With over 18 years of history, Blu-ray technology was designed to take CDs and DVDs to the next level. Not only can they hold significantly more data than their predecessors, but Blu-ray discs even let you view high-quality (and 3D content) that often are closer to the experience of watching in theaters than the compressed versions you’ll find elsewhere. Not to be confused with DVDs, Blu-ray discs use a different kind of laser technology, which eventually became the industry standard for film and movies by 2008. In part, this is due to the fact that its players could be backwards-compatible with DVDs, but not the other way around.
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Although some things can (and have) lasted the test of time, the natural progression of most technology is that something becomes obsolete when a newer, better, or more efficient model comes along. In terms of the Blu-ray discs, there are several things that have pushed them to obsoletion.
The real reason we have DRM-free stores is because there’s no copy protection on CDs themselves. Companies tried and failed several times to add copy protection to CDs. That, on top of a great public outcry, is the reason we have those online stores. For some reason the public didn’t fight as hard with video and rights are a lot harder to manage with so many contributors.
You’re right that Musicians can publish their products on their own because the funding requirements are much lower. Movie/TV costs have skyrocketed and very few can afford to publish their own products. Just look at Coppola with Megalopolis. He self funded like $200 million for the movie but still had to get a distributor.