>

I don’t think so
Old Man Shouts at Cloud - More at 6 >

Spotify is easier than pirating >

and they're both ripping off the artists! >

Yeah it’s horrible the way Spotify forces artists at gunpoint into doing business with them. >

It kind of does, in a sense. Most people use Spotify to listen to their music, they lose exposure AND royalties (albeit less than deserved) when not letting people listen to their music on Spotify.
Not to mention their fanbase may get upset with the artist for not using Spotify since their music won’t be easily accessible. >

Downsides:

Separate device, with all that entails
Harder to find reliable models
Can be expensive for more features (FLAC, Bluetooth)
Not as common to rip CDs nowadays 
Sometimes hard to find music files if you don't use slsk
Usually wired transfer only
ID3 TAGS ARE FUCKING AWFUL

I have two music files players. >

With a phone you're better off, lemme tell you why.
Piracy (by ripping the audio off some YT vid, done by sites that I won't name)
All that 128 GB or 256 GB storage and I can easily store 1000s of High quality (256Kbps) songs, if not tens of thousands.
No transfer when you can straight up download it off the internet
Or if you feel piracy is morally corrupt, use a hacked version of YouTube. It allows you to listen with the screen off, and you're not ripping artists off too.
Phones support most codecs, aac, ogg, wav(?), flac, mp3 (obviously).
Videos can be run offline too, such as movies, in their original mkv format.
iPhones and iPads alike can have music loaded by iTunes, and you can definitely acquire music files from your PC.  
All this, and you ask for upsides? Well if weight is your concern, go get an iPod touch 7 / last gen iPod classic >

MP3 players?... I think you mean a phone with an SD card. >

Streaming services come complete with a music library.  Spotify allows you to download local copies of the music and use it just like an MP3 player, which is great when using on airplanes.
Using an MP3 player requires you to source your music on your own. >

as someone who really likes music, i like sourcing my own music. i don't like letting some computer that is weaponized for profits sourcing my music for me. >

Spotify will let you create your own playlists all day and all night long too. >

that's not the same as organizing and categorizing my music that i purchased and own forever and ever >


own forever and ever

Well there you go, you found one benefit. >

It's 2023, we use FLAC now >

where to even get mp3s nowadays? last time i tried to get mp3s i had to go to some russian forum blog and download from russian file server sites >

youtube mp3 converter >

Literally where I get all of my music from. >

Mp3s have terrible bitrate though. Spotify at least it's until 320kbps. I'm mainly on Tidal so lossless to WAV quality. Mp3s can't take full advantage of your sound system/driver. Once you hear amazing quality you can never go back >

I just put it on my phone and play it through ear buds while I'm working so sound quality isn't a major concern for me. >

Understandable have a nice day >

Counterpoints:
1.) If you aren't paying for those MP3's you're basically saying "theft is better than honesty" - which I mean, isn't technically wrong if you're purely talking about benefits to you.  Nevertheless, illegal.
2.) Spotify works offline.... Just like an MP3 Player.  If you pay, that is - you have the option to "save for offline" or whatever.
3.) I only use headphone ports on planes - wireless headphone are the way.
4.) There are no in my spotify experience.
5.) A basic MP3 player still costs extra unless you plan to live without a phone.
6.) Spotify helps you discover new music in several ways.
7.) Spotify has podscasts. >

I discover using Youtube and i rip em off later to sideload it onto my iPod touch. EZ  
iPod touches have headphone jacks, but are AirPod compatible. Songs can be loaded using iTunes, so no paying Apple Music either.
Spotify was free for me for a MONTH, then started giving me 5 skips a day.
Apple Podcasts already exist, so does Google Podcasts.
Most phones support most codecs. Android 4 supports FLACS, MKV. This compatibility came LONG AGO.
MP3 players come in small storage sizes. Obviously you have enormous space in your 256GB phone, why not load it up with high quality songs? Right from your phone browser? >

Why bother with an MP3 player when a phone does the same thing? Who needs actual buttons when even the cheapest wireless earbuds have tap controls now that can change songs or pause/unpase your music? There are no adds on my phone either, just download your music and load it into your phone like you would an MP3 player. As for the lighter thing, I guess you got me there but a pound extra isn't going to make much difference and they have those phone holder armband things that keep it out of the way during exercise. >

And I have to spend time looking for and downloading songs, then transferring them to the player. Then I’m eventually going to run out of space, so I’ll have to make decisions on what to remove so I can add something new.
I will also inevitably get a craving for music I deleted from the player a while ago, and I’ll never remember at a convenient time to put it back in the player.
Yeah. I already did all that in the 2000s, I’ll stick to Spotify. >

Space isn't really an issue with modern mp3 players. The one I have has 8gb of internal storage and an sd card slot. Personally, I don't mind the issues you listed, but I can see how they could be a turn-off to someone.