I have never paid to stream music. I grew up with dial-up and terrible cell reception making torrenting a chore (shout-out leaving Limewire up overnight for one song) and streaming a total non-starter. In high school I checked out stacks and stacks of CDs from the library to rip onto my computer.

With the help of better internet I was able to access torrenting and luckily my special interest in the metal genre kept me off the ISP radar though I use a VPN nowadays. You may be able to find a tracker specialized in a specific music taste - depending on your attitude towards torrenting. I do my best to recompense the bands via merch (especially vinyl) and concert ticket sales.