Distributor Contacts/Help with improving iTunes Content

[-Gonzo-]

Originally Posted by XanderAE

I have contacted Disney regarding the handful of movies that have yet to upgrade to 4K in the UK - just in case it is some clerical mistake that has gone un-noticed. If anyone is interested in doing this also, just to hammer it home to them this issue, please feel free. The email address is wdshe.consumerrelations@disney.co.uk and here is my message:

Hi team,

I'm wondering if you might be able to help, or at least put me in touch with the right department for my query.

This week, a large number of Disney movies upgraded to 4K, Dolby Vision with Dolby Atmos sound in the UK iTunes store. This was fantastic news.

However, a handful of films which are available in 4K in the US store have not upgraded in the UK store, which makes me wonder if there is a clerical issue Disney's end which means these films haven't yet upgraded. The films in question are:

Aladdin (1992)
Aladdin (2019)
Cars 2
Finding Dory
Incredibles 2
Onward
The Lion King (1994)
Beauty and the Beast (1991)
Moana
Frozen
Ant-Man
Avengers Assemble
Avengers: Age of Ultron
Iron Man 3
Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides

I have already spoken to iTunes, who have advised they are simply the storefront and do not control the content and that I should contact Disney directly to get these movies upgraded correctly. This is why I have emailed.

I hope you are able to help make these films available in 4K in the UK iTunes store, to match the US store.

If I recall they didn’t all upgrade at the same time in the US either, the rest will more than likely upgrade on Tuesday.

[XanderAE]

Originally Posted by -Gonzo-

If I recall they didn’t all upgrade at the same time in the US either, the rest will more than likely upgrade on Tuesday.

That's right, it did take time for them to upgrade in the US. I just can't remember how long, it felt like 2 or 3 days but maybe it was longer...

[-Gonzo-]

Frozen is now 4KDV Atmos

[Chopper]

I’ve given Universal another nudge, see if anything happens. You never know they might be quiet over Xmas and have time to look

[OneQuestionMan]

There are a lot of older movies (pre-1970) that are missing from the Irish iTunes Store.

We know that the should be available because they are on the UK iTunes and we are the same distribution region.

An Irish member had some success getting Paramount to add some old war movies and customer support had promised that the appropriate department would do a sweep to find any other missing titles. It was a promise they did not keep.

So the only way we can see to get the distributors motivated is inundate the. With more emails. However this involves picking a movie and searching both the Irish and UK stores. The database on Bly-ray.com is not of much use as it is incomplete - not much interest in older transfer ties it seems. We can’t even go by genres because those are all over the place on iTunes - westerns and war movies are tagged as action, drama, etc. Musicals are classed as comedy or drama or special internet. I’ve tried going by actor but then realised the possibility that just because a film doesn’t appear on either doesn’t mean it isn’t supposed to be - it could be missing from the UK too. We found a few available in Ireland but not in the UK.

It really is a big task and we are a small (and busy group)

Is there any easy or quick way to list categories or movies by decades?

I don’t want to have to email each studio about every missing film but if we bother them enough they might fix it just to shit us up.

And I think that if we have enough of a list we can use it to get Apple involved too. Yes they are only the retailer but distributor errors are giving them less products to sell. And these older movies are the only ones I’d pay full price for - if I’m in the for a certain James Stewart film I will pay the €11.99. That is something that will never happen on newer movies.

[Seth F.]

Does anyone have a contact info for the BBC?

Doctor Who The Matt Smith Years Bundle is only SD but all the episodes have HD versions available.

[OneQuestionMan]

Originally Posted by Seth F.

Does anyone have a contact info for the BBC?

Doctor Who The Matt Smith Years Bundle is only SD but all the episodes have HD versions available.

The BBC website will have a list of contacts.

One of those departments will help - at least be able to point you in the right direction.

[JDGowing]

Universal are still claiming they have no control over iTunes films, annoyingly

Over the last few weeks I’ve been compiling lists of all the films on iTunes UK that are missing 4K, HDR, Dolby Vision, Dolby Atmos and iTunes extras, as compared to their 4K disc and iTunes US counterparts. I also included entirely missing films/cuts including Casino, Universal Soldier, King Kong Extended Version, and Gladiator theatrical cut. I sent these to all the major studios I could find the emails for.

Sony and Paramount got back to me, saying they will forward it on to relevant parties (though not changes have happened as of yet). No reply from Warner Bros, Lionsgate, Studio Canal, Disney, Fox

Universal’s first reply was the usual contact Apple support. I replied saying that Apple was a storefront, they need to provide Apple with the 4K versions of the films in order to sell them. I also mentioned that many of these 4K versions are available in the iTunes US store, and that they are not just absent from iTunes UK, but also on other UK based digital stores like Google play and Amazon.

Their next reply was ‘Please be informed that the digital copy format available on iTunes is managed and supported by Apple itself and the studio has no control over them. Please contact Apple support for further assistance on this issue’

Is it even worth replying to this? I don’t believe they’ve even read these emails properly, if at all. They just see Apple or iTunes mentioned, and automatically try to direct to them. Other than the Jaws 4K upgrade recently, has there been any other successful cases where the studios have taken notice and upgraded films on the uk store?

[XanderAE]

Originally Posted by JDGowing

Universal are still claiming they have no control over iTunes films, annoyingly

Over the last few weeks I’ve been compiling lists of all the films on iTunes UK that are missing 4K, HDR, Dolby Vision, Dolby Atmos and iTunes extras, as compared to their 4K disc and iTunes US counterparts. I also included entirely missing films/cuts including Casino, Universal Soldier, King Kong Extended Version, and Gladiator theatrical cut. I sent these to all the major studios I could find the emails for.

Sony and Paramount got back to me, saying they will forward it on to relevant parties (though not changes have happened as of yet). No reply from Warner Bros, Lionsgate, Studio Canal, Disney, Fox

Universal’s first reply was the usual contact Apple support. I replied saying that Apple was a storefront, they need to provide Apple with the 4K versions of the films in order to sell them. I also mentioned that many of these 4K versions are available in the iTunes US store, and that they are not just absent from iTunes UK, but also on other UK based digital stores like Google play and Amazon.

Their next reply was ‘Please be informed that the digital copy format available on iTunes is managed and supported by Apple itself and the studio has no control over them. Please contact Apple support for further assistance on this issue’

Is it even worth replying to this? I don’t believe they’ve even read these emails properly, if at all. They just see Apple or iTunes mentioned, and automatically try to direct to them. Other than the Jaws 4K upgrade recently, has there been any other successful cases where the studios have taken notice and upgraded films on the uk store?

Great effort, I always commend anyone who takes the time to write to the distributors. Unfortunately, your experience is mirrored with a lot of other users here, especially with Universal.

I personally had a great deal of success with Sony and Warner Bros. initially and with Paramount more recently. However, Sony and Warner Bros. no longer respond to emails and haven't done for quite some time.

Universal has always been terrible with both not understanding their responsibility and feigning ignorance. I would recommend anyone who wants their iTunes films in best quality to have a local and US account. I just don't see the distributors upgrading the extensive list of movies yet to be upgraded in the UK.

[Chopper]

Finally got a reply from Universal, there’s no update but they are going to follow it up again and get back to me. Better than nothing.

[OneQuestionMan]

Originally Posted by Chopper

Finally got a reply from Universal, there’s no update but they are going to follow it up again and get back to me. Better than nothing.

At least we know they are responding again.

[Chopper]

The reply isn’t great

“ Hi Rob. I've heard back from the team and we don’t have plans to launch either ET & Gladiator as yet. Thank you for sharing this feedback with us, the team are taking it on board and will look into our options.”

I’ve asked for more information on why the UK always miss out and asked if I can supply more feedback and invited them to speak to us lol

[-Gonzo-]

Originally Posted by Chopper

The reply isn’t great

“ Hi Rob. I've heard back from the team and we don’t have plans to launch either ET & Gladiator as yet. Thank you for sharing this feedback with us, the team are taking it on board and will look into our options.”

I’ve asked for more information on why the UK always miss out and asked if I can supply more feedback and invited them to speak to us lol

Yeah that sucks.
I messaged them before Christmas asking about E.T. which I mentioned that it seems to be 4K everywhere but iTunes. Everywhere was a little exaggerating I guess as it’s only in 4K via Amazon and SkyQ but still as far as the UK goes that’s almost everywhere Lol.
I received a reply on Wednesday saying he’s going to check up on it so I guess I’ll just await a response that’s similar to yours in the not too distant future.

[OneQuestionMan]

Originally Posted by Chopper

The reply isn’t great

“ Hi Rob. I've heard back from the team and we don’t have plans to launch either ET & Gladiator as yet. Thank you for sharing this feedback with us, the team are taking it on board and will look into our options.”

I’ve asked for more information on why the UK always miss out and asked if I can supply more feedback and invited them to speak to us lol

To be honest I hadn’t wondered if the response was positive or negative since it is Universal I assume they were just blaming Apple.

I meant at the customer service department is still functioning unlike WB and Sony.

[OneQuestionMan]

I need some help as I don’t have access to a device that that can switch regions but I do have a lot of time to contact distributors.

The Irish Store is missing a lot of old movies that should be available here (they are available in the UK). The easiest way to compile a list would be to go by decade but there is no way to search that so I figured searching by actor/director. I had a list on paper but no idea what I did with it.

Can someone please post a photo/screen grab of the search results for the following in the UK store (photos and screen grabs would be easier than someone having to type the out.

Alfred Hitchcock
John Ford
Howard Hawkes
Akita Kurasawa
Cary Grant
Gary Cooper
James Stewart
Doris Day
Myrna Loy
Orson Welles
Humphrey Bogart
James Cagney
Fritz Lang
Buster Keaton

[OneQuestionMan]

Is there phone numbers in the US for WB and Sony customer services ? Or just a company number where someone can ask?

I think someone in the US should phone them to see if those departments are open and to ask why they are not responding.

[OneQuestionMan]

Sony Customer Support has started responding to email complaints again.

They are denying responsibility and passing the buck to Apple, but least they answering.

I have responded to the email explaining how Sony is responsible for Sony movies and how I shouldn’t have to explain that to a customer support agent.

[vonDubenshire]

Lionsgate loves to tell me any reason a 4k version of a movie isn't on Google Play or iTunes that I need to contact Google or Apple.

Yet, we know the production company or distributor is in charge of their own content!

[OneQuestionMan]

Originally Posted by vonDubenshire

Lionsgate loves to tell me any reason a 4k version of a movie isn't on Google Play or iTunes that I need to contact Google or Apple.

Yet, we know the production company or distributor is in charge of their own content!

All the big distributors give this response and I can never tell if it is policy to pass the buck or that one agents lack of understanding of the industry.

However at Sony customer support is answering again after a ninth or more of silence. Hopefully Warner Bros. I’m will start again too.

I will trying sending my complaint to Sony again. Hopefully a better agent will see it.

[OneQuestionMan]

However, iTunes really needs to get involved now I dealing with distributors.

We need to make a joint effort to find someone at Apple to report they types of problems we get.