It seems TV and movie streaming services have gotten worse. What was once the promise of accessing everything on a single service — eliminating expensive cable plans — has devolved into multiple services that run as expensive as the cable plans they had sought to replace so long ago. Not to mention, the recent introduction of ads on most services has been irritating to say the least. 

This particular problem is less of an issue with music streaming services, as you typically only need one service to access the music you would like. However, there are still issues to be addressed within the music streaming service area, such as alleged unfair pay for the artists who are providing their music onto these services. 

Although there are certainly issues with streaming services, such as the aforementioned compensation issues and high cost for consumers, among others, that is not what I want to touch on in this article. Instead, I’d like to talk about how the issues with streaming have led to a resurgence of physical media. 

Despite being born after the age of the vinyl record and VHS, physical media such as CDs, DVDs, and Blu-Rays were rather important pillars of my youth. This was an age before streaming, where CD slots were still being built into cars and boomboxes were high in popularity. DVDs (and a bit later, Blu-Rays) were still the standard for anything you wanted to watch on-demand. Still, there were the beginnings of the shift to digital, little clues to what would come soon. You had the option to buy shows, movies, and music that you could download onto a smartphone or laptop. Physical media was still at the top of the food chain, though its course was about to be run.   

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Even once streaming had been well-established as I aged into my teen years, I kept buying CDs of my favourite albums. Sure, streaming was more convenient, offering the opportunity to take music on the go and connect bluetooth devices for easy listening, but I liked the fact that I was able to own the albums. That even if I lost my phone or the streaming service went down, I would still have access to my music. It’s a habit I’ve kept to the present day, though I’ve expanded to include vinyl records and DVDs of my favourite movies. I know I’m not alone in that. A few years ago, I barely heard of anyone except a few people having a collection of physical copies of music, movies, or shows. Now, I hear someone talk about vinyl or CD collecting almost every day. 

I think there’s a few reasons for this resurgence. There are several advantages to physical media. Firstly, it’s not fun when your favourite movies or TV shows get moved around services or aren’t streaming in your country. If your favourite is something that’s particularly hard to find, it’s almost easier to have the DVD. Ownership of physical copies ensure you are not at the mercy of streaming services moving around their catalogues. Secondly, it’s possible physical copies of media may come with exclusive merchandise, such as posters or signed memorabilia. In the case of movies and TV, physical copies almost always contain bonus scenes or bloopers.  

Additionally, I’ve noticed a collector’s culture, particularly around physical copies of music. Artists now are typically releasing multiple variants of vinyls and CDs, and though this practice has sparked controversy of fuelling consumerism, it has no doubt driven sales of physical media. Finally, physical copies of music ensure that you are directly supporting the artist, which can be particularly helpful if the artist does not have much exposure. 

Also, in my opinion, physical media is just plain cool. I like having my own little library of movies and music. I like being able to look at the art within the foldout covers of my vinyls and I like to watch the bloopers and deleted scenes contained within my DVDs. I like knowing that I can fall back onto my collection if I want to cancel a streaming service, and I like having my favourite pieces of media displayed on my shelves. Physical media provides a unique experience that you don’t get on streaming. It provides the opportunity to own and not just borrow. If the decline of streaming has at least one positive, it’s that more people are returning to physical media.