Piracy

Maybe its a generational thing but I prefer having a Plex / Plexamp serveur with all my music as FLAC on my home server. I can better curate my collection and it's available everywhere.

Local library. I don't want to pay for things I don't own. Streaming services also can remove/ disable music any time. I also don't need recommendation algorithms I think they are biased. I can easily discover new artists on blogs

Streaming for discovery, private tracker to get it in FLAC.

I have Ampache running on a self hosted server, which has desktop and mobile apps.

I've got a local library that I stream with using Subsonic/Airsonic-compatible APIs.

Support your favourite artists by buying their merchandise and going to shows.

Local library for me for sure!

I discover new music through friends, Shazam, and browsing Youtube Music.

With ~6k songs I don't get bored that fast.

Give ViMusic (for Android) a try. It's free in F-Droid. It's like Spotify but uses Youtube Music for the backend.

I have a Spotify account and never use it anymore. ViMusic is great.

Spotify to find artists

Plex/VLC/winamp to continue listening after discovering them.

I have my local library on my computer, and then use iTunes Match to stream it to all of my devices. I had originally subscribed to Apple Music when it came out, but realized that I only really listened to music that I already had purchased.

When I found out about iTunes Match, and that it cost $25 / year instead of a monthly subscription, I switched to that and I've been happy ever since.

This totally depends on YOU and how you consume music. I am an analog collector who has a small collection of cassette tapes and vinyl to play at home for gatherings. But then I have spotify for the car and for showering lol.

I have a smart TV with ReVanced so I don't get commercials/ads on YouTube and can play music there too.

https://github.com/Team-xManager/xManager/releases Free Spotify

Mostly, I've downloaded all my music and stream through Navidrome. But I'll use above in a pinch.

Personal library is 0 compromise, except for the convenience. There are plenty of songs in my library that aren't on Spotify or any other. All my music is FLAC. Uncensorable. I get star ratings and favorites.

I stream because it helps me discover new artists, and makes it effortless. I do have my own library though.

I stream music because you can get just about everything with any service you choose at a reasonable price. I don't do the same for movies and TV shows because that option isn't available. If it was, my laziness may get me to stop pirating.

Local copy for life. Streaming is just renting by a nicer name. I don't want to pay for the rest of my life to access the same content. I'll buy CDs and I'll buy DRM-free FLAC files if available, but otherwise I'm pirating the FLAC copy or, if worst comes to worst, ripping the audio from YouTube (too many new artists/YT artists don't offer lossless downloads). I'm not paying for something I don't get to keep.

Mixing and matching is the best option, mostly.

I like to have my personal favorite albums and non-streaming albums in my drive, but if i download something new, most of the time it will just stay there and i'll never listen to it.

Streaming is wayyy better for discovering music (and also not making your hard drive full). If for every album you want to listen to you need to download, it sometimes lets you out of great music because of simple lazyness lol

I agree with OP that it is best to have DRM free files. For music recommendations, I use a Scrobber plugin for Last.fm.

I stream because I like discovering new artists that I don’t know about. Otherwise keeping everything on a drive is probably better considering that you have full control over it.

I have Apple One Family and that includes Apple Music, which I share with 5 others. Can't beat that price!