Background of the Study. Traditional film rental stores base their inventory decisions on formulas using historical rental data, store size, and box office sales among other factors. As titles become less popular, inventory can be reduced by selling previously viewed copies to members for a low cost. Titles that are out of stock are often compensated with coupons good for a free rental when it is available again. The film rental industry is an ever evolving industry that changes with the economy, evolution of culture and technology and to remain viable in the business, the clients must be willing to evolve. In the entertainment industry, video or movies purchase and rentage has evolved significantly since 1888 with the creating of an expert film titled “Roundhay Garden Scene” created by ▇▇▇▇▇ ▇▇ ▇▇▇▇▇▇ and this film has remained the earliest existing motion picture. The first home movie was “Betamax” by the Sony Company in 1975 which was in fact very costly. This was followed by Magnetic Video in November 1977. ▇▇▇▇▇▇ ▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇ was the first person to launch video rental store in Los Angelis in December 1977 and the development continues. As of march 2008 there were approximately 10,200 DVD vending kiosks in operation across the USA with a market value of $198million represented through almost double the number of DVD kiosks in operation as there are many stores currently in America. The growth of DVD vending as opined by ▇▇▇▇▇ ▇▇▇▇▇, former Executive Director of Self Service and Kiosks Association, The potentials of automated DVD rental is tremendous because they are perfect for high traffic, high frequency location such as grocery stores, restaurants, Laundromats, apartment complexes, college campuses and airports Reuters in 2008 highlighted the benefits of automated DVD vending. They observed that consumers are constantly looking for convenience, so, whoever offers that stands to gain market share. Redbox, owned by Coinstar Inc. ▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇’▇ Corp and private investor is the leader in the growing in-store kioss space, followed by privately held TNR, which operates 2, 200 kioks. Others include Blockbusters, Netfix, IMozi, MovieMate, MovieQ, MovieBooth, ThingMagic, etc. In Nigeria today, Music and film rental, vending and distribution will finally take a better shape if upcoming film rental agencies make good their plans. SoForte Entertainment Distribution in collaboration with Sony Music UK plans to be the first to make Nigerian music available whenever there is a demand for it anywhere in the world. The company plans to roll out the most advance distribution technology system this year. According to ▇▇. ▇▇▇▇▇▇ ▇▇▇▇▇▇, CEO of Soforte and an entertainment lawyer, amongst the things to look out for this year is an automated CD/DVD vending machine easier to operate than the popular ATM machine you see around today. These machines would be deployed all around strategic places in Nigeria making CD/DVD purchase easy for consumers. The good thing about this is that it guarantees original CD/DVD sale which would in turn guarantee royalty payment to Artistes and labels, and returns on investment to investors. Also, Soforte would introduce, for the first time in Nigeria and perhaps Africa, Direct To Customer (DTC) purchase service, to music buyers anywhere in Nigeria within 24hours. Other upcoming automated film rental agencies in Nigeria include, BUZZNETZ, who was able to initiate online film vending
Appears in 2 contracts
Sources: Rental Agreement, Rental Agreement