A method of substituting digital alternative media for a physical media article at an article dispensing machine to a customer is provided. The method includes receiving a request related to the media article through a user interface from the customer, identifying an associated content provider, and determining the alternative media selection at the associated content provider that corresponds to the media article. The method also includes receiving a unique customer identifier and identifying the associated content provider based on the unique customer identifier. The method further includes mapping the media article to the alternative media selection based on metadata. The media article may be available at the article dispensing machine or may be unavailable due to being out-of-stock or reserved to another customer. The associated content provider may be linked to the customer based on a subscription. The digital alternative media selection may be accessed by an audio/visual display interface.