This recent YouTube video from LTT on the topic of ripping DVDs and Blu-rays has got me wondering:
I’m not a big fan of stores, hoarding physical stuff and DVDs and Blu-rays, but I do love owning my stuff digitally and supporting the artists. Is there a service that let’s you buy the movie, TV series or anime that you want to watch and then simply download it to your drive? No app, no subscription bs, no delivery, just straight money for an .mkv file and that’s it?
TL:DR: Is there an equivalent to Qobuz but for visual enjoyment?
Edit: So in summary, the often repeated mantra of “piracy exists because it is more convenient than traditional services” doesn’t just apply to subscription streaming services, it applies to direct digital movie purchases too. I suppose the best approach remains to split the “supporting artists” part from the “digital file getting” part, at least until a service with a modern catalogue pops up that unifies the two parts.
Other than GOG’s withering “movies” section, I only remember of two that aren’t overly niche, DLsite and Fakku (both mainly porn stores). Maybe Itunes’ videos are DRM free, but I haven’t tested and still it would break the “no app” condition since it’s required for payment and download. Also maybe Itchio and Gumroad have something on videos too, since they don’t limit the types of media allowed there, but I have yet to confirm.
Thanks a lot for your suggestions, admittedly those are all fairly niche and don’t really have up to date content but they do indeed offer a digital video file for money (apart from iTunes, I’ve tested it and can’t seem to get a DRM free video file). Who knew that GOG had a movies section!
As for my personal takeaway from your suggestions and those from others, I guess the best approach is to continue to split the “supporting” part from the “getting a file” part.
Found something: Apparently Recochoku occasionally sells music videos, but the store is blocked outside of Japan.
I appreciate the effort, thank you very much! I’ll look into it as soon as I’m home, hopefully a VPN makes it accessible👍