You may have noticed that more and more national and independent rental stores are going out of business, or at the very best getting a lot emptier. Many people think this may be the rise of pirating movies, but the truth is, whilst there has been a shift, it hasn’t necessarily been to the illegal.
One major factor which has had an effect is the fact that many movies are now available to buy at the same time as they are to rent. If that wasn’t enough, more and more companies are offering postal rentals which work out much cheaper and in some cases easier than heading to the shops.
However, the postal system still has drawbacks. You still can’t see the films you want when you want to – instead you have to wait for the movies to arrive and you can often be at the mercy of the postal service and their whimsical ways. So in some ways the local rental store gave you more potential to see the films you want when you wanted to.
So what has caused such a change then? Well, like most things, it turns out that it is the internet that has changed things so dramatically. Streaming movies and TV has become increasingly popular over the past few years, providing an easy and accessible way to see the films or TV you want instantly.
Whilst streaming movies may have once been the pastime of the illegal hacker, there are now more and more sites that offer TV and film for free, legally. Not only does that take out the cost and hassle, but also gives people greater flexibility meaning they can now watch movies almost anywhere on anything from their laptop to their phone.
So it may well just be how easy it is to watch films now that killed the rental store.