> When I read the negative take on "it's always somebody else selecting the music for you" I really recoiled.

Someone clearly didn't listen to John Peel and Andy Kershaw in their youth.

(also, IN MY DAY, it was generally somebody else selecting the music for you - radio DJs/programmers, TV music shows, availability of things in shops, being able to actually get to the damn shops, etc. None of this choose your own adventure streaming or digital music malarkey.)