To ask if I’m missing out by never having used Spotify?

It's fantastic from the point of view of being able to hear something you're curious about, but not sure if it's up your street. No more buying an album on the strength of one single and then finding out you don't like most of it.

I do have reservations about the way they pay artists (or rather, don't pay them very much!), but I try to counter that by going to gigs involving lesser known artists and buying their merchandise and vinyl.

We Bluetooth from our phones to the car stereo. I have all my own music on my phone, or I just use my data (I get 50gb a month) to stream radio etc.

You're not missing anything if you listen to music etc in your own way as that's all it is really. I love it, as I can switch between music, audio books, podcasts etc and listen to anything I want. I haven't owned a CD player in over 10 years at least, car doesn't have one so no idea how I'd listen to music otherwise!

I wouldn't be without Spotify. Every week I listen religiously to my Discover Weekly playlist and discover a lot of new / old / niche stuff.
I can go from acid jazz to japanese 70s funk rock via traditional bulgarian folk music.

I use it easily as much fro podcasts and audiobooks as I do for music. As others have said it is great for hearing new artists (or new to you even if they’ve been about a while) as it switches to a selection of its own matched to your album/playlist when it finishes, plus it suggests things in made for you playlists.

I just checked Amazon and they don't seem to be doing it anymore which is very disappointing. Oh well. Good while it lasted, I guess.

You're welcome 😊 I know £99 is a lot to spend at once but I love Spotify and see it as my treat to myself as I don't really have a social life, drink, smoke etc and don't get to go on holidays.

I don't use it or iTunes. If I really love an artist's music, I'll buy it either as a CD or download. I used YouTube music to listen to random songs I might fancy listening to, otherwise I just play my own music. I use a streaming radio player to listen to radio stations. BBC Sounds or Amazon Music for podcasts or audio stories. I can also listen to playlists of particular genres or eras on Amazon if I choose, I don't do that often, though. I use Libby to borrow audiobooks from my library. White noise I can get with the free sleep sounds app I have. The only things we pay for on top of our broadband are the TV licence and Prime. That and the free versions of other platforms covers everything for me.

I'm happy with my Amazon music.

We use Amazon Music, works well enough for me. Is Spotify better?

There is a free option. But there is ads every so often and you can't skip songs (on a phone. You can on a computer but then the ads come more frequently) or choose the order in which you want to listen to songs (on a phone).

The paid option is cheaper if you buy a £99 Spotify voucher from Amazon. You get a full year of premium Spotify for less than the full price. I do that every year.

Looks good, but it's £12 a month ...

Also, for me, they're a brand who actively discriminate against single people by charging less per person for couples/families. This type of policy makes me steer immediately away from a brand tbh.

I couldnt be without my Spotify account, i use it all day most days

I absolutely love Spotify. It's really broadened my music tastes. It's helped me and my teens share what we're listening to and finding new artists through each other. You can make shared playlists on there. I can't imagine not having some kind of music streaming service now.

You can get a free version, but with that you get ads and can't download or play songs in the order you would like.

I love it and have the family plan it's the best money I spend all month. I download mostly podcasts and audiobooks to listen to at work. My husband and kids have all their playlists and podcasts downloaded so they don't use up any mobile data. It saves me a fortune.

I find Tidal is a better app from a user perspective and it pays more to the artist than Spotify.

Deleting multiple post - bad signal on train (also listening to Spotify of course!)

Never used it. Can't be doing with all this subscription business, what a racket. If I pay for something then I want to own it. Quite happy with my CDs (and some cassettes) and have put all my music on my phone so I can listen anywhere.

If you’re a music lover then it’s the best. I’ve had it since about 2009 when it was fully free and unrestricted. It just means you can listen to absolutely anything you want at any point, rather than having to already own the music you’re wanting to listen to, and find the CD, or have put the MP3 on the card you have with you etc.

I’m usually in one of the top percent of listeners when I get my yearly stats, so well worth it to me! I use it more than TV streaming for sure.

Also means you can link your account to Alexa and ask for any song whenever you want.

We have family premium. I use it for my workout playlist and audio books in the shower.