[lproven]

I hear this a lot. I find it always leaves me bemused.

The main time I want music is at times when I can't stream: for instance, when travelling, especially when on planes.

I specifically want my own music for when I don't have internet. When I do have internet, I mostly listen to digital radio.

I have no streaming accounts with anyone, except free accounts. I do not have any payment method set up on my Apple account, and I never have in the ~28 years I had the account. I don't pay for wifi or other additional connectivity, either.

I keep a local library of MP3s on my phones, and videos on my set-top computer. I use Foobar for music on my phone, and VLC for video on my STB.

It's a bit odd to me that what was hi-tech is now almost Luddite in its refusal of novelty.

I really don't see how paying subscriptions for access to stuff that I don't own is any kind of improvement.

[skydhash]

It can be great for checking out stuff, like a membership to some club or a library. As soon as I find something I like, I need it to be locally so I can listen without tracking and possible interference by third-parties. And browsing a curated collection is calmer than searching in those apps.

[lproven]

Sure, but a free Spotify or Youtube account lets me do that no problem. No need to pay for anything, no need for Apple Music or whatever.

[voxic11]

How do you even buy music these days? I know of Bandcamp but its kind of limited in the selection.

[lproven]

Well, anachronistic as it may seem, I buy physical media, and rip them. I know it sounds very 20th century, but it works, you really own the stuff in an irrevocable sort of way, and second-hand CDs and DVDs are really cheap these days. I fill about 75% of a 128GB SD card with MP3s.

I like paper books, too. I have many thousands of them.

[voxic11]

How do you even buy music these days?