Semantically, there isn't really a contradiction. I can spend €9 a month on a subscription to Spotify and in reality I didn't buy anything because no ownership

Semantically, there isn't really a contradiction. I can spend €9 a month on a subscription to Spotify and in reality I didn't buy anything because no ownership of anything was transferred to me. You can disagree and say that I bought a service, but that is the point of the article -- market your stuff to Generation Y on their "terms".