Michael Myerz (not to be mistaken for the fictional 70s serial killer) spends his time creating and collecting VHS tapes, trading, and selling them.
Beginning his rap career in 2007, Michael Schwartz, 34, adopted the alias Michael Myerz because his dad goes by Freddy and his brother goes by Jason. It only felt right [to Michael] for this to be the name and continue his music career.
In 2017, Schwartz collaborated with Lunchmeat to create his first VHS, “Booger Boys 3D: Revenge of the Plaque,” a sketch comedy/hip-hop mash-up. Since then, the two have worked together to expand Schwartz’s VHS portfolio, creating pieces such as “Myerz 4 Ever.” Lunchmeat is owned by Josh Schafer, a VHS creator and seller. He also creates magazines, books, and zines.
“We’re living in 2025, and we never left the 90s,” says Schwartz.
However, streaming services did not affect how people consumed media in the 90s.
Schwartz is not the only one who collects VHS and other forms of physical media. Partnering with Atlanta’s last video store, Videodrome, Schwartz expands his collector and creator community by attending VHS markets hosted at the Plaza Theatre on Ponce. Since its first event in 2019, Schwartz has been surprised by how much the markets have grown.
“I was surprised how alive this format is,” he says. “The community of VHS is enormous. I’m surprised by it. I am honestly kind of new to it, even though I’ve been in it for about a decade. So many people have just made it their life, just devoted to this format.”
Ian Deaton, a worker at Videodrome, has noticed the steady increase in traffic at the store over the last three to five years. Videodrome membership cards have been flying off the shelves recently.
“We’ve been giving them out like hotcakes because we have a lot of new members,” Deaton says.
Rise in streaming prices and content alterations
Some of the most popular streaming services have faced mass cancellations this past year due to rising costs and other controversies.
In July 2023, Netflix eliminated its $9.99 ad-free Basic plan in the U.S., leaving users with a $6.99 ad-supported plan or a $15.49 Standard ad-free option. This caused frustration among audiences, as it seemed to be just a way to get users to pay more for no ads. Disney+ altered its content and recently lost many subscribers after a brief Jimmy Kimmel cancellation.
“It takes away from the original intention of the filmmakers,” says Deaton.
Spotify’s stock is down partially due to AI-generated music on the platform. Not only have some streaming services had controversy, but the overall cost of some services has gone up. Trying to keep up with this can be hard as a consumer, considering how much rent and grocery prices have risen over the past few years.
Schwartz spent a lot of time watching VHS, Adult Swim, and Cartoon Network shows as a kid. A popular Cartoon Network show, “Courage the Cowardly Dog,” is no longer available to watch on streaming services.
“I mean, more of a reason to own things on physical media. It’s like if you have seasons one through four of ‘Courage the Cowardly Dog’ on DVD, who cares where it’s streaming? You have it on physical media, you just need a DVD player or Blu-Ray,” says Schwartz.
Deaton calls it a “false scarcity” caused by media monopolies.
“Their whole thing is ‘Oh we’re trying to match the site to what’s going on,’ but like they’re the ones who own most of the media digitally and currently streaming so they get to call the shots…whatever that looks like,” says Deaton.
Atlanta-based physical media stores
VHS, DVD, and CDs all have a place in the physical media conversation, but vinyl is a super popular format, too.
Criminal Records in Little Five Points helps build community by not only offering a large selection of records, CDs, and posters, but also finding ways to continue that community-building in the physical media world.
The record store often hosts listening parties and occasionally brings in various artists.
”If places like this don’t exist, if things like this don’t exist, we just fall into this digital dump of doo-doo,” says Schwartz.
Schwartz emphasizes the importance of physical media, noting that it’s something nobody can take from you because it lasts forever. Sending a link is different than placing a copy of a CD or vinyl in someone’s hands. After Schwartz made his first album in eighth grade, he burned it on a CD and gave it to a friend who came back to school with countless CDs and handed them out to everyone.
“I think when everything is just streaming and digital and clicking, it becomes postmodern. It just becomes this like plastic shell of what it was or should be,” he says.
The community has brought Schwartz many connections. Sander Ettema, a Dutch designer, helped design a few of his VHS covers, including his recent album cover, TV Dinner.
As physical media continues to compete with streaming, the future is still strong as the community continues to thrive.
Streaming caters to audiences by offering a wide variety of TV shows and movies, but what happens when originals are altered or removed? What do we have left? Physical media is not only important, but it’s an artifact. An original that cannot be modified. By keeping physical media alive, history is kept alive.
“There are people who love collecting it because they just love it, and there are people who like collecting it because it’s kind of an ego thing. For me, it’s a mixture of, I grew up on VHS, it’s like comfort food for me,” says Schwartz, “But at the same time, I love putting things out on physical media because it’s almost permanent. When I die, this still exists.”
