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We live in the age of digital content. Whether it’s scrolling on social media to watch short-form videos, looking to streaming platforms for shows and movies or using an e-reader to access books, most media people consume in their daily lives exists online. 

Gone are the days of sifting through piles of DVDs to find a movie or having stacks of CDs for your daily commute. Instead, most people can access whatever content they want with a click of a button, granted they pay all the needed subscription fees. 

While people do still buy or own physical media, the people who do so feel more like hobbyists than regular consumers. Personally, I have a small collection of vinyl records, but I certainly do not turn to them every single time I want to listen to a song.

This begs the question— do we really own our digital content? For the most part, the answer to that is a resounding no. 

Downward Trend of Physical Media and Ownership

Even excluding streaming services, because I think people are aware that these platforms do not guarantee their users any ownership rights, most people who “buy” digital media are not actually doing so. Instead, they are paying a licensing fee to get access to an online product. 

The problem comes with the fact that the retailers selling licensing can revoke access to this paid content at anytime, unless the user has the ability to download the content they paid for locally. 

This lack of ownership in the digital age has been a recurring issue for Kindle users.

Last month, Amazon removed a feature that allowed Kindle users to download their ebooks onto their computers.

This move is worrying for some Kindle users because, according to Kindle’s terms of service, the company reserves the right to edit or remove content at their discretion. 

In response to the broad issue of companies revoking access to paid digital content, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed a law that requires companies to disclose that customers are not truly buying content they can possess. 

Related to this law is the fact that retailers are downscaling or completely stepping away from selling physical media. 

Target announced last year that they are downsizing the amount of DVDs available in stores. 

Similarly, Best Buy decided to completely halt the sale of physical media in 2024. 

While there is a certain level of convenience that comes with having all this digital content at our fingertips, we need to question what else can be lost alongside ownership rights. More importantly, what can we do to reverse course?

Solutions

The most obvious solution is to start collecting physical media that you view as important

As someone who does enjoy reading a physical book, I always recommend shopping at local bookstores, especially since some also carry other forms of physical media.

If you do still want digital books, there are options to support independent bookstores. For instance, Bookshop.org recently launched an app that allows users to buy directly from smaller establishments.

Options like these cut out big retailers like Amazon, which accounts for 80 percent of online book sales, and has monopolized the media market. 

Plus, while users are still only buying a license to their content, Bookshop.org seems to have better consumer protection than Kindle. Their FAQs section claims, “Even in the case of an ebook being removed from Bookshop.org by the publisher, users who purchased the ebook previously will continue to have access to the ebook file.”

Even then, danger does exist in suggesting a spending model that promotes overconsumption. I am not telling people to go out and buy as much stuff as they can. 

Outside of purchasing as much physical media as possible, supporting libraries can also be a great option for people concerned about the downhill effects of decreasing physical media.

I think the most important takeaway from this trend is mindful consumption. Consumers should understand what they are buying online and the risks that can come with a completely digital media market. 

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