I do the same with YT Music and tolerate the ads. Then, when they hit on a few songs I'm enjoying, I go to Newpipe and play playlistss or extended version of the songs/artists. I also build my own playlists in Newpipe.
If I discover a song I like IRL (say, on the radio or in the background of a video), I add it to both YT Music and Newpipe (e.g., I'm listening to Chaleya from the movie Jawan on Newpipe right now, discovered when I was out and about).
ETA: Newpipe also offers auto-enqueing, which might lead to more discovery.