Joe Oliveto has over a decade of experience covering tech, physical media, and entertainment. His work has appeared in such digital publications as HuffPost, Thrillist, Yahoo!, Time, Elite Daily, Cracked, and numerous others. Along with collecting physical media, his hobbies include hiking, reading, going to concerts, and attending repertory film screenings throughout NYC.
The reasons physical media is making a resurgence are varied. Some are obvious. For example, consumers have found they can't rely on digital downloads and streaming services if they want to truly own certain content. A streaming service might not always carry a particular title. In some instances, even if a consumer has paid for and downloaded a digital copy of a movie, a company may nevertheless remove it from their digital library.
Again, these are some of the more easy-to-understand reasons why physical media is making a comeback. However, there are other benefits to physical media that shouldn't be overlooked.
For example, whether it be in the form of a DVD, Blu-ray disc, or even a vinyl record, a piece of physical media may offer access to exclusive content that's not available elsewhere. That means those who only consume content in digital formats may be missing out on everything from behind-the-scenes documentaries to rare music from their favorite artists.
Blu-rays and DVDs offer supplemental features
Physical media formats offer additional movie and TV content not available on most streamers
Those of us old enough to remember when a DVD was a fancy upgrade from a VHS tape also remember one of the key reasons film buffs embraced the format fast: Discs often come loaded with supplemental features. These can include documentaries, promotional materials, retrospectives, deleted scenes, audio commentaries, and more. Some supplemental features are so thorough they may almost qualify as an informal substitute for film school.
To be fair, there are some streaming platforms that also offer these features. For example, boutique DVD and Blu-ray label the Criterion Collection also has its own streaming service. Many of the titles available through this service also offer at least some of the supplemental features their corresponding discs offer.
"Some" is the operative word. Not every movie on the Criterion Channel has additional features. On top of that, supplemental features don't merely consist of the features included on a disc. DVD and Blu-ray bonus content may also include booklets and other physical items that naturally aren't available on a streaming service.
More importantly, the Criterion Channel is an outlier. The general rule is that streaming platforms and digital downloads won't offer supplemental features. Thus, they fundamentally offer less content than physical media offers.
Special vinyl and CD releases aren't always available on streaming platforms
Some bands and artists release music that's exclusively available via physical media
Movie and TV fans aren't the only ones who get access to bonus content when they start building physical media collections. Often, music-lovers also discover physical media provides access to recordings that aren't available digitally.
Long before streaming and digital downloads, it's been relatively common for artists to release special editions of their albums. Sometimes, these editions consist solely of remastered versions of familiar content. However, there are also instances when these special releases boast unreleased live performances, B-sides, rarities, and other such tracks.
Does this content eventually make its way to Spotify, Apple Music, or a related service? Sometimes. However, there's no guarantee this will happen. For instance, if a special release is technically a foreign import, tracking it down on a streaming service may be a fool's errand.
Keep in mind that a special edition of a previously-released album is just one example of the type of content a band might release that's strictly available in a physical media format. It's also not unheard of for bands to release special vinyl records to commemorate tours. These releases tend to be exclusively available through bands' merch tents and websites. Fans who only consume their music digitally are out of luck.
Physical media offers access to content that's not available digitally
Some content isn't available at all in digital formats
The physical media resurgence is taking a wide variety of forms. Who would have guessed that independent video rental shops would be thriving in a post-Blockbuster age? According to stories about this trend, there are a few reasons some younger consumers now head to their local video shops (when they're lucky enough to have them) to rent movies.
On occasion, those reasons are extremely practical. For example, some people rent DVDs and Blu-rays because the movies they want to watch aren't available on streaming platforms.
Not every single movie, show, album or other such piece of content that's been released will be available via a streaming service. Even digital downloads might not be available for some content.
Plenty of factors can account for this. In some cases, ownership issues or similar legal entanglements prevent content from being available digitally. Or, if a piece of content is relatively old and obscure, a company might not prioritize adding it to their digital library. In any case, tracking down a physical copy of the content may be your only option when it's completely unavailable in digital formats.
That should be your key takeaway from all this: You're significantly limiting your content discovery options if you restrict yourself to only consuming digital content. In many ways, physical media opens the door to much more content than you may have otherwise been aware of. These are merely a few noteworthy illustrations of how this can happen.