The End of Any Kind of Collection As We Know It

You, know guys, this blog is just where I keep a running journal of everything I feel as it relates to music. I posted this earlier today:

With the demise of iTunes forthcoming, I decided to find an old version of Winamp for my Android phone and sync it up with the desktop version on my Mac pic.twitter.com/bI4QcwXhmi

— djrikkirick (@hip_hop_1989) June 4, 2019

I think that with Best Buy and Target refusing to sell CD's last year, and with iTunes demise forthcoming this fall when the new version of macOS becomes available, we have full on entered the streaming age. And, while I use Spotify as well as Apple Music, I always find that I enjoy what's in my personal collection more, whether its a cassette, CD, vinyl record, or, yes even an mp3 file.
Now, companies for the most part don't want you buying music, because it's easier to get an ad-supported service, like YouTube or Spotify's free tier, or paying on a per month basis for one of the myriad of subscription services that are now available. I never thought I'd see the day where having a collection of anything was perceived as a bad thing. However, as I posted earlier on social media, having a valued and carefully curated collection of anything, whether it be Blu-Ray discs, mp3s, or even a vinyl record is now no longer the thing to have.
Big tech companies nowadays sell one thing and one thing. It's called convenience. Why take a bunch of CD's with you in your car when most car companies sell vehicles with wireless capable infotainment systems and built in Wi-fi? You're always connected, so just use Spotify or the other music service you choose. You can have it all and it's all on your mobile device. You have everything at your fingertips.
This is where I have a problem, because what they are in fact selling is a subscription model that has turned music into a disposable art form. The thing I put more of a value on in life (other than my wife) has been reduced to a pile of curated rubble on a hand held device. Honestly, I've always had a fondness for mp3s, because I always had an iPod or mp3 player, and I always carefully curated what was on it. That was my choice. My music wasn't left in the hands of a mobile device.
My point is this:
Having a carefully curated collection of music is something that's very important to me, even in the streaming age, and I'll tell you why. It's because I'll always have a huge collection of music, whether or not I can pay for my Spotify subscription. It doesn't require internet access, and except for my vinyl and cassettes, which I can only listen to at home, if it's a CD or mp3 file, I can play it in my car.
I think of all my friend's homes now, and remember when you would walk in and see a stereo of some kind sitting somewhere nearby. When I went to someone's house, that was always the first thing I looked for. I was always fascinated by stereo equipment, and still am. Right now, I have a Sony CD shelf system that I've been using since 2011. It's got an iPod dock, a PC jack that will work for Bluetooth (I have a Moto Stream Bluetooth cube), and it can also power a cassette deck and turntable as well as a phone, tablet, or computer. Best 200 bucks I ever spent. None of my friend's that I can think of have stereo equipment now, probably because of the internet. Maybe I'm just a music snob.
The ways that music has changed to be streaming only doesn't sit well with me and it never really has.
I'll leave you guys with this: a link to the demo version of Tha Dogg Pound's Dogg Food. Thanks for putting up with my music snobbery.

Dogg Food demos