I have a current license for jRiver and I keep foobar2000 around.
Those worked well for me, but I’m spoiled now with Roon endpoints everywhere.
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I have a lifetime subscription but, as we know, this doesn’t really mean lifetime and companies often change terms as allowed in endless lawyer speak contracts.
I’ve made certain to tag all my rips via legitimate metadata sources and include large cover art which might help if Roon changes their minds and I need to move to another product.
I love Roon and think the decision makers at the company want to be fair and honest but I will not be surprised if, at some point, Roon will require a monthly fee for certain capabilities like playing high resolution files, using certain endpoints or something else.
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No fallback, I have everything I need without Roon.
I am a lifetime Roon subscriber and a Nucleus owner, and the main reason and the only reason I am with Roon is that I like Roon and I want to support Roon, but life still goes on for me if Roon dies tomorrow.
I own a Linn network music streamer, their bespoke Linn Kazoo and Kazoo server do not have some of the functionality of Roon but they offer superior SQ to Roon, I also bought a lifetime Audirvana license, and am a subscriber to Spotify premium.
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That is your fallback position.
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Yes, you are right!
This is slightly OT, but why 3 music services? Especially as a Minimalist 
- no, this is actually a real question. I have seen many users have Tidal and Qobuz and have always wondered why both? Now also Apple Music - to a vast extent they will all have the same stuff. So it can only be specialist and niche albums that differ - is ist worth it for these?
I personally have Qobuz plus my own library and rely on my stuff - loads of recordings that are not on streaming services plus often better versions - then use Qobuz for discovery and all popular music etc that is not part of my collection.
Please enlighten me, what is the difference between the Qobuz and Tidal catalogue and how big is it? Probably my needs outside the stuff I own is pretty limited.
In the genres I listen to unfortunately it is a necessity. At only just over $20 a month for both though it’s not a huge hardship IMHO.
Possibly someone not quite as anal as myself about wanting every album by some certain artists that don’t all appear on just one service would not see the benefit though.
Ymmv.
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I’ll figure it out if push comes to shove. Have lots of records I like and listen to 1/3 of the time. If I had to, I could survive off of either Tidal or Qobuz if they had a “connect” option to a device like a Ropieee, so perhaps my backup option is to hope that they continue development. I’m not even 50 yet, but another one of my plans is for my hearing to decline to the point that I’m happy to make do with Spotify (or for them to finally get to lossless).
I bought lifetime a few years ago, and consider it “amortized” at this point (probably not fully on a $-for-$ basis, but I’ve already gotten my money’s worth so I don’t harbor any ill will if it goes in another direction from my needs). Frankly, I hope they go on an all-out growth binge and bring their revenue & team size up because I think that will go a long ways towards addressing a lot of issues with stability and certain “big” features (Out-of-home, 2nd home, stability, library structure). It still feels at times and in some aspects like an open-source project that I happen to have made a big donation to. If they get big enough and subscription-focused enough, they will need to run support & acquisition & churn like a big company. And that would be the best protection against needing a backup plan - though it would probably advantage “newer” customers (likely streaming-heavy or -exclusive, less focused on heavy individual library maintenance vs. crowdsource) vs. older customers (eg local library, constant collectors & refiners). That’s a pure guess. But that’s what I prep myself for, and I could certainly adapt to it.
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As I posted above, I get Apple Music for free from Verizon. Why not? I have both Tidal and Qobuz because that’s what I want. If one has a problem, the other always works. It’s my “fallback plan.” I also like to compare Tidal MQA with the Qobuz high resolution.
Apple Music works great with CarPlay. Tidal and Qobuz, not so much. To each his/her own.
I have approximately 1250 linked albums in Tidal and the same 1250 in Qobuz and Apple Music, with a few exceptions. I use Roon Versions to keep Tidal and Qobuz in sync and Soundiz to keep Apple Music in sync with Qobuz. I also have the same 10 playlists in all three services.
It’s how I do it.
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My fallback plan is an empty hole in my soul.
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Agreed. For me Roon is nonpareil.
For me it would be Tidal, CD, and LP’s. Long live Roon, however. 
I’m using Apple Music away from home , and at home too for Atmos. I don’t have an Atmos receiver but it gets down-mixed to 5.1, which is all I need. Waiting for either an improvement in the Qobuz app or Roon on the go.
As an example of why this is important to me, weekend before last, my Roon would not play for more than an hour without crashing. Today and yesterday, my Audirvana Studio will not connect with Qobuz. While I rarely have problems with any of this, that’s two examples in the last 11 or 12 days.
EDIT: Problem with Audirvana Studio and Qobuz resolved by installing Microsoft WebView2. All is good now. It is a little tempting to purchase LP’s and a record player.
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I have Roon lifetime. But I already run a parallel system of LMS with 4 squeezebox endpoints (3 synched) and LMS running on an rPi4B with attached 4TB USB drive. I’m mostly a local files (~120,000 mostly FLAC files) and internet radio person. I use Spotify (on the LMS system) to try before I buy, but anything I like, I (these days) buy a lossless download mostly through Bandcamp or Quobuz, or direct from artist website if lossless available. I don’t want to rip and store CD if I don’t have to, but will if that’s the only option (e.g., Grateful Dead, Dave’s Pick annual subscriptions).
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Minimserver with Linn Kazoo for Linn boxes and Naim app for the Naim - easy peasy. Lacks some features but gets it all done and sounds fine.
Go on, you know you want to 
And join the rest of us Luddites 
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Except I already did that for about 40 years followed by 20 years of cassettes and CD’s. Or, maybe it was more like 40/30 with 10 years of overlap. Anyway, I don’t have to get out of my recliner with streaming Tidal and Qobuz via Roon and Audirvana.
Sad story, but I had 3 younger teenage brothers at home when I left for NC State. All of my LP’s disappeared along with everything else I owned.
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What goes around comes around
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Thirty years ago I almost bought a house of a deceased tax consultant, where the children showed no interest in furniture and inventory. The most interesting thing was the still existing record collection, there the inspection (according to my wife) took much too long.
I would have bought the house just because of this collection, but also in the still young marriage joint decisions are more important.
I have no regrets after decades of harmonious togetherness, including giving away my own physical collection. If I had met @AceRimmer earlier, he would be my natural successor. He can understand the ideal personal values just as well as the market values. That last part isn’t really helpful in feeling rich. Take the sentimental value, put it up and enjoy life. Feel happy even with Roon. The world is evolving and the old DJ is still putting on records.
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