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.