Like and subscribe or subscribe to like?

Spotify is my best friend. We have been best friends since grade school. Do not be surprised if you receive a wedding invitation from me and a listening platform.

However, our relationship experienced a rocky phase. It was during my eighth-grade days. It was 2016, the pinnacle of the music industry. Let’s just say, we found ourselves drowning in cold water.

I wanted Spotify to stay, but I was confronted with a subscription plan. A monthly fee that gives unlimited access to its services. I just wanted to download Kendrick Lamar’s “Money Trees” so I can go crazy during my jeepney rides.

It is more forgiving for passengers to see me go crazy with my earphones on than to look aimlessly and bother them out of boredom, so I took the bait and sacrificed some lunch meals to afford the monthly subscription.

Subscribing to unlimited music was the highlight of my 2016. However, I did not feel that I owned anything. Even until now.

Access does not automatically mean ownership. The only thing I own on Spotify is my account. Once I stop paying for Spotify, I will lose access to its services.

However, if I actually buy a song on iTunes or a physical CD, it seems I am paying way more than just a subscription. I will always choose the P128 (prepandemic) monthly Spotify subscription over the P2,000 “m.A.A.d. City” physical album.

How on earth did I end up running up against the end-of-the-month deadline for renewing my subscription just to access Ariana Grande’s songs, back when Spotify was still free to use? I do get it, artists deserve to get paid for their artistic work, but seeing myself running out of money is a different story.

This financial decision creates the illusion that I am saving a heck of a lot of money. However, I was just paying so much because access to listening is for life, and so is the payment. An Illusion that I am not even using other features I am paying for. Yes, I am still in the loop for Spotify.

Not only Spotify, but also almost every digital platform has this kind of scheme. Every time I watch YouTube, I cannot watch a full vlog without an advertisement. Even worse, I have to skip several ads to continue the vlog, which can take more than a minute while I wait for the skip ad button to appear.

Thanks to those ads, I was saved from the apparent jump scare in the video that my classmate had pranked me into watching. Although I am still mad for that 20-second Jollibee ad squeezed between the scene when Yaya Dub was about to meet Alden along the hallway, and a plywood was about to separate them.

In response to the subscription craze, the charm of pirated media glowed even brighter. As more platforms gatekeep their “original” goods, such as Netflix’s “Stranger Things,” illegal websites sprang up to give free access to everyone.

Illegal by law, but I have no reason to sue everyone who streams illegally. What else can be used by a Filipino as a pastime if expensive things surround her? Where do they go if there are barely any public spaces for everyone?

Bango, a research institute, reported that 43 percent of Filipinos cannot track their subscriptions. 2nd Opinion, on the other hand, revealed that 85 percent of Filipinos subscribe to many services due to the variety of services they offer. This just proves that we are living under debt under the guise of subscriptions.

We all owe money to companies until we choose to cancel. Well, I do not want to cancel my Spotify subscription because where else should I subscribe? Spotify might get jealous and accuse me of cheating.

Companies have found a way to make us pay them regularly in exchange for fake ownership. They either give us an eye-catching preview of the premium features or force us to do it by stripping down the convenience of accessing media.

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Is it still correct to say “Like and Subscribe” if subscribing is the ultimate key to accessing the services I like? To set me free from the cheating charges against me?

As they say, loving is free. Loving what you do must be free, or at least, affordable. I do not want Spotify and I to end up like Marvin and Jolina or Yaya Dub and Alden. Yearning will be a result of expensive expectations of keeping in touch.

If there are public spaces where I can be productive in doing other hobbies, I might not find myself digging another stash of cash to pay for my Spotify subscription. Just a casual rotation of listening to music might suffice for my day.

Even just an initiative for the government to remove the added tax for such subscriptions is a big help. In this, my and Spotify’s married life will continue its happy run and inspire others to pursue their love of music without hurting their pockets.

Finally, we can now live together, happily ever after.

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David Bobier, 23, is a preservice teacher and a fond Chase Atlantic listener.