This should be the top comment.

OP, how about you’re more transparent next time?

Guns without a serial number. They are untraceable.

Thanks for the tip!

I don’t mind paying for the music. What I do mind, however, is the kind-of hostage situation that I am in with Spotify. I understand that they have costs that need to be covered. (Though, podcasts - especially exclusive ones - are NOT what I ordered.) I want to be in control of my data, and be able to easily transition to competitors and/or self-hosted solutions.

I guess one of the more difficult things to have “free” is the music that could be of interest to you, but you do not already own it.

I was contemplating to go back to reading album reviews and music news myself, but that seems like a larger time invest.

That is a very good question.

• What would it cost if I was to acquire the music in my library?
• What if I wanted to sail the seven seas instead? Where would I get the music from?

As for the algorithm, a lot of the suggestions for new music is probably also available to non-premium users (e.g. “Discover Weekly”) and could be scraped/downloaded from the API.

I believe there could be a rise in demand for a solution to migrate away from these audio walled gardens, especially with the upcoming price hike.