So as you can see from this article, consumers still in fact do pay for music but now they pay for it indirectly via internet ads instead of directly via purchasing MP3 downloads or physical media.

https://variety.com/2022/digital/news/youtube-6-billion-music-industry-1235370451/

Watching advertisements costs nothing. Advertisements are paid for buy corporations.
YouTube Premium (YouTubeMusic) is ad free, and music can be downloaded. It costs us $18 per month, up to 6 users can use the subscription.
I much prefer it to Spotify and the others. There are so many great live recording of concerts from the 70's, and my youth. Many that I went to.

I still prefer CDs, the difference in sound quality between them and streaming services is enormous. If you only listen to pop, R&B, or bands that only play power chords, double kick drums, and have singers who sound like Cookie Monster the difference may be lost on you, but listening to bands like BÖC, Kansas, Rush, or Yes on a streaming service is almost as bad as leaving an earbud out.