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The problem with streaming — and the case for physical media | Tom Rizzuto

May 20, 2026 • 10m

Summary

⏱️ 7 min read

Overview

Music professor Tom Rizzuto explores the significance of physical media in the digital age by tracing a fascinating historical connection from Cold War-era Soviet teenagers who bootlegged American music onto discarded X-ray plates to today's streaming platforms. While acknowledging the benefits of streaming services, Rizzuto argues that physical media provides permanence and protection against censorship in ways that digital platforms cannot guarantee. Through examples including Soviet 'bone music' and the near-loss of the classic film Nosferatu, he makes the case that preserving physical media should remain a priority as we navigate our evolving media landscape, ensuring that powerful art and ideas remain accessible regardless of corporate or governmental control.

Introduction to Bone Music and Soviet Censorship

Rizzuto introduces the concept of 'bone music'—a remarkable form of bootlegging where Soviet teenagers in the Cold War era cut sound grooves into discarded X-ray plates to distribute banned American jazz and rock music. These makeshift records preserved the original X-ray images and, while they didn't sound great, they looked cool and more importantly allowed young Soviets to access, own, and share music their government had restricted. This act of cultural defiance demonstrates the lengths people will go to access art that inspires them.

  • Soviet governments restricted American music like jazz and rock and roll so tightly that citizens couldn't own or listen to it
  • Young Soviets bootlegged records by cutting sound grooves into discarded X-ray plates, preserving the original X-ray images
  • These 'bone music' records looked awesome but didn't sound particularly good
  • The bootlegs allowed young Soviets to hear, own, and distribute the music to people around them
" Now the young people of the Soviet Union wanted to hear this music so badly that they figured out that they could actually bootleg American records by cutting sound grooves into discarded x plates in many cases preserving the original image of the x-ray. "

The Streaming Revolution and Its Trade-offs

Rizzuto acknowledges the tremendous benefits streaming has brought to media consumption, making virtually any music from any genre instantly available worldwide. He openly expresses his love for streaming across movies, podcasts, and TV, even noting he's creating streaming media in the moment. However, he identifies significant losses in the transition: the adventures of finding media, the joy of physical collections, fair compensation for artists and creators, and the risk of algorithms perpetuating the same content while potentially marginalizing diverse voices.

  • Streaming made hard-to-find music obsolete—everything became instantly available on phones
  • Rizzuto loves streaming media and is creating a piece of streaming media while speaking
  • We've lost the adventures of finding physical media and showing collections to friends
  • Artists and creators need fair compensation, and streaming companies need financial sustainability
  • Algorithms feed us the same content repeatedly, making it harder to amplify marginalized voices
" I'm a little nostalgic for the way things used to be. You know, I think we're missing something when we don't have the physical media. "

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