DeGoogle Yourself

I've used Soundpod for a while now to scrape youtube for music and it works remarkably well.

https://f-droid.org/packages/com.github.soundpod/

Thought I tried this app but I guess not. Installed it from both F-Droid and IzzyOnDroid (essentially github release). Couldn't get the app to do anything really. Wouldn't play anything (known issue on their git). Not even sure what its music sources are.

You mentioned Bandcamp. I buy googobs of music from there. Transferred all my music to a NAS running Jellyfin and Navidrome then stream using various clients. Sometimes it seems like I'm hearing some tracks for the first time.

If I feel a need to discover new music I'll use the Bandcamp app or go through the flood of emails they send. :)

Don't forget that Newpipe and Pipepipe are also Bandcamp & Soundcloud clients. You can random stream (and download???) using those.

Haven’t heard of Musify before. I use Navidrome hosted at pikapods, it’s great! If you don’t want/know how to self host you can do that :)

I like Vinyl from F-Droid. Afaik, is just plays music and doesn't download.

Is that an Android phone? If so, why wouldn't you use a regular music player? Is this one of those "free streaming" apps? Like it taps into YouTube to play audio? Generally those get shut down a lot.

I use Poweramp on my old S10, but I paid $4 or $5 for it before switching my daily driver to an iPhone a decade ago. I still have it, the unlocker still works, but I bet it costs more now. Some people swore by PlayerPro, but that cost money, too. (I had both of them.) There are a few free ones out there, but I'm not really big on it.

If you have a computer with a lot of storage, I think self-hosting is a great way to go. While I do sub to Apple Music, I also have a Plex server with all my music on it, and both my phones have Plexamp. Plex doubled, then tripled (so, 6x+) in price, so I wouldn't recommend it to a new user. I'm hearing great things about Navidrome though, or something like that. It sounds like it may be a little better than Plex for music (as that is its main purpose). I'd like to run Jellyfin, Audiobookshelf, and Navidrome on a dedicated Linux server, but for now, Plex has me covered with my Mac desktop as server. (Audiobookshelf doesn't work on Macs anyway. The other two do.) But, that's a future project, should I ever come across a great deal on a gently used Dell/HP desktop. Also, I'm a bit foggy on whether or not Navidrome can be accessed outside your LAN. Plex absolutely can and that's its purpose. Jellyfin cannot, on its own, but there are workarounds.

If you just wanna stream music you don't own, you'll always be in that rat race as those apps get shut down. Best to own your own music. Hit up thrift stores, buy discs for ~$1/local currency equivalent, rip them, and then donate them right back for the next person.