You're Paying Every Month to Stream Music You Already Own
Streaming prices keep rising, most of what we stream is music we've heard for years, and much of it we already bought once. What the subscription really buys.
The own.audio blog
Why we think audio deserves better — family sharing, ownership, self-hosting's real tradeoffs, and how we're building it.
What You'll Get With own.audio — and What You'll Pay For
Free native apps on every screen, your library as a folder like iCloud Drive or OneDrive, your original files always, offline and in the car. You pay for storage.
Offline Music in an iPhone Web App: What iOS 27 Allows, and How We Built Downloads
What a home-screen web app can and can't do for offline audio on iOS 27, what Safari 27 fixed, and how we built song downloads that survive a dropped connection.
Building Smart Playlists Without an LLM
How our thinking on a family music server's smart playlists evolved — where the analysis should run, why a rule beat a model, and two production bugs a real database caught that no test did.
Hear Any Podcast Episode in Your Language, for About a Dollar
own.audio is adding personal episode translation — pick a language, get a narrated version in your library. Not a broadcast dub, but usually more than enough to follow along.
The Story Behind own.audio's Logo
Why the mark in the corner of every page is a family dancing in a circle around a spinning, pulsing center — and what each piece means on its own. With the actual animated pieces, live.
One Family, One Library: Why Sharing Stories, Songs and Memories Shouldn't Be This Hard
Every family's stories end up scattered across phones, drives, and USB sticks. Here's why we think family audio deserves one shared home instead.
Self-Hosting Isn't Free: The Hidden Cost of "Freedom" and Why Families Deserve Better
Self-hosting is powerful, but it's not free and it's not simple. An honest look at what self-hosting really costs families — and why we're building a different path.
The Sound We Can't Share: Why Passing Audio Between Friends Became Harder Than It Should Be
A guitar riff, a bootleg recording, a story your father read into a cheap microphone — why sharing the audio that matters to you is still nearly impossible in 2026.
Why a NAS Sounds Like a Good Idea — But Often Becomes a Costly, Complicated Burden for Families
Buying a NAS to organize the family's audiobooks and music sounds smart. Here's the real cost — in money, time, and complexity — and why most end up unplugged and forgotten.
Why a Personal Audio Library Still Matters — Even If You Already Pay for Audible
Audible gives you access to books. It doesn't give you ownership. Why families who already pay for a subscription still need a personal library for everything else.
Why Managing Your Audio Across Google Drive, OneDrive, Old Phones and Hard Disks Is a Nightmare
Music collectors, audiobook listeners, and podcast hoarders already own their audio — and store it in the worst possible way. Here's why it's getting worse, and what a real home for it looks like.