I still find Spotify's admittedly garbage electron app better than any other player I've ever used because I get (almost) all the music I could ever want at my fingertips without having to browse any third party website, find the files, buy/pirate them, load them in the right location with the right tags etc...
The price to pay for this convenience is DRM and player lock-in (and all possible usage data being siphoned by said player). It is unfortunate, but as a user it's a price I'm willing to pay, even if reluctantly.
Yeah, and albums suddenly disappearing because the licenses ran out. Or, even worst: Albums being incomplete because certains track "aren't available".
I don't know. I use Spotify as a radio replacement, but albums I like I try to buy as FLAC files. If they are lost, it's my own fault.
Until they aren't. Convenience, DRM and collective inertia may well lead to disappearance of media delivered in open formats. Not tomorrow, not next year, but in 10 years? I am not so sure, unless a dedicated minority keeps pushing for it. But then, what happens when will come of age the generation that grew considering normal to only stream and buy a temporary license for media and books?
Its possible to create 3rd party spotify clients by using the librespot library and there exists alternatives but I havent seen any that could replace the official application.
The only caveat is librespot only works with premium accounts.
The price to pay for this convenience is DRM and player lock-in (and all possible usage data being siphoned by said player). It is unfortunate, but as a user it's a price I'm willing to pay, even if reluctantly.