Looks really cool, I have a few L&L DVDs in my collection but nowhere near the whole inventory. How much is on there currently?

So what’s the deal here? I subscribed. I just logged in and there’s no access to anything. Wtf.

I just verified and I'm still seeing everything. Did you get the confirmation email when you signed up?

Do you think he wants to add penguin live (or similar format) to the site. If so more like the NETFLIX model. That would solve the new content problem. I like.
I'm just thinking out loud.

I can almost guarantee a big NO for that idea. L&L and Penguin are competitors (to an extent). Penguin, as well as most "Legit" magic retailers carry L&L Publishing DVDs that they buy wholesale from either Murphy's or L&L directly (I don't know those kind of exact details). Dan had several dvd (Originally VHS sets that he made for L&L long before Penguin got him). Hopefully Penguin will eventually start their own streaming service along the same lines with the content "They Own" like their own dvds and the ones they bought the rights to along with the Live Lectures. Technically though, they already have their "Live Lectures" on their own streaming service (although a bit expensive IMO. I prefer to just get the few I really want). You can sign up monthly and get all the lectures (plus you get the advantage of "Owning" them by being able to download them for offline and future viewing.

I just wish L&L would get back in the business of actually creating good quality magic again.

They're almost a dinosaur at this point and their website is horrendous.

They use to be the standard others aspired to ... back when there were slick paper catalogs and VHS tapes - and real honest-to-goodness books you could hold in your hands.

Oscar

Is it more wrong than paying £15 to see a movie at the cinema, and then a year later seeing it come up on Netflix?

L&L aren't making any new stuff: their entire business is now to monetise their catalogue.

I've bought plenty of L&L stuff in the past, but would consider this.

Sankey's stuff on L&L is excellent.

I was hopeful about this. I own a lot of this on tape and was looking forward to having digital access. There has been little progress made on catalogue, and frankly I am a little surprised it rolled out in such a state. I will give it one more month and then I’m out.

We just posted the following videos!

Classic Force ............... R. Paul Wilson
Comedy Rope Trick ..... Ted Leslie
C & R Rope .................. Dan Harlan
The Classic Force ......... Daryl Martinez
Cups & Balls ................ Al Schneider
Lady Rope Routine ...... Michael Finney
Cup & Ball ................... Daryl Martinez
The Hindu Basket ........ The Pendragons

I subscribed and so far enjoying but it would really be great if they would add DVDs and not just tricks.

It's a great idea and a great price.

There are some, to be expected, growing pains, but overall for $10 it's definitely worth checking out.

Some suggestions in case anyone is interested.

The ability to make a playlist. I watch a lot of magic videos in the background, which I assume is also how a lot of people watch. It would be really uesful to be able to string together several videos that would play back to back.

In the tricks sections, several of the performances are not next to their explanations.

Some way of letting subscribers know when new content is added. As is, one has to search through every page to find out if new material has been added.

Overall I'm happy subscriber and see myself using this resource often.

Best,
Brandon

If you choose the magician tab you can watch all of their videos back to back, but a mixed playlist would be cool too.

Mr. Gainor,

Thanks for that tidbit I didn't know it autoplayed like that. That is a nice feature. Hope they are able to build on it.

Thanks!
Brandon

I think that every major magic company eventually will have to take this route.

It's no secret that the major magic dealers have made a large sum of their money from selling magic to beginners and hobbyists in the past. However, the younger generation will not be as willing to pay for information when it's available for free on sites like youtube. Of course, most of the youtube tutorials are horrible but people who are just getting into magic don't understand that at that point.

I would think twice before buying a lot of magic in the near future as I think this will be the norm in the future and it sucks for us who have spent a lot of money buying dvds and downloads from these companies.

That is an interesting point.

I suppose we have seen the same with Spotify, Netflix & YouTube.

People you are 35 and above remember what it was like to spend a lot of money on DVDs & CDs. Whereas for the younger generation - they would never dream of such a thing. I often wonder where that discretionary spending ends up going instead?

Ironic mustaches, probably.

I've been migrating off of physical media for awhile, so I am excited that magic (not just punter instant download) videos are now available.

I have DVD's on my magic shelf and VHS's in a trunk somewhere. My day job has me moving a lot and packing up books, props, and DVD' seem to grow each move.

I remember (I'm 52) buying storage units/furniture to house all of my cassette tapes and VHS tapes back in the day. Back then it was nice to show off your library but it did take up a lot of space.

I do continue to buy books, but lybrary.com is my go to place for non-collectables. With all the magic videos in the cloud I need not buy yet even-larger external memory drives, and with the bandwidth available today (I remember dial up) streaming is the better option.

How do you all feel this will change the magic landscape?

On one hand, having entire libraries from the world's greatest magicians a (legal) click away is a wonderful thing. The generation that just missed the L&L heyday will now get to see some the best produced instructional videos the community has to over, in the way they are more accustomed to having their content delivered. Magicians like Johnny Thompson and Al Schneider who have entire lifetimes of incredible magic to share with us are now being put in front of new magicians who might not have otherwise had the chance since they aren't releasing material as often today.

But it could also lead to information paralysis where there is so much content to search through and learn that it feels too overwhelming.

What are you guys' thoughts.

Best,
Brandon

Yeah - too much information can be a bad thing.

You can easily become a consumer who is constantly snacking on new information.

I'm sure this will spur some swiss army knife magicians and a few doppelgangers (monkey see, monkey do).

The goal is to find something that may fit your style/character, and even then just be an inspiration to seeing something from a different angle.

I'm finding some nice nuggets to ponder upon and a lot of things;though very cool, does not suit my style.

At the very least for $10 a month it has inspired some interesting thoughts...