Happy New Year!

I hope you’ve had a great and refreshing start to 2026.

Just before the new year, I actually started listening to music on an iPod Classic I recently picked up! As I made my annual family visits for the holidays, I started reflecting on how I want to consume the media I love.

From music streaming like Apple Music and Spotify to film and television streaming like Netflix, Paramount, Disney, HBO, Prime Video…

It’s nothing but subscription after subscription all without the promise that what we want to even see or listen to will always be available.

I remember the start of the subscription model taking over. The promise was a low cost recurring fee for “everything”. But then everyone wanted a slice of the pie. Media became platform exclusive and now it’s exhausting to keep up.

And the value of music, films, shows, games have been reduced to content for algorithms to keep us on the platforms.

“Apple Music, Amazon, these aren’t our competitors. Our only competitor is silence.” ~ Daniel Ek, Spotify CEO

Looking around my studio, the things that mean the most to me aren’t my endless subscriptions. It’s the physical weight of the John Williams Star Wars vinyl box set. It’s the Breaking Bad full series barrel set tucked in the corner. It’s the physical click of my old Gameboys.

I’ve realized that I feel a much deeper connection to these things because I actually own them. There’s a sense of pride in a collection that a streaming service just can’t replicate.

The Pride of Ownership

Lately, I’ve been moving back toward a more intentional way of listening.

I’ve been hunting down CDs from my local music shops in town, buying directly from artists on Bandcamp, and recording my vinyl records directly into Logic Pro to sync with my iPod.

Plus I can’t help but look for new collector’s editions of vinyl film scores!

It’s a slower process, but that’s also the point.

When everything is available all the time through a subscription, music starts to feel disposable. We’re bombarded by ads, algorithms, and a constant urge to hit the “skip” button.

I found myself not even enjoying the music like I did as a kid.

But when I’m listening to a vinyl I’ve captured and digitized myself or a CD I’ve burned, the experience changes. I’m not just streaming content but almost living with an album.

I love curating a playlist. I love adding the metadata for an album.

I remember when I used to listen to the same songs over and over again on my old iPod Nano during the bus ride to school.

It wasn’t a device connected to the internet so I couldn’t stream anything. I also had to work within a 2GB limit. So I was incredibly conscious of what I loaded on there.

I want that feeling back! And as a composer, I think this “intentionality“ is so important.

If we want to create the kind of music that people want to keep, we have to remember what it feels like to be a fan who truly values the art.

I’ve found that the act of building a collection makes me appreciate the music more. I hear the narrative arcs and the subtle choices a composer made.

To this day, Bear McCreary’s God of War soundtrack is still an all-time favorite form of musical storytelling!

Looking Ahead

As we continue into 2026, I’m leaning into this “slow listening” approach.

I’m not saying I’m immediately getting rid of every subscription I have. I think it’s going to be more of a mental process than that.

But I do want to be more intentional about what I consume and how I consume it. I want to feel that sense of ownership again, not just in my collection, but in the way I appreciate the craft.

I’m curious…do you still have a piece of physical media that you feel a deep connection to? Something that makes you stop and actually listen?

Reply back and let me know! 😊

And as always…Happy Composing!