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I think that Spotify (or any other music streaming service) are the only ones still worth it. I don't have to sign up for Spotify and Tidal and YouTube Music since any of them has whatever I need.
If that were to change, then I'll be subscription-free.
Also, I like paying for Spotify since it's the only European big-tech.
I'm gradually getting to the point where I'll drop Spotify. Shoving ads for podcasts in my face every time I launch the app was bad enough, but now their app has become such a bloated mess that it bugs out whenever my phone is switching between wifi and mobile data. I have more than 1k songs downloaded just so I don't have to deal with that, and now I have to deal with it because it's more important to them to show ads and promotions than it is for their app to do what it's designed to do.
And before anyone says "tHoSe ArEn'T aDs," showing me recommended artists and podcasts against my will is absolutely a form of advertising. Do you think they're showing me new releases from Joe down the street? These are paid promotions, aka ads.
Ads on podcasts are 100% at the discretion of the podcasts themselves. Not spotify.
I switched to Tidal from Spotify, never looked back.
If that were to change, then I'll be subscription-free.
At this point you will also be music-free since you do not own any of it, and that is what keeps people locked into these services even as the companies jerk them around.
Or do both?
The real value in Spotify is the music discovery. That's driven by data that very few are in a position to collect. Of all the big tech companies, Spotify is the only one I can think of that uses the data they collect from the users to give the users a uniquely better experience. Even YouTube is littered with promoted ads and videos. If you're avoiding ads anyway, it's a win win for the user to pay for Spotify premium.
Then you can do what you will with all the playlists you make.
Just pirate it.