, Netflix and Amazon Prime get a smattering of recent releases and they may get the odd exclusive deal with a studio, but their libraries are mostly comprised of old catalogue titles, and bargain-basement crap. Sky TV (and by extension their NOW TV streaming-only offshoot), have access to the latest films far sooner, but they only stream in 720p.
LOVEFiLM may not be as popular today as it once was before broadband speeds got faster and Netflix entered the picture with temptingly low subscription fees and no contract, but the frustrating thing about this news is LOVEFiLM were still offering the best deal for movie fans.
- You could rent 2–4 discs, from a choice of 80,000 titles¹, for >£15 a month, in better quality than any competitor (beyond buying numerous discs yourself for a ridiculous cost), and most titles became available weeks or months before Sky TV or any SVOD service.
¹ In 2016, Netflix US had around 7,000 titles, to put that into perspective.
When you put it like that, it’s even more galling to realise LOVEFiLM will soon be consigned to history. What’s worse is how many people will perceive LOVEFiLM’s loss as another overdue nail in the coffin of physical media, when the facts are that Netflix/Amazon largely only offer ‘convenience over quality and variety’ when it comes to films. And I know which I prefer! But the wider public have fallen for all their marketing buzz, alas.
I’m not totally against SVOD. It definitely has its place. I subscribe to Netflix, Amazon, and NOW TV, but the true benefit of SVOD is with their television shows. It’s easier to keep track of multiples TV shows with a SVOD account tracking your way through each season, and not having to swap out numerous discs is a huge blessing. But for movies? SVOD still can’t compete with inserting and playing a tactile disc, sorry. It’s vinyl all over again.
Annoyingly, Netflix and Amazon both realise this fact. That’s why they focus on TV shows and original programming. Increasingly, their movie offerings feel like an afterthought. Some distributors want nothing to do with them. Other have exclusive deals elsewhere. The problem is getting so bad that Netflix/Amazon have started producing their own movies to plug the many gaps that are arising, or in Amazon’s case become financially involved with making movies to guarantee the exclusive streaming rights.
And don’t get me started on the fracturing of the SVOD marketplace, with companies like Disney realising they could make more money by removing their content from Netflix and starting their own subscription service. Soon, there’ll be dozens of SVOD services in existence, each costing £6–10 each month, and you either suck it up and subscribe to every single one, or choose your favourites and accept you’ll have blindspots.
LOVEFiLM was never like that.
Almost every movie of note is available on the service, both new and old, for a reasonable fee that doesn’t get hiked every few years. And in my experience it’s easy to keep track of upcoming releases and add them to your “queue”, or broaden your horizons by renting a few obscure foreign titles. If you’re deaf, LOVEFiLM caters for you better than SVOD. If you don’t get good WiFi, LOVEFiLM is your only option outside of TV broadcasts. If you love watching extra features, LOVEFiLM is where it’s at.
There are so many pros to the LOVEFiLM model, and the cons are minor issues based around laziness. I even enjoy seeing a familiar white-and-red LOVEFiLM envelope on my doormat and tearing it open, versus… well, what is the alternative exactly? A Netflix phone app coldly suggesting you watch Gypsy and Ozark? Even the experience of finding a movie to watch on SVOD is a soul-destroying 10 minutes scrolling through rows and rows of “suggestions” from a list of movies you know better than to watch, or have seen countless times before.
But, come Halloween, LOVEFiLM will be no more. SVOD will have taken another scalp. Now that’s scary.
But let’s not end on a downer. LOVEFiLM’s days are sadly numbered, but I recommend Cinema Paradiso as a good alternative to keep the physical media rental dream alive…
