I'm worried that there will come a day when there will be no services left that offer digital downloads of content that you can download to something like an external hard drive and only require existing operating software to play it (e.g. VLC Media Player, Windows Media Player, iTunes, your games console's built-in DVD-playing function). For some people, it's already their sole or primary way of consuming content - streaming through Netflix or Spotify.

I'm worried about this because this means that I can potentially never listen to or watch the content I'll like ever again, when there would be no other legal way for me to consume such content; this greately saddens me. Netflix and Spotify already take down music due to DMCA and other licencing requests, and in the case of Spotify, from artificially boosted plays. For this reason, I'm often hesitant to get into new music (be they from a recent time or from the past that I haven't listened to), since I'm worried that they will be, or already are legally available only through streaming. An example is this song, which I first came across through a YouTube video:

https://soundcloud.com/wendyicon/04-on-your-knees-again

If I create something, then I will probably have the rights to it for as long as I live (unless I licence the work as public domain intentionally or otherwise, or if someone decides they want the rights to the work and they could take away my rights to it). However, I feel like that whatever I could create will never be as good as the existing content that I like, which I have no rights or any other connection to except for the fact that I have purchased the content as a DRM-free digital download (or on a physical medium).

For games, if I wanted to create something that was as good as a triple-A title, I'm worried that I'll have to surrender my rights to the content to licencing it to the studio - if the game studio went bankrupt, not only won't the consumers have legal access to it, but I might not as well.

For other content, it's just simply "nothing I'll create will ever be good enough". There are specific reasons why I appreciate some content, even if it won't be regarded as one of the best by many other people. I think in the case of music and maybe fashion, I feel like they capture specific things about the time that the music was written or the fashion trend that was created, which I don't think can be replicated in this day and age, or they have an aesthetic, message or whatever it is about it that I really like, and it wouldn't feel as genuine if I tried to recreate it or if anyone else were to try and recreate it now. For TV franchises, I don't really know, but nothing else will get me attached to them no matter how good or bad others think it will be.

I can research what makes a certain genre of music sound like it, but I would best like it if I could make a cover of the music I like (which I'll still have no rights to, or fewer rights to); I feel like anything I write myself won't amount to whatever I like that already exists. I can research everything there is to making a very good game, but in some cases, I'm worried it won't amount to some of the things I like - I'm not as attached to games though for anything beyond mechanics.

Whether people like it or not, according to the people in this Discord chat I started, the content owners have the final say on how their content is to be distributed. Since I own almost none of the content I really like, I'm worried that I won't ever get to appreciate them again, and that life for me stops being a bit enjoyable without it.

I know this is an old post, but regarding music you enjoy that may not be on a physical medium, is there something wrong with buying cassettes to record it on?

I know this is an old post, but regarding music you enjoy that may not be on a physical medium, is there something wrong with buying cassettes to record it on?
I prefer CDs or digital downloads but the UK has tried to make that sort of stuff illegal (ripping music even as a back up) and I anticipate most new (at least mainstream) music won't be available outside a streaming service.

I prefer CDs or digital downloads but the UK has tried to make that sort of stuff illegal (ripping music even as a back up) and I anticipate most new (at least mainstream) music won't be available outside a streaming service.


Ah purgatory... A dire situation.

I prefer CDs or digital downloads but the UK has tried to make that sort of stuff illegal (ripping music even as a back up) and I anticipate most new (at least mainstream) music won't be available outside a streaming service.


No one will bust you for burning a CD lol.

That reminds me of how in Canada, piracy was legal until 2013 including sharing CDs. ;D

No one will bust you for burning a CD lol.

That reminds me of how in Canada, piracy was legal until 2013 including sharing CDs. ;D
Screw this world I guess though; then again I hear they're largely unenforceable but who knows?