I have always possessed a voracious appetite for popular media. I especially love music. I recall in 1975, at the age of seven, being given AUD$5 in order to go to the record shop to ‘independently’ purchase my very own newrelease vinyl for AUD$4.99. An equivalent new-release CD is now, more or less, AUD$10. In 35 years the price has doubled, but little did I know that, back then, minimum wages were seven times less than they are now! I still have that weathered item, and am grateful to my parents for regularly allowing such luxuries. They did indeed pay a dear price for me to indulge in my passion for popular media. My view on how popular media should be consumed remains ambivalent. I trust this investigation into media consumption will assist in situating the debate beyond the black and white.