Media Fans Are Ditching Algorithms for CDs, DVDs, and Vinyl
Why media fans want to escape algorithms with CDs, DVDs and vinyl
Frustrated by streaming services that remove titles and curate via algorithms, people are returning to physical media. A university lecturer with over 5,000 records and CDs says playlists replaced album listening; a compliance manager turned to flea markets after HBO pulled 200 episodes of Sesame Street in 2022; a retired professor owns 5,300 CDs in a walk-in closet. They cite ownership, artist support, data privacy, and freedom from algorithmic control.
As the saying goes, if you can’t hold it, you don’t own it, and we firmly agree with this.
- sdcfgy
I’m going back to CDs and ripping them because I’m fed up of shit disappearing from streaming services. Plus having to pay for access. Plus the crappy offline experience. Plus the crappy apps you have to use. Plus the devices that play them have a million other distractions I want to avoid. Oh and all the shite that is promoted constantly.
It’s a race to the bottom and I’m done with that.
- jonplackett
I just finished making a ‘physical’ music system for my daughter.
The inverted commas are because it’s actually all MP3s that are stored on a phone.
But the phone is in a box
Connected to a speaker
Running an app I made that plays playlists when she places an nfc card on the box
Basically it’s a bootleg Yoto / Tonie box but completely free, and our own music.
Also got a desktop app where I download stuff, make plays lists and it auto syncs to the phone.
She actually really likes it. Having a physical sense of what you own feels good!
I wish I could take all the credit but Codex helped, a bit…
- pkthunder
I’ve been going through my own personal revival of physical media - mostly audio. I don’t miss streaming at all.
Every CD I buy gets ripped to a NAS that hosts the music behind Navidrone where I can stream to my vehicle using Play:Sub (thanks to Tailscale for enabling all of this to work for me!).
I am just so enamored with being able to get the best of both worlds - my own music, anywhere.
I do wish I could figure out some sort of recommendation system to find new magic, though. Obviously not to steam new/unowned songs, just to point me in a direction next time I go to the store.
- intrasight
You can escape algorithms by choosing what you consume, regardless of what platform you're using. I had digitized my CD collection 15 years ago. but I never listened to those. I purchase misic directly from artists (Bandcamp), I don't buy physical media. And if their stuff is also on Apple Music, that's where I listen.
- bsoqk
I am a "media fan" and algorithms (going back to last.fm) have make me discover so much music that it's not even funny. The idea of "escaping algorithms" is a net negative for me.
- ShinyCyril
Physical media (especially in the film space) remains sometimes the only option if you don't want to compromise on quality. Sadly you have to compromise in other ways: unskippable trailers/copyright warnings for example.
I do worry that Bluray is just becoming more niche and the studios/distributors will do away with it in favour of their own streaming platforms.
I apologise for the self-promotion, but I started https://www.dvd.club for this very reason, hoping to find a like-minded community of physical media enthusiasts, willing to share their collections with each other.
- kashunstva
Personally, while I understand the importance of discovery both for artists and for many listeners, it’s not at all how I listen to music. I know what work I want to hear, by what artist or ensemble and I want that exact thing. It’s not that I’m not open to other interpretations; it’s just in the moment that I want to listen, it’s a particular thing. That my ripped CD collection is such an infinitesimal representation of all that’s out there is a feature for me, not a bug. And the problem of ephemerality on some of these platforms is yet another problem.
- mistyvales
I never stopped buying. Let's just say my collection of various physical media is.. unruly at best. Moving is a pain but I don't look back.
Note that I do still stream and buy digital on Bandcamp though.