As music and movie subscriptions become more expensive and advertising interruptions become more frequent, a lot of folks are discovering (and re-discovering) physical media. Many of us remember the days when music was owned in the form of a vinyl album, cassette, or CD. We bought albums by our favorite groups and played them over and over – without a subscription – because we owned them on physical media.
Tech billionaires are on a rampage to covert everything into subscriptions, forcing consumers to pay for access to media. We see this in the form of both streaming music and movies. You can watch their small selection of movies or music as long as you pay the monthly fee.
The first vinyl record I bought was a Kiss album in 1976. The first CD I purchased was Ozzy’s first album released on that new digital format in 1986. I’ve listened to both of these countless times for the one-time price I initially paid. Until recently, we bought our music and could listen to it forever. Streaming has been touted as the latest greatest format for music, but all it does is replace ownership with subscription fees and advertising interruptions.
In the wake of newfound interest in physical media, a new format has arrived called Smart Media Albums. What looks to be a form of physical media is nothing more than an object that offers access to digital media. This access can be in the form of QR codes, NFC chips, and other technologies that link the object to a smart device for playing the music. This is NOT physical media.
Despite there being a physical component, the music is still being remotely accessed from a server meaning it is likely subject to a licensing agreement. As we’ve recently seen with customer purchased movies being dropped from streaming services due to changes in licensing, the same thing can happen to music offered via Smart Media Albums. You don’t really own anything but the “object” itself – a hunk of plastic.
The comical part of all this is a fundamental misunderstanding of what physical media means to consumers. We don’t need to hold something in order to enjoy music. We liked having something in our hands because it WAS the music. It was a vinyl record, cassette, or CD. It was a physical object that contained the music. Not a license for it. The Music!
If you enjoy Smart Media Albums from a collector’s perspective, that’s great. Just don’t be surprised when your favorite song no longer plays or requests additional funds. Propaganda suggests consumers want a deeper connection to their music through a physical object. Not so. We simply want to own the music we purchase. None of my CDs will ever play an advertisement or demand more money from me.
I freely admit I love removing a record from it’s sleeve and putting it on the turntable or reading the liner notes from a CD, but the attraction to all this is being able to do so because I own it. Smart Media Albums are simply chunks of carefully curated plastic offering access to online music for several times the price of purchasing an MP3. Selling me a plastic trinket under the guise of physical media is insultingly demented.
Physical media IS the music! Subscriptions are a checkpoint for the license holder to challenge your right to listen.
By CapeCod.com staff
