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Seconded (though I subscribe to Netflix and not Spotify).

As a prelude, I should note that I strongly prefer listening to albums over singles, which puts me in a minority, so the following probably doesn't apply to you:

I've been purchasing music since the early 90s, and specifically on CDs since the mid 90s. Currently one month of Spotify costs about the same as a new album, and 2-10 used albums, depending on what sort of deal I can get.

In a counterfactual world in which Spotify existed in 1995, Let's say I purchased mostly new albums for an average of 1.5 albums[1] per month instead of paying for Spotify. I would end up with 342 albums, which is a pretty decent variety. I just checked my library, and I don't own quite that many. Part of this is due to how @#$# expensive CDs were when I was at my poorest[2]

1: This is probably low, because I might pick up 10 albums for $10 in one visit to a flea-market or via a craigslist find, while I'm not going to go on a triple-digit new-CD binge.

2: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CD_price_fixing

> I agree that in a way it makes sense for a lot of software. But as a consumer who just wants something to use once in a while it does not make any sense. It just feels like you are being milked.

What's the alternative? I suspect users would be equally upset if they were charged per use of the software (eg. $5 per photo edited).

I would honestly love to pay $2-$5 for a weekend license to Canva or Illustrator. Once in a blue moon I need to hammer a logo or an event flyer or a random SVG and then I won't touch the tool again for 3 months.

> What's the alternative? I suspect users would be equally upset if they were charged per use of the software (eg. $5 per photo edited).

For the publisher: offer the customer a choice. I doubt that many businesses and enthusiasts that depend upon a product are going to dump a subscription if it is tied to product support and upgrades. Occasional users who aren't interested in support or upgrades may end up purchasing a perpetual license. It's not exactly a new concept. From the descriptions I've seen, this is pretty much what JetBrains does.

As for fee per use, that $5 is a deal if you only have a half dozen photos to edit. (The least expensive way to access Photoshop for a one-time task is $35/month.) Granted, that's probably not the type of service that Adobe is interested in. Which is fine. There are plenty of companies that would be more than happy to develop a product that is better suited to that market.

As for myself, I have found a much better solution for infrequent tasks: open source software. In my younger days, I would have considered less expensive commercial options but I have been burnt too many times by "perpetual" licenses being temporary licenses. So instead of businesses getting revenue, they end up with nothing at all.

the problem with music streaming is that music randomly disappears from the sites! I remember the first time I tried to queue up an album on Spotify and it was just gone. Heartbreaking.

Nope, not worth it. Bandcamp lets you listen to albums before you buy them, and once you own them, you have the files and they can't just disappear.

not to mention that you can't even hear music on streaming sites that has unauthorized samples in it, which is a sort of absurd and related topic (that it's illegal to make some kinds of art) but practically speaking I just want to listen to Neil Cicierega in the same place as everything else.

I might be an exception here but I’m actually pretty happy turning on and off a one month subscription twice a year for something I use that often. For things that offer a trial that resets after a few months, it actually ends up free.

I wish there was some sort of "$40 for 40 hours" (eg: sketchup), and even better if there were some sort of "Humble Bundle" where you could do "$100 for 100 days of usage on any of ...these... services".

A lot of time I need the tool for a project (eg: one week), and would rather look for something open source or non-subscription-based since agreeing to ANY subscription to an important tool temporarily is akin to agreeing to it permanently.

It's not the same as "rent a rug cleaner from Home Depot" where there's competition, low learning curve, high compatibility, etc.