[missedthecue]

"The convenience comes with a significant downside, though. After you’ve been using such a service for a significant enough period (think 5-10 years) you will be down a non insignificant amount of money. Something in the range of $600 to $1200."

I listen to music all day every day and over the course of a month probably listen to 1000 songs, many more than one time. This would cost a fortune in CDs.

Renting music allows me to sample all kinds of new and interesting tunes from around the world for $10 a month. It's just a no-brainer.

Sure if you are the type of user who opens your streaming app once a week to play the same songs you always listen to, perhaps a buying the music outright might make sense, but I think for most people streaming offers the double whammy of being both more convenient and more affordable.

[eigengrau5150]

I pay Spotify $10/month to try new (to me) metal and jazz acts. However, if I like an album I buy it because Spotify exploits artists rather than supporting them. A lucky few make bank, the rest make bupkis, and the house always wins.

This is how Medium and Substack work as well, incidentally. Artist exploitation as a service.