For some napkin math:
I just transferred my library from Spotify to Apple Music (with the new built in tool!): 13k liked songs.
I started using paid Spotify from invite, before public release in the US, so 15 years.
Lets go very conservative (for me) and say every 3 songs is from the same album, at $12/album (LOL!): $52k, or $288/month.
Spotify cost: $2.1k, or $12/month
If I had to pay for albums, I would definitely be listening to less varied music.