Must I Pay Forever to Listen to My Music?

Quitting Apple Music, Spotify or other services means leaving your songs behind. But subscribing has benefits

Edward C. Baig,

AARP

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Published May 27, 2025

a quarter with a headphone cord wrapped around it

Paul Spella (Getty 2)

I grew up buying and listening to record albums and later to cassettes and compact discs. Though I’ve also paid to download tunes occasionally, I’ve resisted subscribing to Amazon Music, Apple Music, Spotify or similar services. I like the idea of owning my music. Am I a dinosaur?

As someone who grew up walking into record stores and walking out with a stack of albums and fewer shekels in my wallet, I get where you’re coming from. I cherish the music I’ve bought and still play old vinyl from time to time.

Having said that, I’m fully invested in the world of digital music and rarely look back. I subscribe to two of the most popular music streaming services and periodically listen to other music sites with free tiers.

I completely agree that owning your music and watching your collection expand is something special, just as many people would rather own cars than lease them. My main music library is a combination of songs I stream and stuff I’ve previously imported from CDs or paid for as digital downloads.

But I must confess that I can’t recall the last time I bought a brand-new individual track, much less an entire album, unless you count the gems — scratches and all — I’ve discovered in used record shops.

Let me outline why you might want a music subscription as well as its drawbacks. I’ll also weigh in on free options.

What’s good about paying for music services?

Hear anything, any time, on demand. As long as you remain a subscriber, you can listen to almost any album or track on your schedule. And you can listen on your smartphone, tablet, computer, smart speaker or television.

In my case, it doesn’t matter whether I already bought the song at Tower Records, Sam Goody’s or other bygone retailers I used to frequent. Sometimes I want to hear a song on a whim or because someone mentions it — even if I never would have considered purchasing it, as a single listen reminds me.

Ginormous catalogs. Amazon Music Unlimited, Apple Music, Spotify and YouTube Music each have libraries that exceed 100 million tracks, a mix of live shows, studio recordings and relatively rare ditties.

Before digitization, a record store to house all that music would have been huge. Standout artists who had resisted digital streaming now are mostly embracing it.

Recommendations. One of the pleasures of record stores was discovering fresh music by poring through bins or hearing a newly minted album on the store’s turntable.

Algorithm-driven subscription services suggest playlists and surface music you may want to hear based on your prior downloads and listening preferences. These services don’t always come up with the right mix, but they have a pretty good, pun intended, track record.

Playlists. As a paying customer, you pretty much can create your own without limitations, including songs you’ve been streaming but don’t own. Others who listen for free may be restricted to playlists using songs they’ve already paid for.

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Spotify is testing a generative artificial intelligence (AI) playlist for premium subscribers that lets the service produce a curated playlist automatically based on a user prompt. As a hay fever sufferer, I love one of the prompts Spotify provides as an example: “Relaxing music to tide me over during allergy season.”

Offline playback. Because you can download songs even though you’re renting them, you can listen on a device that lacks internet connectivity. Typically, you also can listen without ads interrupting, play songs in any order and view lyrics in real time.

Other benefits. Subscribers may be treated to material before its general release. Audio quality may also be superior. Depending on the service, you can additionally access podcasts , audiobooks, music videos and live radio.

What if I choose not to pay?

Here today, gone tomorrow. This is the biggest rub. If you subscribe to a major service but later cancel, you’ll lose access to the entire library of music you streamed but never purchased.

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You will retain songs you bought or imported from other sources.

Sticking with free? If you’re fine with the tradeoffs, you have plenty of no-cost streaming choices, including free tiers from the likes of Amazon Music and Spotify.

In general, you must tolerate ads, can access songs only from a smaller catalog and have less control of how you choose to listen. You may not be able to skip tracks or rewind, and you won’t be able to download songs to listen offline.

Bonus tip: Serious about music? Consider hi-res audio

If you’re an audiophile who demands the finest audio fidelity and ability to pinpoint nuances in the music, look for streaming platforms that support what’s known as hi-res audio, short for high-resolution audio.

I won’t geek out on the technical specifications, but hi-res encompasses several audio formats, including WAV, AIFF and ALAC.

The audio is indeed superior to compact discs and MP3s, which compress files to save space and diminish quality. The truth is you may need a discerning ear to hear subtle differences, and you’ll need high-quality playback devices.

Streaming services that support hi-res audio include Amazon Music Unlimited, Apple Music, Qobuz and Tidal. All require a subscription.

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Edward C. Baig covers technology and other consumer topics. He previously worked for USA Today, BusinessWeek, U.S. News & World Report and Fortune, and is author of Macs for Dummies and coauthor of iPhone for Dummies and iPad for Dummies. Follow him on LinkedIn; Threads; and X, formerly known as Twitter.