https://metro.co.uk/2020/08/05/google-will-axe-play-music-service-october-13086709/

As an avid user of this and as someone who has purchased several albums via Google Play Music, I'm sad and angry, but I shouldn't be too surprised because of Google's reputation for killing off a number of barely used services including Reader and Google+. This was kind of hinted from an article I read in the past, which I can't really remember now.

We may be stepping into a new era where we can only keep music we pay for by more obscure retailers save for Amazon Music - these include Bandcamp, Qobuz, eMusic and 7Digital (and to a limited extent, SoundCloud), none of which have the huge library of mainstream music streaming services and their notoriety.

CDs are a far rarer sight in my experience compared to DVDs and Blu-Rays - I've only seen one person online with like a BTS (some K-pop band) CD and this person wasn't even from the UK.

All music downloads will now be offered in DRM-locked formats, which means they will only be guaranteed to exist as long as the business does and even then there's no guarantee of its longevity. Microsoft had an e-book service, and as it went out of business, people's e-book collection paid with their hard earned cash went, all because those e-books were DRM-locked. In the past, if you had music, you'd lose it to a fire or your own neglect only, or if they were pirated copies. One can still pirate but I think fewer and fewer people are choosing to do so because the legal alternatives all appear more convenient save for certain cases like movies and TV, and for those with a low source of income.

I try to avoid listening to most new music because of this, even if it sounds close to my taste. If it's available on services such as Bandcamp, it may be the only reason now I'd ever get into and buy new music. I even encountered someone who had to cancel their Spotify subscription because it was too expensive for them - sure, it's more cost effective if you want to listen to a wide variety of tracks ad-free but if you want to listen to a few favorites that will never be lost except by your own neglect, Spotify is a waste of money, and there are fewer and fewer such ways to cater to the very market that refuses to stream music and have some sense of power independent of big corporations who only want to use art as a business idea.

This is why I’ve built a huge collection of physical music media like CDs and tapes. It will always be mine and will always play as long as I take care of it. Well up until last year I never had the internet bandwidth to download songs anyway. But even so, I don’t trust anything on the internet to be permanent.

This is why I’ve built a huge collection of physical music media like CDs and tapes. It will always be mine and will always play as long as I take care of it. Well up until last year I never had the internet bandwidth to download songs anyway. But even so, I don’t trust anything on the internet to be permanent.
Downloads can be a little more permanent. They may no longer be available because of unfortunately how fragile the web is, but if that were not a concern, the fact they're all beginning to be DRM-locked is, meaning the downloads will exist only as long as the company hosting does and wills it to. Users who can download something from a service without DRM are free to let it persist for much longer than it will be available on either a streaming platform providing the same content or even the platform they bought it from.

Eventually we seem to be going back to the days of radio and live TV. Unfortunately the unwavering influence of big companies has meant they can use tech for their own means.

In my collection on my computer I have about 14 bookmarked websites where I can listen to music and yes some of them they want you to pay monthly or yearly but I always choose the free versions.

In my collection on my computer I have about 14 bookmarked websites where I can listen to music and yes some of them they want you to pay monthly or yearly but I always choose the free versions.

I have used Spotify only for free for the most of it but am still annoyed I could still lose songs even while paying for premium.

I have used Spotify only for free for the most of it but am still annoyed I could still lose songs even while paying for premium.


Why not get Spotify Free you can log in with a password and then add on as to many songs, albums or artists as you want.

Never used it, and just looked at it, as payment is required for, I never will now.

Why not get Spotify Free you can log in with a password and then add on as to many songs, albums or artists as you want.

My main concern is losing track of all the songs I like. I could just sort them into playlists but I'm admittedly too lazy to do this.

I also had to delete my Spotify for unrelated reasons to this. If I relied on only Spotify (as I see many people do), I have to make sure I have access to a connection in addition to the money spent towards electricity to even listen to my favorite music (internet connectivity for the world is improving but in most areas especially in economically developing countries, it's still quite terrible). In the past, I would only have needed a connection only to download once at most. If Spotify were to go under, this wouldn't be great news in that all the music I love would go up in thin air along with the company.

This is sad for me because I actually use Google Play Music and think it's a really solid music collection app especially for those who prefer not to stream. I will have to look for an alternative pretty soon.

This is sad for me because I actually use Google Play Music and think it's a really solid music collection app especially for those who prefer not to stream. I will have to look for an alternative pretty soon.


How about Spotify for free?

How about Spotify for free?

I wouldn't recommend it unless he doesn't want to keep his music and doesn't mind having it lost eventually.

I wouldn't recommend it unless he doesn't want to keep his music and doesn't mind having it lost eventually.


I've been a part of Spotify for about a few years and over the years I've accumulated nearly 1600 songs and it grows every day as you add more and more songs or music artists to your playlist.

I've been a part of Spotify for about a few years and over the years I've accumulated nearly 1600 songs and it grows every day as you add more and more songs or music artists to your playlist.
As someone who likes more obscure stuff, greyed out songs are more of a problem for me.