[vinceguidry]

I wouldn't call it unlikely. Music services have a history of getting shut down. Sure, Spotify's star is bright now. But it could get acquired tomorrow by a company that decides it doesn't want to support all my use cases. If one of those use cases is something I'm reliant on, then Spotify all of a sudden becomes totally worthless.

Whereas my personal catalog will never stop supporting my use cases.

[hannasanarion]

What music services have a history of getting shut down after 11 years of profitability and complete cultural and market dominance? Spotify is hardly comparable to Zune or whatever.

It's totally your prerogative to not use spotify or other music streaming services, I'm just saying fear of imminent market apocalypse isn't really a good reason to deny all of the upsides.

[vinceguidry]

Cultural and market dominance? Where can I get some of that Kool-aid? Spotify is certainly more successful than many of the alternatives, but it's a crowded space. Apple Music, Amazon Music, Google Play Music, YouTube Music, SoundCloud, Pandora, Bandcamp and 8Tracks are just the ones I've heard of. Any one of these, including Spotify, is subject to acquisition, spinning out, or outright shutdown at the whims of the music industry. Any of these events can change the service such that it's practically useless.

The ones already shut down or folded into different companies with different priorities include Rhapsody, Beatport, Rdio, Last.fm's streaming offering, and the aforementioned Zune. Forgive me if I'm a little cautious and not willing to depend on the magic of "the market," cue jazz hands, to ensure access to my music, especially when I have a solution that's already working that isn't subject to those risks.