Piracy.
Your public library.
Consume less media in general.
Buy stuff once (eg: DVDs, drm free music)
this post was submitted on 28 Mar 2026
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I know this isn't the point, but has Spotify ever been good, as in a well designed UI? I feel like every time I've used it, there's been some bizarre design choice.
And piracy is still free, just as it has been my whole life.
We use deezer and basic netflix since a month and I don't know how but we never had a single ad (using firefox with ublock on linux mint)
Edit: works as well with tv websites.
And public library is the best
Theoretically speaking...if someone wanted to search for torrents, where would one visit? Afaik, piratebay is long gone.
Piratebay has hundreds of working proxies
Thanks
Pirate bay is alive and well, it's unkillable, never really has been gone, even if they manage to knock it down occasionally. Get VPN.
thepiratebay.org
There's also 1337.to
Thanks
yo ho, all hands, hoist the colors high
heave ho, thieves and beggars, never shall we die
Bandcamp is still the GOAT and Tidal as actually lower their price last year.
Download it. If caught just say you are training AGI (Actual Genuine Intelligence) of your own.
I've been downloading for decades. I've never had a single incident, ever.
We're in a Robin Hood Economy. The rich know it, and have been in it for years. Steal everything, it's the American way.
Take what you can. Give nothing back!
I never stopped. Welcome back, the waters fine.
Wait until they implement Surge Pricing. If it's a busy time, it costs more, if it's a popular song, it costs more. If it's both, go watch TV, you can't afford music.
My VPN is as cheap as ever.
🏴☠️🦜
Before I streamed music I'd just download it from YouTube at the low cost of free.
Get an Android device go on the Play store download a torrent search engine and then look for something you want to download it will prompt you to download another app that will then download that torrent and then you watch it
Or look for download forums. There used to be one called Bolt that was incredible. They had EVERYTHING.
There are still a few out there.
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This. This has always been the better alternative and this always will be the better alternative!
For streaming, Debrid and Stremio!
Your local public library!
Buying physical media.
I've had a shit town of issues lately with Stremio + Torrentio to the point where if I can watch one full episode of a show without a major interruption, it's a mialracle
There's also that free streaming site if you have a library card here in the US
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👉 Your local public library. You can borrow movies and books. Return them so someone else can use them too. Not run afoul of the law. Libraries are great!
Alternatively:
Give your former Netflix and Spotify subscription fees to the Internet Archive.
They are essentially a gigantic, global, public library.
Your library probably even has digital access to thousands of movies, books, and songs, so you don’t even have to leave the house!
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Just steal everything. The powers that be rob you blind every day in a death by a thousand cuts kinda way.
They don't give a fuck about you, don't pay them any courtesies in return.
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How is this a surprise to anyone? They came to replace cable.
No, you still don't get it.
THEY CAME TO REPLACE CABLE.
At this point I'd think a good number of folks either don't remember or simply never experienced cable/satellite TV.
Hard to compare against something you've never experienced.
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Piracy
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The last time Spotify put up their prices, I told myself that I would cancel if they did it once more. If they do they would rise beyond the maximum budget I allocated to them, so to speak.
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