Own up to not owning it

By Alexis Schlesinger

Editorial Staff

Courtesy of Alexis Schlesinger

Think about your favorite movie. Your favorite song. Your favorite book, TV show, or podcast. Any type of media you consume - it doesn’t matter what kind. 

Do you have it?

I’m not asking if you’ve picked one out - I’m asking if you actually own your favorite media. 

I’m also not asking if you have access to it. 

If you “have” your favorite media on a streaming service, no, you don’t. 

You don’t own that. You’re borrowing it.

Your allowance to consume what you love is contingent on your continued monetary loyalty.

Subscription-based streaming services and digital culture have completely changed our relationship with the way we consume media and our relationships with the creators of what we love. 

I grew up in a house that never subscribed to streaming services. I also didn’t watch very many TV shows, but I did watch movies frequently.

As I got a little older, I definitely started to feel a little jealous of my peers who could afford streaming services. It all seemed so convenient. 

The impression I got from them was they paid $10 a month to watch any movie or TV show they wanted. 

Truly, any movie they could think of. Any TV show that existed. Of course, I felt like I was missing out. 

The fact there were a handful of different streaming services confused me a little bit because of this impression. 

I found out eventually that streaming services weren’t all they were cracked up to be. Especially for TV shows and movies. 

Every month, you’re only paying for a selection of media, chosen by whichever service you use, and if the media isn’t being consumed often enough, it’s subject to removal.

Sure, it’s a large selection, but there’s always going to be something missing. Different companies buy out this media to offer it exclusively on their platforms, and now you’ve got to sign up for yet another subscription. 

Sounds pretty inconvenient to me. 

How much time do you really have to sit down and use these services? How many of them do you pay for?

There’s three shows you want to keep up with, but they’re all exclusive to separate services. 

That’s upward of $30 a month, if you have a plan that still has commercial breaks included. Upward of $45 without those.  

At the very least, you’re paying $360 a year because you enjoy three different shows. 

Assuming that you are watching more than just three shows or movies, it probably feels like you’re getting your money’s worth. 

Why wouldn’t it? It’s only $10 a month for hundreds of shows and movies. 

How many of those are you going to get to in a month? A year? A few years? 

You have to remember that you’re paying money every month to keep each individual movie, TV show, song, book, or anything else you might subscribe to. 

If or when you stop paying that money, you lose all of it. 

I keep all of my favorite movies on DVD. One of my favorites was $2 from a thrift store.

Consider, too, where your money is going. How much of your support is going directly to the creators? 

The one subscription-based streaming service I do use is Spotify. I’m one of those people you’ll hardly ever see without headphones on. 

Yes, of course it’s incredibly convenient. My phone is small, and I already need to carry it with me everywhere. Now, all of my favorite music is attached to it. I can play songs from any artist in any order I want. 

But when I can, I purchase CDs, records, or cassette tapes from my favorite artists. I especially prefer to make this kind of purchase from a merch table at a live show. 

It’s the most direct transactional support you can give to your favorite artists.

According to imusician.pro, Spotify keeps roughly 30% of the revenue artists create from their streams.

I spend $10 a month for access to music from my favorite artists. 

I also spent $10, one time, on a tape of one of my favorite albums. I have it forever now, no strings attached.  

Whenever I want it. 

I own what I love. 

Sounds pretty convenient to me.