Growing up in the 1990s, you had only rare chances to watch your favourite films and TV shows. You could catch them airing live on TV, occasionally into the late hours. You could borrow them from your local Video Ezy or Blockbuster, if they were available. Or you could own them physically, as long as there was a physical media release.
This was an era free of streaming, where there wasn’t such a freedom of choice and accessibility. It wasn’t a matter of flicking on an app, and having entire worlds of entertainment at your fingertips. Your favourite films and TV shows were chosen specifically, selectively.
Maybe you browsed the likes of Sanity, HMV and JB Hi-Fi to spend your pocket money on a favourite film. Maybe it was gifted to you. It was fairly common to have a cupboard or drawer full of old films that had been watched and rewatched endlessly, out of a pure love (or a lack of choice).
Films weren’t one-offs, they were worn out until they couldn’t play.
The idea of having a ‘favourite’ was accompanied by a certain tactility. This one is mine, you might say, brandishing and rattling a DVD case. Having a tangible thing to imprint on added a more personal connection. There was a definitive choice in the act of selection and ownership.
In the era of streaming, we’ve lost that sense of personal connection.
But as young people are increasingly making clear – not least on social media – the idea of owning the media you love is coming back in a major way. While dampened by time, love for the VHS tape, DVD and Blu-Ray might even be stronger than ever.
Young people and physical media – quick links
Across social media, young people are reviving a love for physical media
The #physicalmedia hashtag on TikTok is flooded with videos from creators of all kinds sharing their own collections, or giving tips and tricks to their audiences.
There’s videos where creators share how to burn a CD, in the tradition of creating something physical and thoughtful to give as a friendly or romantic gift. In many videos, creators show off where to find cheap DVDs and Blu-Rays, and explain why being able to share your collection with friends is so valuable.
There are folks arguing about the value of physical media over streaming, and discussing the reasons why physical media sounds better, or looks better, due to necessary compression to manage file size and quality.
Overwhelmingly, the sentiment is that streaming has been detrimental to the act of enjoying media, and that a return to tradition presents greater satisfaction and engagement.
What’s most notable is that key creators and audience members sharing and engaging with these tips are the so-called Gen Z and younger, audiences who grew up with streaming as the norm. These are people who were born well after the 1980s and 1990s, during the boom of physical media.
They lack the nostalgia and perspective of collecting as necessity to enjoying films and shows.
Rather, they’re arriving back at physical media naturally, in reaction to perceived deficiencies in the streaming age. While it would be easy to explain away this discrepancy, it appears there’s great complexity in why the trend is picking up speed.
Price, availability and platform segmentation are factors in the return to physical media
On the surface, much of the push to once again own the media you love can be discussed through a capitalist lens.
Streaming services once promised a cheap, approachable and convenient way to engage with entertainment. That was in a time when the market was dominated by names you could count on one hand, with Netflix leading the charge for popularity and uptake.
Many distribution companies supported the rise of Netflix, lending their content to the streaming platform as its profile grew. Eventually, Netflix also introduced its own content, adding original shows to its slate as a means to further entice audiences.
Then came the great splintering.
As streaming became normalised in the mainstream, many entertainment companies wanted their own slice of the pie – some of them even pulling content from Netflix to create their own streaming platforms. Like a hydra, streaming continuously split off, to the point where everyone from Disney to Paramount, Warner Bros., NBC, Apple and Amazon had their own dedicated platforms, with their own original content.
They could also set their own prices, based on demand.
It’s inarguable that pricing has contributed to the lessening appeal of streaming services, overall. Over the last few years, we’ve seen these services rise from being under AU$10 per month, to up to AU$27 per month for the highest quality and ad-free access. That’s in a cost of living crisis too, where audiences must make harder choices about where to spend their money.
With the added segmentation of the market, subscribing to multiple streaming services is now akin to paying for cable TV, the same service that streaming was designed to replace, as a more approachable and affordable solution.
Other factors also play into this seeming rejection. Complex licensing rights play a part, as people grow frustrated by the constant dance of films across different streaming services. A movie available on one platform one day, will be available on another the next.
This is important to consider – but beyond the practicalities of what streaming services offer, there is something more important to consider, and that’s the notion of heart.
Physical media represents something more than simple ownership
As humans, we are naturally drawn to tangible things. We love stuff. While that presents itself differently in different people, the appeal of being able to claim ownership of something is universal.
For a generation that grew up alongside the internet, where everything exists in a virtual world and nothing is truly owned, reclaiming physical media allows for some tangibility and realness. Buying a favourite movie or show on DVD or Blu-Ray represents a novel act.
It’s not only that ownership means not having to pay a monthly subscription fee, or that it guarantees not having to hunt for films across various platforms. It’s about being able to represent your love in a physical form, and to make a personal choice.
Where streaming allows for rapid viewing of many shows or films, lumped together in an occasionally indiscernible soup of modern media, making the choice to buy something solidifies connection to it.
It can also be a sign to others, particularly when put on display. I love this. This is what makes me who I am. It becomes yours.
In discussion of the screen, there’s no need to underline why people form such personal connections with media. In short, it can be affirming, educational, and personality-changing. It can help to solidify identity, and make people feel less alone.
Physical media represents that transformative power.
When you own something, you can also share it with others, to have them understand more about you, and vice versa. This, of course, is another element of physical media’s revival: the idea of sharing, and forming community around a shared love.
Owning something tangible gives you the power to physically share it with others. There’s no complication in discussing which streaming services a particular film or show is on, how to access it, and whether strict rules about sharing passwords will allow you to invite someone else into your favourite world.
There’s ritual and comfort in tossing a DVD or Blu-Ray into your handbag, and bringing it to a friend’s house, to spend hours together learning about each other, and experiencing something new. It’s something lacking in the decision to flick on any old TV show or film on a streaming platform.
In an era where so much of what we experience and enjoy is unowned – from streaming films on digital platforms to renting spaces to live – the act of purchasing media, laying claim to it, is a powerful and personal one.
While access may change, and DVDs and Blu-Rays may slowly disappear from bricks-and-mortar stores, there will always be a desire for people to buy the media they love. It’s heartening that young people continue to champion the act, and that its value is so well understood.
