I was told in an online forum discussing it that he isn’t releasing the files because he learned that Dems altered/forged the files to make trump look bad and the Dems look great

Truth means nothing to these people

While I agree with you for most alternatives to Spotify, I have yet to not be able to find any song from anyone on SoundCloud particularly in more niche genres. I obviously don’t know everything you listen to but the reason you describe is the exact reason I can’t always use Spotify

I also just switched last weekend! My city was hosting an install fest, made it very easy

Meanwhile in America “you guys got trains?”

“your whole life was a failure and soon no one will remember you. Turn your face into the sun and think about that”

You are mostly scamming the corpos who host the content, which is a-ok in my book. If you really want there are lots of ways to support the actual creator much more cheaply than paying for a subscription to the hoster of the content. It always helps me to remember all the times that those companies screw us by changing rates, adding ads, restricting starting options, etc without providing better content to justify it. This is just payback, really. See also, stealing from your employer

I feel this deeply. Others have said it already, but the thing that’s helped me the most is getting involved with the solution. Local community organizing, mutual aid groups, political candidates in your area, etc etc etc there are many options (and feel free to message me if you want more help finding them) and nothing felt ok until I could feel like I was doing something other than passively sitting around watching the country/world collapse.

Others have also said closing off news and social media. This is also a good step, but I would caution against doing so 100%. Maybe set aside a day or two a week where you get caught up for an hour or two then turn it off the rest of the time. It’s still important to be aware, particularly as the suffering is becoming more and more local and ubiquitous, but it definitely becomes all consuming if done too much.

You sound like an empathetic person, and people like you are needed to help drive change. Fascism won’t go away in it’s own or with one more election cycle to vote it out. The upshot is most organizing and community strengthing efforts are just generally positive for mental health in their own right and may lead and may lead to new friendships and activities that you enjoy

79??? That would have to make them about the youngest lawmakers in the country!

I don’t think there is a federated alternative but there are alternatives that are at least marginally less shitty, if that helps