In a retaliation to a society bombarded with AI, mass production and a general decline of individuality in the music and film industry, younger people find value in physical media.
At a time when algorithms curate playlists and artificial voices creep into the charts, younger people are leaning into a more authentic culture. Senior Aiden Hein explains the phenomenon of buying physical media when digital is so accessible.
“I like to feel like I own the music and am not just pay[ing] for a streaming service,” Hein said.
It is hard to say whether or not collecting vinyl will just become another trend, but Hein sheds some light on the topic.
“It is trendy, but I think there’s a larger group of people who don’t want to be on their phone as much,” Hein commented.
While ownership is important to the vinyl collecting community, the sound quality differentiates between physical and digital media.
“Sometimes Spotify doesn’t have the largest file, so the audio is not as good.” Hein said.
Introduced to vinyl by his father and given his first album in middle school, freshman Marshall Wear says that physical ownership transformed his relationship with music.
“It means a lot more to me…it’s something to take care of and cherish,” Wear commented.
The appeal isn’t only sentimental. Collectors argue vinyl can reveal musical details that algorithmically served streams weed out.
“Listening to the record makes me notice little details, a small guitar or backup vocals,” Wear said.
Real artists are also being harmed by the digital media companies like Spotify who allow AI artists to have a platform, taking away from other real artists who rely on the streaming service to pay them.
Not only has physical music made a come-back, but also CDs, DVDs, VHS have made their rounds.
KBS VHS is a store based in Huntsville, Alabama, which first started as an eBay store and hobby transformed into a larger community.
Owner and VHS enthusiast, KB Singer opened the store in June of 2024 and since then the store has hosted a variety of generations.
“There have always been people kind of my age and the very end of Gen X,” Singer said. “For a long time, it was people looking for the most random and rare stuff…and with a younger audience coming in, [they buy] the basic stuff.
At KBS VHS, the trend feels less like nostalgia and more like rediscovery, a deliberate slowing down in a fast paced media landscape.
“It’s nice to sit down with something and just know, okay, it’s just this right now, nothing else,” Singer said.
For a generation raised on instant access, the promise of durability, ritual and surprise are why tapes and discs are finding new life on the shelves.
