Nicosia, Cyprus. A shift from physical media to subscription-based platforms has changed how people consume culture, replacing ownership with temporary access governed by platform terms and conditions. Researcher Nicholas Nicoli says the change has also altered how personal and collective memory is formed and preserved.
From shelves to subscriptions
The article describes how music, films, books and personal archives that once filled shelves have increasingly been replaced by digital subscriptions controlled by global platforms. It notes that living rooms once reflected personal histories through albums, books and films connected to specific moments and experiences.
It says that after finishing a book or discovering a song, there is now often little physical evidence of that experience. Decorative items have replaced shelves of media, music is accessed through phone apps, and films are streamed through televisions, with access replacing ownership.
Convenience traded for permanence
The shift is described as gradual and driven by convenience, including the ability to access large catalogs from many locations. In exchange, the article says, people give up the ability to keep cultural objects, and physical traces such as bookmarked pages, scratched discs and handwritten notes have largely disappeared.
It argues that as physical media fades, culture leaves fewer marks, reducing the tangible record of personal history.
Platforms control access and conditions, Nicoli says
Nicholas Nicoli, a professor and researcher in communication studies at the University of Nicosia focusing on digital media, platforms, news media infrastructure, and how technology reshapes culture, power and public life, is quoted describing a move “from a culture of ownership to a culture of temporary access.”
Instead of purchasing and keeping cultural objects, the article says, people subscribe to platforms that determine what is available, for how long, and under what conditions. Nicoli is quoted saying there is “a feeling of abundance,” but that media has become “a constantly changing catalogue that we never truly control.”
Digital purchases and uncertainty
The article says ownership is not necessarily guaranteed even when consumers buy digital content. Nicoli is quoted referring to books purchased for Kindle and questioning whether they are truly owned in a way comparable to physical books on shelves.
He raises a scenario in which Amazon could be acquired and Kindle discontinued, asking what that would mean for books customers have purchased.
Power shifts from individuals to platforms
The article acknowledges the benefits of streaming, quoting Nicoli saying users gain “convenience, scale and immediacy” with almost unlimited content available quickly. It also quotes him saying that users give up “control, permanence and autonomy.”
It describes a shift in power away from individuals and toward more centralized platforms, saying platforms decide what is visible, what disappears, and what is prioritized by algorithms, with “ease” replacing agency.
What disappears when physical media disappears
The article says physical media carried meaning as it moved through different stages of life, traveled between homes, and accumulated personal history. Nicoli is quoted saying physical media “carries memory through touch, use and personal history.”
It says streaming weakens these attachments and can make both personal and collective remembrance more fragile, as content can vanish without warning. The article concludes that when culture exists mainly through streaming, it becomes something people move past rather than return to, leaving fewer traces for memory to hold onto.
How has the shift from physical media to streaming changed what you keep and remember from the culture you consume?