Meme: Amphibian creature labelled "Spotify" emerging from a body of water, but being pushed back. Captions read: "Stop them! Don't let a single company rule them all. If you see a Horrid Beast monopolizing, push it back in."
Fed up with the algorithms and looming AI integration last November I ditched Spotify and downloaded songs through soul seek. All my albums are on my Mac and my iPhone which I play via VLC media player. I’ve never looked back. No one telling me who I should listen to next or what my top artist of the year is. No more streaming with bad cell connection.
Didn't you pirate the songs? I wouldn't call that ownership.
I just like Spotify and their discovery stuff. I wouldn't enjoy having to find and download every single song I want to listen to. That would be a pain.
Also, nothing is stopping me from pirating the songs whenever I want. It's not like you "own" anything that I can't also "own" the moment I decide to ditch Spotify.
If you were actually buying CDs I would agree that you might have had a point (and a lot of cash because CDs are really expensive).