I pay for Youtube premium as a carry-over from Google Music (back when it was called Youtube Red). I let it run because I enjoy the screen off feature when I’m driving. On my desktop uBlock Origin still blocks 340 scripts/trackers even when logged into Premium. They not only want to eye-rape us with ads, but they want to track the fuck out of us across the web.

An then there are those that swing days and nights who are stuck in perpetual limbo. My sleep schedule sucks.

So did Samsung

I mainly get my purchased music from Qobuz and Bandcamp. If it’s older, don’t dismiss compact discs, used or new. A lot of times you can get the CD cheaper than the digital download, then just rip it to any format you want.

why wouldn’t you want all your audio entertainment in one place?

Because Spotify is known to track and sell your listening habits. It’s fine (for me) that they track that I listen to AC/DC right before Ghostly Kisses. Music is music. A person’s podcasts can get a lot more personal. Politically, emotionally, and religiously personal. I don’t like to be profiled.

I would have fixed the damn API to push ads out to third party apps, with ad revenue sharing. Then implemented a per user API price to enable browsing ad free.