December’s digital music scene continued themes from recent months: self-hosters sharing NAS builds as storage infrastructure becomes increasingly important, while streaming service frustrations drive users back to music ownership. Whether building custom storage servers or migrating away from streaming platforms, this month reinforced that controlling your music library starts with the hardware it lives on and the files you actually own (oh and don’t forget the software!)

November brought cultural milestones and new challenges for digital music enthusiasts. MTV’s closure marked the end of an era, while AI-generated music sparked questions about how we critique art that never truly existed. Music player design came under scrutiny with proposals for more immersive interfaces, and music theory got a fresh perspective from first principles.

But perhaps most pressing for self-hosters: storage prices climb as AI consumes capacity, and Windows users discovered their OS now deploys an AI agent with write access to their carefully curated libraries; an irony if you were trying to flee algorithmic streaming services…

This month saw dramatic shifts in the music technology landscape. Samsung’s acquisition spree continues while AURALiC shutters, the “Death to Spotify” movement reaches mainstream media, and platform dark patterns spark renewed discussion of data sovereignty. Amid the turbulence, new music players emerge with a focus on intentional listening, and self-hosters score a rare victory as Synology backtracks on hardware restrictions.

This month: the music ownership movement picks up steam with practical guides and technical insights, how self-hosting platforms can enable data sovereignty, new music players bridge different approaches, and streaming developments remind us why ownership matters.

This month: self-hosting services expand their reach, new music players embrace nostalgia, AI gets involved in playlist generation, and we take a look back at some music industry curiosities.