For some, it is the security of knowing they have a physical copy of their favourite films and music, free from algorithms, interruptions and the vagaries of streaming. For others, it is the sound of needle on vinyl, the click of a cassette player and the ability to interact with a physical format.<\/p>\n
We asked people if they were moving back to CDs, DVDs, vinyl and older formats to escape algorithmically curated content. Here are some of their responses.<\/p>\n
\u2018I missed the physical connection with music\u2019Ash says discovering new music for yourself requires more work and effort. Photograph: Dylan Odedra\/Guardian Community<\/p>\n
Ash, 52, a university lecturer from Cornwall, says he initially embraced streaming but has since tempered that enthusiasm.<\/p>\n
\u201cAlgorithms make great suggestions, but it feels like you catch a lot of small fish (OK, bands),\u201d he says. \u201cReading music magazines and artist recommendations and discovering new music for yourself requires more work and effort \u2026 it feels like catching the bigger fish.\u201d<\/p>\n
Recently, he has returned to buying and listening to physical media. He says he has amassed more than 5,000 records and CDs from 1990 to 2009.<\/p>\n
\u201cTechnology and streaming felt liberating for a person who has a deep and wide music collection and a bad back. I stopped buying and streamed,\u201d he says, but adds: \u201cI spent more time making playlists than listening to music; I lost the ability to listen to a whole album and missed the physical connection with music.<\/p>\n
\u201cI listen to records as an activity, but listen through tech more passively. It\u2019s more like wallpaper than a work of art.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2018We scour flea markets and secondhand shops for shows and movies\u2019<\/p>\n
CJ, 55, a compliance manager from Atlanta, says she decided to return to physical media when shows she liked began disappearing from streaming services.<\/p>\n
\u201cHBO removed about 200 episodes of Sesame Street in 2022, so we realised any media we wanted to continue to watch or listen to could be gone, and we\u2019d have no way to get it back,\u201d she says. \u201cAs the saying goes, if you can\u2019t hold it, you don\u2019t own it, and we firmly agree with this.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are so many shows that aren\u2019t on streaming platforms that we want to rewatch. We scour flea markets and secondhand shops for shows and movies that are hard to find. We have also continued to buy CDs.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen access to media is so easy to cut off, it makes sense to return to owning what you can, so no one can take it away from you.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2018I wanted to support musicians\u2019Ruth\u2019s CD collection has its own \u2018walk-in closet\u2019 Photograph: Ruth\/Guardian Community<\/p>\n
Spotify quickly \u201cbored\u201d Ruth, 67, a retired professor from Michigan, but there were other reasons behind her move to CDs and DVDs.<\/p>\n
\u201cMost of all, I wanted to own my music and support the musicians, so I own 5,300 CDs; they have their own walk-in closet,\u201d she says. \u201cOwning my own books, music, and photos (no iCloud) has always seemed normal to me, and, increasingly, prudent.<\/p>\n
She adds: \u201cNo algorithm is as creative as a well-stocked human brain alive to its actual surroundings.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ruth also rents physical film titles by mail from a store in Seattle. \u201cWe retired to a rural area with internet unreliable for streaming that wouldn\u2019t sustain a movie without interruptions and buffering. We can stream music from the internet, although even then the connection will conk out every once in a while.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2018Now I don\u2019t have to share my data with a company\u2019<\/p>\n
This summer, Antonio, 40, began buying secondhand CDs from a charity shop in an attempt to get off music subscription services.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have a ritual now,\u201d says the software engineer, who lives in Reading. \u201cTwice a month I buy between one and 10 CDs \u2013 depending on what is available.<\/p>\n
\u201cI decided I didn\u2019t want to rely on a subscription any more and have to deal with price rises, and now I don\u2019t have to share my data \u2013 both personal information such as my name, bank account details, location, and my listening history \u2013 with a company.<\/p>\n
\u201cNowadays we hand over so much of our data (intentionally or unintentionally) to big corporations that, if I can reduce it in any way, I\u2019m more than happy to do so.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2018Sometimes I\u2019m \u2018out of the loop\u2019, but I prefer it\u2019Quinn buys tapes from bands to support the artists. Photograph: Quinn\/Guardian Community<\/p>\n
Quinn, 26, began collecting cassette tapes last year and \u201cquickly fell in love with it\u201d.<\/p>\n
He works nights and weekends, leaving him little time to go to concerts. \u201cBuying tapes from bands gave me a way to engage with and support them, despite not being able to see their shows,\u201d says Quinn, who works in food delivery and lives in Washington.<\/p>\n
\u201cI really appreciate the format\u2019s restrictions. There\u2019s the routine of interacting with the tape and equipment to play it, the quirks that come with analogue tech and, of course, being able to share music with people by handing them a tape rather than a Spotify link.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy switch has definitely come with the desire to choose what I\u2019m engaging with. Rather than having content presented to me, I\u2019m seeking it out for myself, or finding it through friends, and that\u2019s a huge part of being low-tech. Sometimes I\u2019m \u2018out of the loop\u2019, but I prefer it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2018I love the slowness of the setup to see the films\u2019<\/p>\n
Tim\u2019s young and adult children all enjoy watching films on older formats.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn Sweden many people have a summer house,\u201d says the 61-year-old academic, who lives in Stockholm. \u201cOurs, on the mainland, a 45-minute drive from Stockholm, located in the southern end of the Swedish archipelago, contains a video projector from around 2010, a DVD player, and the collection of DVDs watched by my big kids when they were small.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe biggest luxury for my small kids is when the cables are rigged, the choice of DVD made, and they sit through five minutes of \u2018coming soon on Disney\u2019 before we press play on Shrek or whatever the film is.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tim says the \u201caged DVDs\u201d often need a clean, as sticky fingers over the years have left their mark.<\/p>\n
\u201cI love this middle stage between the digital and the analogue, and the slowness of the setup to see the films. Next step is to open the trunk containing my (younger) partner\u2019s childhood VHS collection. We\u2019ll see where that goes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2018I feel less controlled\u2019Sophie says she feels less analysed watching DVDs and listening to CDs. Photograph: Sophie\/Guardian Community<\/p>\n
Sophie, 32, a librarian from Los Angeles, does stream music, but \u201cmostly listens to CDS\u201d. She also often watches DVDs from her own collection or checks them out from the library.<\/p>\n
She is \u201cnot a fan\u201d of algorithms, something that informed her move to CDs and DVDs. \u201cI enjoy watching DVDs and listening to CDs because nobody sees what I\u2019m doing and they\u2019re not analysing it. It feels less overwhelming to browse physical versions. I also feel less controlled.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"For some, it is the security of knowing they have a physical copy of their favourite films and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":634071,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[146,85,46],"class_list":["post-634070","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","tag-entertainment","tag-il","tag-israel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/634070","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=634070"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/634070\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/634071"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=634070"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=634070"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=634070"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}