if not from a streaming service like spotify or radio program?
I’m just curious how people listen to thousands of songs a month if they don’t come from either of these sources
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I used to buy vinyls and then cassettes and then CDs later on and when mp3s came about I used IRC and the Warez scene and then bittorrents… Nowadays I just listen to one of the few free tier streaming services.
Purchased downloads (Bandcamp), ‘non-purchased’ downloads, Bandcamp streams, some of my own ripped CDs, some manual submission of vinyl and cassette listens.
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Purchased or free downloads (mostly Bandcamp), digital files ripped from the CDs or cassettes I’d purchased years ago. For sold-out/rare stuff, I use soulseek.
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I suspect that some of the people hanging around here simply have huge collections. I have a little over 10,000 digital files, mostly CD-rips and Bandcamp purchases and I consider myself small fish.
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Purchased downloads from Bandcamp, Qobuz, and occasionally other platforms or from the label itself.
And vinyl & CD from various record stores, mostly Antwerp. Sometimes Discogs. And alsothrift store finds. Occasionally I purchase vinyl & CD on Bandcamp too.
I rip my CD’s to have them available anywhere anytime.
And I listen to radiocentraal.be if I’m not playing there myself.
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I’m one of those weirdos who still buys CDs and downloads.
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I like my flimsy round piece of plastic and its booklet, 107,000+ ripped recordings. I also have a few hundred older pieces of vinyl that I’m the process of putting together the process of ripping to digital. Some digital downloads, 30 Days of the Dead, NoiseTrade (Bluegrass Ramble), some Bandcamp, some bootleg concerts/festivals. I came into the world of bootleg festivals very late last year, most good ones (I want) are not available for download anymore, but are showing up on youTube. I love live Doc Watson performances, what a treat.
I will say it’s getting much harder finding older used CDs. My go to company “Declutter” closed down in June, they were having a fire sale of buy 1 get 1 free which I abused as much as I could. I find eBay is making searching harder and trying more than ever to maximize profits, I am about to stop buying all together as the fun of finding old releases just gets harder.
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Mostly Bandcamp, sometimes Youtube.
I personally collect vinyls, cds etc. but I usually listen to music from Spotify, Youtube Music or also Vinyl/CD rips.
A lot is from my digitalized CD collection. Newer stuff mostly purchased or free downloads from various services over the years: Amazon Music, Jamendo, 7digital, and nowadays Bandcamp.
I also do buy CDs sometimes, but rarely 
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Youtube (not YT music), because other platforms don’t have a serious part of my music
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Nicotine+ on the soulseek network.
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spotify free is actually usable here in libya, usually that
sometimes soundcloud because complete lack of ads over the years
always wishlist, never buy for bandcamp
and a bot to get illegal flacs from deezer (or wherever it takes from i dunno)
or youtube (revanced)
sorry but bills come first
edit: spotify free on desktop is the only one usable, mobile is shuffle-exclusive hell
I buy indie music from bandcamp, certain “friends” and I share a few servers for everything else.
The line is fairly arbitrary for me, but I base it off of how well off the artist seems to be doing. If I feel like my $10-15 album purchase might actually make a difference in their day to day lives, I’ll go to bandcamp, otherwise… Yarr matey.
We don’t have a lot of money, and most of the artists I listen to would probably rather I download their music than use something like Spotify, some even upload their stuff straight to archive.org. For example, a bunch of Patrick Schneeweis’ (formerly Pat the Bunny) music is on archive.org. Here is most if not all of Wingnut Dishwashers Union (warning: folk punk is not for everyone 
)
Edit: I also use a modified version of YouTube that implements SponsorBlock and other plugins, but I mostly use that to listen to DJ sets so I can find new music.
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Other folks have already mentioned most of the ways I get music, but here are a few that I don’t see mentioned yet.
I’ve inherited collections of mostly CDs and vinyls along with a few cassettes and shellacs from a handful of people who didn’t want them any more. Some died, some moved to smaller homes, some had just stopped using some physical media. This is a great way to get a ton at once for free, but relies on a lot of luck.
There are some groups dedicated to offering up free physical stuff locally. I use Everything is Free and Buy Nothing (both on Facebook), and I’ve heard about Freecycle. There might be others. In my local groups, people occasionally offer anywhere from a few CDs to larger collections.
There are a few places to search for Creative Commons-licensed or public domain music, which tend to be available to download for free.
If you pay attention to up-and-coming bands, sometimes they’ll offer a free download or two when they’re first starting out.
Some public libraries have “book” sales that also have CDs. My local one has a small selection of CDs for US$1 each, and a bunch of other ones nearby have them for similarly low prices. At least around me, it’s often easier to find on a library’s website by first looking for the Friends info (sometimes a separate website), then the book sale there. Sometimes the CDs are in a different location from the rest of the “book” sale, so it’s worth asking if you don’t see them at first.
If you happen to live in a place where you can get multiple library cards with access to Freegal, I think you can usually get 3-5 track downloads per week, per library card. I live in Massachusetts, US and I have 6 library cards with Freegal for a total of 28 tracks per week. The selection isn’t amazing, but hey, it’s free (and legal) music.
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