I am like you. The way I listen to music is not the conventional way in which someone has a playlist and goes with it for a while, then add new music, etc… I am autistic too, and my music routine generally implies having a song or two on repeat for the day because they are a form of stimming for me. So I don’t use streaming services if not for trying new music before seeing if I want that song.

My rule is that if I find a song I can be comfortable with to listen to it for a while hour on repeat and I still like it, I’ll buy it. If that happens, that song is probably going to be my next stimming song for days or even weeks, meaning I’ll listen to it hundreds or thousands of times. If that’s the case, I’ll buy it.

On some rare instances, I find an artist that I really like because they have more than one song that helps me and then I’ll buy their album just to show support to what they are doing.

I also can’t go to shows because they are a nightmare to my brain and its lack of sensory overload control.