Abstract: Various embodiments of the present invention provide systems and methods for medium utilization control. As an example, a method for identifying potentially damaged media regions is discussed that includes receiving a data set; performing a data detection process on the data set to yield a detected output and a status value corresponding to the data set; performing a data decoding process on the detected output to yield a decoded output; and identifying a region of a storage medium from which the data set was derived as failing based at least in part on the status value.