(With the EUs continued focus on eWaste it also seems odd that the largest music service could just get away with bricking them all.)
Perhaps for embedded computer systems like this, there should be an EU requirement for companies sunsetting products to simply make publicly available the tooling necessary to reflash them with new software, along with any other information necessary for hackers to get started.
I have an old ipad mini that is still super hardware but they won't permit new apps on it. I would love to wipe and put linux or something on but that's not possible. This behavior shows contempt for the customer and the planet.
Of course, I'd prefer they do that all along.
Because selling shit you're going to brick 2 weeks later is literally against the law in the EU.