A Guide to Piracy and Physical Media

Have you ever lost your favorite movie because of streaming services? What about losing a song you like because spotify (Or pandora if you're like me) taking it off? NEVER FEAR, PIRACY AND PHYSICAL MEDIA IS HERE! Although it can be harder to track down, it can be worth it. I'm gonna talk about the different kinds of physical media, places you can get or stream it, and piracy. If you like these kinds of blogs, let me know!! I love making them but idk if anyone even reads them

What is Physical Media?

Physical media, well its in the name! Its a kind of permanent media that is stored on some kind of device (not counting phones, tablets, computers, or whatever other tech you may have). Have you heard of a DVD? Records? Even a iPod or MP3 player is a kind of physical media! It has been around for decades and has been coming back into popularity with the rise of streaming. It might seem "outdated" or "weird" or "you can't steal the CD lady" but it can be really important for keeping our stuff alive. Ever heard of Kipo and the Wonderbeasts? She-ra? They are being taken off of Netflix and once they're gone, they are gone forever unless a streaming network picks it up. With physical media, it's there forever. No one can take away your DVDs of your favorite movies, if a streaming platform removes it? You still have YOUR copy and no one can take it away from you. 

Where Can I Get Physical Media? 

To answer that, what kind do you want? Do you like records or do you like MP3 players? DVDs or CDs? Records are still popular today so it's fairly easy to get your hands on a new album. Wal-Mart, Target, and Amazon are great options for new records. Thrifting is also a great option for old records and songs for cheaper depending on the store. I recommend small thrift stores near you, goodwill and other large places can have good deals but today they are overpriced and filled to the brim with junk. DVDs? CDs? AMAZON, THRIFT STORES, AND GARAGE SALES! All of these places are packed with DVDs and CDs, if you are buying second hand make sure there are no scratches on the disk. For your DVD player, you should try to get one that plays Blu-ray disks if you can. You don't have to, but many new movies are on Blu-ray and it can make it a lot easier for you. I (personally) dont have a Blu-ray one and it works fine with normal DVDs, it just depends on you and what you like to watch. For CDs players, in general a lot work really well. I personally have a MEGATEK portable one I use a lot and it works great for me, CDs are a lot easier to play \ use compared to DVDs (my opinion). MP3 players? Amazon or Ebay, I recommend Amazon because there are many options and it is often cheaper then Ebay. You don't need the name brand iPod from the 2000s to play music, a fake one does the same job and can sometimes be better since it's newer. "bUt YoU hAvE tO pAy FoR tHe SoNgSSSSS!??!??", This takes us into our last section.

PIRACY (MY FAVORITE)

I know that not everyone is able to pay for a bunch of physical media, but this option is very cheap AND you can still use \ have physical media. I recommend buying yourself a USB off of Amazon (or whatever is cheapest, go for the 128 usbs, not the 1 b usb) and formatting it into FAT32 if its not already formatted. Doing this will help prevent future problems if you try to download a video and play it. The Internet Archive is a great place AND most of it is in MP3 format (for music) or in MP4 (Videos)! Its a safe site for downloading, although the files can be a bit big. If you need to convert, I recommend Convertio or FreeConvert (Dont stay on FreeConvert for long or else it will glitch and redirect you to a virus site, just close the tab if it does that then reopen it) for conversions. You can also use Y2MATE but it might not be the safest option because there are a lot of virus \ fake sites that could infect your computer. Convert your files to whatever you want to play it on (I recommend looking in the instructions if you can or if you're like me and using a DVD player. Google what format your brand of DVD player likes to prevent it from messing up in the future). If you really want physical versions of your favorite movies or songs, burn some DVDs and CDs. No, dont set them on fire- PUT DOWN THE LIGHTER-  You can buy yourself a old CD burner off of eBay or even Amazon and a pack of burnable CDs and DVDs. It might be more expensive but it can last longer then just a normal USB. It's only bad \ illegal if you are selling the copys or claiming you made them, if you just do it for yourself then you'll be fine (I haven't got caught yet so you should be ok).

Keeping your movies and music on disks can be really important, you know its YOURS and you can have access to it until the disk becomes unusable (gets scratched, which can be fixed but its pricy) which can take anywhere from a few years to 100 if treated right. I hope you enjoyed reading this, I loved making it and if you have any questions ASKKKK!! I might make more blogs if this works out, thanks for reading!