Since the onset of the Web 2.0 revolution, there has been a drastic increase in digital media consumption.
Estimates suggest there are 5.6 billion internet users globally, accounting for over half the world’s population.
Statistics from DataReportal show the average internet user spends over 33 hours consuming online and digital media each week.
Digital media, such as streaming services and other online media, contrasts with physical media, such as DVDs, CDs, vinyl records, and books.
With access to digital media as ubiquitous and streamlined as ever, what purpose does physical media serve?
The physical experience
Record store worker Siobhan O’Hara suggests people just enjoy being able to hold something.
“They just enjoy being to own something, knowing no matter what, they can put this on the record player and be able to listen to it whenever they want to.”
While there is no inherent benefit to physical media, O’Hara suggests the tangible experience is the selling point.
“It’s rarely about the quality of the music, honestly. It’s about the experience of being able to take out a record, drop the needle, and hear the soft crackle as it plays,” she said.
There has been a slow rise in physical media sales, particularly following the COVID-19 pandemic.
O’Hara said there has been a noticeable increase in young people buying records, particularly of modern artists.
“I think it has to do with showing respect to the artist and celebrating their music.“
The benefits of physical media
Physical media allows the consumer to indulge in nostalgia more deeply.
It can also offer a more tangible and intimate relationship with the art and the artist.
Vince Riggio, a 19-year-old record collector, says “it’s just a lot of fun to be able to buy a record, go home, open it, and look at the artwork while listening to it play.”
Riggio show me his collection, the upkeep the records require, and how his record player works.
“I love to put on a record when I have people around, I just really feel like it sets the atmosphere,” said Riggio.
Is digital media better for the environment?
An argument against physical media suggests it is better for the environment.
Both physical and digital media have environmental impacts.
Physical media will have a more immediate environmental impact, due to physical wastage, resource use, and production emissions.
Digital media has longer-term effects, due to energy demands and e-waste.
Siobhan O’Hara says it feels like a lose-lose situation.
“I would just urge people to do what makes them feel good.”
Vince Riggio says he uses his phone for streaming most of the time, but likes having the option for both.
Will physical media continue to grow?
Local filmmaker Carl King says it’s frustrating to have multiple streaming services and still be unable to watch what he wants.
“I just feel like I pay so much money for apps these days, but they never have a consistent library.”
This, paired with rising subscription costs, has caused cinephiles and audiophiles to return to physical media.
While physical media may never replicate its 2000s peak, a cult following remains, promising to keep the movement alive.
