If I buy one album a month for a year, that’s about the same as a subscription except I get to keep what I bought.

That would mean you only get to listen to one new album each month. And getting to keep the album only matters if you eventually stop paying, but then you won’t get to add any new albums to your library until you pay for another one.

Spotify has provided me access to so much music, it’s incredible. I will never be able to go back to such a limited library after being able to experience the ability to listen to almost any music I want whenever I want.