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we live in a time where streaming services are dominating our society. it's subscription after subscription to watch movies, shows, listen to music, or... do a lot of other things. why does everything have a fucking subscription service now?
anyways, in this time of many subscription services, they are starting to get more and more predatory. changing their policies to include ads so you have to pay extra. cancelling and also removing shows or movies exclusive to that platform, making it unavailable for anyone to watch. not paying musicians nearly enough. using ai. combining with other streaming platforms for whatever reason and creating a monopoly. continuously raising their prices but not their content. i could go on.
people think that with the existence of these streaming services, we now have every movie, show, and song at our fingertips, but that's simply just not true. in my house, we have a ton of streaming platforms for some reason, and i still have trouble finding a specific movie at times. which leads me to just pirating it. and with platforms like spotify and apple music, sometimes i find songs on one and not the other (i only have apple music, but i have a free spotify account). not to mention, there's a huge amount of demos or old songs from smaller bands no longer around that you won't find on those platforms. but that doesn't mean you can't find them and preserve them in another way.
i'm a record, cd, and dvd collector, and i'm hoping to start collecting cassettes and maybe vhs. plus, when i buy a video game, i would much rather have a physical copy than a digital one. the increase in streaming services and the decrease in society, and specifically corporations, wanting to preserve art and caring about making it accessible means i care more and more about collecting physical media.
not only that, but it's just fucking cool. yeah listening to music on spotify is super accessible and easy, but putting the cd in the player and then looking inside the little booklet makes me so happy.
there is so much care and love put into the creation of cds, records, dvds, etc. dvd menus used to be so creative sometimes, and they prepared you for the movie you were about to watch. plus waking up to the menu screen BLASTING a song was always fun. and they came with special features, something that, although still exists, isn't as valued anymore. putting them all in one section of a dvd felt special i don't know.
cds having booklets with lyrics and sometimes folding out into posters. the art on the cd. records having back and sometimes inside art. the records themselves can be different colors. and so so so much more. cds and vinyl have so much more than just the music to them, and it's what makes them so special. you don't get all this by just clicking on a song on spotify or apple music.
video rental stores used to be heaven on earth. it had a different kind of charm that streaming services can't emulate, even if they're a bit similar. and the streaming service killed it. i miss you, family video and blockbuster. did you guys know that redbox is now going bankrupt, too?
but after all this long, stupid rambling, what exactly is my point?
my point is that there is value to expanding outside of streaming. if you really love music or movies, buy them. get a cd. get a record player and buy a vinyl (records and players aren't cheap so i don't blame you if you don't pick up this hobby). buy some dvds. BURN some cds and dvds. learn to download songs. learn to torrent. if you enjoy your music and movies, learn to preserve and cherish them.
cds and records are common right now, so artists sell them on their merch sites if you want to directly support the artist. when streaming services aren't paying artists jack shit, merch and ticket sales are how they make money. when more people were buying cds, records, and cassettes, it was easier to make this living than it is now, but they're more obsolete methods of listening to music. so, if you can, buy directly from the audience. hell, even buying a digital download link helps!
buying a blu-ray or going to a movie theater (which is also starting to die a little as movies start going to digital much faster than they used to) is a good way to support filmmakers and actors if you want.
but remember it's not actually an expensive hobby. half of my cd collection is handed down from my mom, and most of the other half is from second hand stores. goodwill has a fuckton of good cds from various artists, especially depending on where you are. i don't live in that good of an area, and i still found gems. same with dvds. some of them are new, some of them are handed down, and a lot of them are second hand. and i'm giving all these a second home. it's a somewhat obsolete medium, but preserving these is so so important i think.
burning cds is so easy and fun. you get a youtube to mp3 downloader, download whatever songs or albums you want, and make sure you have a disk drive (which sadly do not come with laptops anymore) and some blank cd-rs. windows comes with software to burn discs built in and my disk drive also came with it. plus i'm sure most of you on here know how to do that already. i think this is another way to preserve music physically when you 1) can't find the cd or 2) can't afford it or 3) mixtapes are fun. you are still giving these songs a physical home.
and finally, pirating movies. won't go into detail (rules are rules), but i will say, it is important to the preservation of media. as streaming services and corporations are removing shows and movies from their platforms, piracy is the thing preserving them. it used to be something seen as so unethical ("you wouldn't steal a car") but now it's almost crucial to making sure media doesn't get lost. the creator of a show called final space was encouraging viewers to pirate his show because that's the only way you can watch it now. fucked up, right?
to make a long post short, don't be afraid to expand outside of streaming platforms. physical media is like an art form in itself, and it doesn't have to be expensive to collect. preserving media is so important, but these services and corporations are making it difficult to do. don't let media get lost!
some good resources about this topic and to help find and preserve media:
Comments
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chemiZ
I really want to collect CDs/DVDs but in my country its really hard theyre too expensive and hard to find:(
lammy
THIS its so important, im in a fandom(?) which can probably be considered lost media and there is so much stuff that was solely put online in one place that just doesnt exist at all anymore
✮⋆˙ Greyson/Bowie ✮⋆˙
I’ve actually discussed this with my dad once because he was kind of around when there weren’t any steaming services and he basically said that its easier, he doesn’t have the time and care that comes to getting the physical copy, finding it, ordering it, deciding where to put it etc etc. Its easier having a subscription and he doesn’t need much and doesn’t really watch the same movie multiple times so it’d be a waste of money.
However i’ve recently started a DVD collection, i have about 40 DVDs now and yes i love them, i prefer them over streaming services however to find certain movies it takes a lot of time and money to get it and i wouldn’t want to rely on my DVD’s as i watch around a movie a day. I wan’t to start collecting CD’s but unlike DVDs you can’t really find the ones you like in a charity shop atleast i can’t, i dont really have the money for CD’s plus i listen a lot to music and its just not the most handy option for me personally.
I prefer most things as physical media though, its nice to just own something instead relying on some mega corporation that only cares about your money and could remove your movie or favorite song any time they want to. Most people just couldn’t afford it or don’t have the time for it which is sad fr
I don’t think its ever going to die or something though because most people prefer to have a physical book though E-books are much cheaper and portable. Younger people are collecting Records again
streaming is definitely more convenient (and i use streaming services occasionally too) but honestly part of the appeal of physical media to me IS the finding.
by BK!; ; Report
shedscape
THISSS! I've started collecting all my music on cds & am about to branch out into dvds too.
PanicClinic
This! It's gotten so frustrating, some of my favorite cartoons and media do not even exist in physical format. Been collecting a mix of records, cassettes, tapes, VHS and even Laserdiscs for a long while now.
It's also important to keep an eye out, sometimes the stuff you find at the thrift isn't available to anyone online anywhere, I've come across obscure media that has no traces of it's existence online. Eventually I want to digitize what I can.
that's so cool! and yes digitizing is also super important for preservation and i meant to include that in my post as well. physical copies can't last forever and aren't accessible, but digital copies can easily be erased if a website or the internet as a whole goes bye-bye, so i think having both is crucial to keeping things alive. those are such cool things to find, though!! i hope to get lucky like that.
by BK!; ; Report
I was really lucky before moving I ran across a two sided laserdisc player at the thrift, I had to take it with me, it was a steal too. It's really motivated me to start collecting more since. I'm not as lucky now in the new state I'm in with thrifting so I mostly look online now.
by PanicClinic; ; Report
i wanna start collecting laserdiscs theyre super cool!
by BK!; ; Report
I def recommend it, I'm still trying to wrap my head around how they are analogue and not digital.
by PanicClinic; ; Report