the Internet is dauntingly closed down nowadays. It's easy to think otherwise; there's a lot out there! But, today, we live in a corporatized version of the web. I guarantee you haven't used a forum if you're my age (that's ok... i haven't either)! Reddit exists for that now. You probably don't have your own website where you write the actual HTML & cetera, because Tumblr's good enough for that; even then, Instagram likely satiates your need for a place to express yourself, or TikTok.
Unfortunately, this has made it sort of difficult for you as an individual to make any sort of mark without some corporate meddling. But not impossible.
The old web lives on! Neocities (which hosts this site) is a good example—but, most pertinent, is Soulseek: A peer-to-peer file sharing network.
You might have heard of decentralized as a sort of buzzword to advertise the Web which kills the planet and our minds, a.k.a. "Web 3.0." It claims to achieve decentralization via the blockchain: an asocial and distrustful way of connecting everyone—kind of oxymoronic, isn't it? Obviously, this version of the net has failed! What didn't though, and what lives on, is good old peer-to-peer. P2P feels candid, man! It feels good. It warms your heart to know that whatever you just did was purposeful: The person who just sent you this file, message, or anything else, did so via their PC directly; no server in the middle served as interloper. Direct connection between you and them. kinda romantic…
Soulseek is an ad-free, spyware free, just plain free file sharing network for Windows, Mac and Linux.
What more do you need! It does as is advertised, with a couple extra features. You'll choose a file folder to share—which you should populate with music, for this use case (but anything else works, too); then, you can go ahead and search for any files you may need or desire. The DMCA doesn't apply here, bitchez!!! You can also DM others, often to get them to unlock their files for you when they lock them to detract leechers (which are people who only download, but don't share. Don't be one)—or maybe you just wanna compliment them on their fucking awesome music taste. There's also chat rooms, but they're populated with weirdos who often spew Nazi bullshit. Though there are some sweet people, on occasion.
"yeah dewd shut up xD i just w4nt 2 downl0ad it??? where linkz!?" you're probably saying. and i'm Like "Yeah man. He should just shut up." So, basically, just download Nicotine+, which is an improved version of the SoulseekQt app. It'll ask you to make a user and password, you can make up both—but remember them!!! make sure to share a folder, too; it can be empty for now, but just populate it with any files you download—remember to organize them! then, go to user profiles and enter expwy2yrskull and hit "Add Buddy" on the left; same thing with ladyelect! that way you'll know when I'm on and off :)
Whenever you desire any tunez or music you can't get on streaming, search it up, and you'll find it. Guaranteed. Slap me if you ever don't find anything.
Really, this deserves its own article, which is gonna be the next one; we'll briefly touch upon it here though. Once your share folder is organized and tidy, set up your Spotify to search in it and add its contents to the library. Do note that Spotify is a very subpar solution.
Spotify doesn't even support syncing between devices for one unified library. Lame.
Next: Audio players.