Apps backed by the cloud still have a local download option (including Spotify) that does the job for the brief moments you don't have internet.

I realized that needing every song I'd ever want to listen to on my local disk was just a form of digital hoarding. I backed up hundreds of gigabytes of my music, deleted it from my computer, and realized I never cared enough to restore it despite years of collecting and organizing it.

The download option wouldn’t work in a zombie apocalypse because if you don’t connect to the Internet for a few weeks the song stops working on Spotify. I know this because I’ve tried it.

In other words with no active Spotify service even downloaded songs simply stop working.

I was even thinking of writing an open letter to Spotify to allow the user to choose 10 zombie apocalypse tracks that would Always keep working no matter what.

Also I have about 4K songs on Spotify. When I downloaded them, I still had issues listening to all of them on the tube because Spotify seems to check whether you still can listen to them separately for every song.

I'd just like a feature to download a list of my library. Not the audio itself, it's not mine, but the selection I made. Then if Spotify has any problem (loses data, shutdowns suddenly, whatever) I have a backup of my data.

That only works as long as the artist keeps their music on Spotify. I've run into situations where an artist has pulled a release from Spotify, and the downloads disappear once I get internet connectivity again and Spotify re-syncs the licensing.

Definitely - there's an option in the settings to show unplayable tracks. There's tens, maybe a hundred songs I used to be able to listen to that I now can't (through Spotify)

Bonus question: what about when this happens to a Spotify-exclusive track?

I know I have some non-mainstream and oddball stuff that isn't on Apple Music so I want to be sure I hold onto that.

But, otherwise, I started to organize/curate my collection which I've largely not done anything to speak of with for literally years. (And which is messed up in various ways.) And I sort of came to the conclusion that it didn't really matter that much at this point.

Same here. Spotify for me is a legal way to sample all the music that's out there. If I'm listening to a song or album repeatedly then I buy the album, and the artist earns more from a digital download than if I only listened on Spotify. (Though I often listen on Spotify out of convenience, so they get the revenue from both.)

Same. Spotify or Google Play Music to do discovery, then Bandcamp or direct-from-artist for the artists you like.

I do the same, except I tend to buy vinyl records if they're available rather than downloads.

My exercise playlist alone would cost around $600 AUD to purchase, and half of that would be lossy formats.