At some point, we stopped owning the things we love. Music, films, TV shows and games now live on platforms rather than shelves. We stream, rent, and access them temporarily. Until a licence expires, a platform changes direction, or a title suddenly disappears from a library.
For a long time, many of us accepted that trade-off. Streaming is convenient, affordable (at least at first), and offers access to millions of tracks and titles. For years, that felt like the future. But now, people want to own things again.
Across music, film and gaming, more people are buying physical media: vinyl, CDs, DVDs, Blu-rays, cassettes and VHS. Some never stopped collecting. Others are actively rebuying after years of streaming. And a growing number of young people are discovering it for the…
