I would have to do more research to confirm, but I believe the platforms pay the artist for all streams, not just premium ones. In that case, you’re only stealing from the platform.
Again to clarify I'm also referring to the listener who uses some means to download the content locally to consume and therefore doesn't rely on any platform to use the content.
Ok, much of the conversation in this thread revolves around accessing streaming services via adblockers rather than downloading files.
Fair. To be honest I'm only half paying attention here sitting in the pub doing open mic