> None of my Samsung phones have ever advertised anything to me.

I had a Galaxy S8. It definitely did.

> Unlike iOS,there are any number of music player apps on Android that stay out of the way and don't try to be a "platform".

iOS has other music players too. It was a choice that e.g. doubleTwist stopped supporting iOS when pivoting to CloudPlayer.

Galaxy S8 came out in 2017, almost a decade ago. I understand some budget and mid-range phones have ads, but I (in Canada) have used everything from S7, S8, S12, A51, Z Fold 3, and have never gotten one. There was a "Samsung Hub" app on the midrange A51 (similar to Google Discover), but that can be disabled.

You have never been encouraged to use Bixby or any other Samsung app?

Let’s define “ad”.