Like the title said, how and where?
Personally I buy most of my music. If I like it I buy it because I want to own it and because I want to show support for that artist/s. I buy cds mostly (I'm old) but sometimes I'll buy through iTunes. On the odd occasion I'll listen to youtube but mostly not.
How? I generally almost always listen through my computer but at night it's the radio that is on and mainly Absolute as I can't get any other channels I like through it.
Yeah, I always enjoyed owning my music, but as the years went by they released better versions of it, higher quality, or a unique mix, etc. It is hard to keep up and my cd box was just too full.
I moved on since then by simply having it when I want it. Once a year I tend to just throw out everything on my computer and start fresh. My taste changes a lot, especially when my mood changes.
Owning music isn't a thing anymore. While you might have the physical disk. It is still locked down with DRM anti piracy protection stuff, and it's actually a license that you pay for to have the right to play 'that instance', rather than copy it 5 times so you can have it on all your systems, a copy for the car, etc. It's just not how I prefer to 'own' something.
But whatever, it doesn't matter, it's a physical thing you hold in your hand, I guess that's something.
With youtube, spotify, digital radio, vimeo, soundcloud, apple music, and all that stuff, it's hard to not have access to the music that you want.
I try not to pay for subscriptions, but recently my parents had an interest in some music and I've been paying an apple music account since then. It's really not worth it. I still listen to youtube playlists more it seems like. And that reminds me, I have to cancel that stuff today.
Spotify is how I listen to most of it nowadays. I really miss having xfm or Sirius, but I don't drive enough anymore to really warrant paying for that kind of service. I do pay for Spotify Premium, because I like to plug my phone into my auxiliary jack in the car, and listen that way. I usually put on some of my favorite playlists, or if I'm looking to be exposed to other stuff similar to what I've been jamming on, I pick like the Daily Playlist.
If I really like something, I'll see if Half Price books has the CD. Otherwise I'll go through iTunes. Which pains me, because if you ever lose access to your account, say goodbye to your music- something I've dealt with after my last divorce.
I do enjoy listening to something on YouTube and then letting it play until I hit something or a block of somethings that I'm like, ehhh, nah.
That's a good point. I've seen friends of mine lose thousands of albums because of breakups, or simply losing access to their itunes or spotify accounts. It sucks, but i guess it's a thing we get for 99 cents a song these days.