After our decade-long relationship, I’m breaking apart with Spotify.
It’s nothing private. It’s simply that Spotify and I’ve grown up, however we haven’t grown collectively.
Over time, I’ve been tempted to depart Spotify many instances. I do know that the corporate faces accusations of poor streaming payouts for artists, in comparison with its rivals, and I haven’t forgotten that it was Spotify that platformed Joe Rogan’s podcast, then unique to the platform, to unfold misinformation about COVID-19 and different viruses.
I do know that Spotify is making an attempt to kill the RSS feed, a transfer that siphons independence from podcasters. And but, I’m embarrassed to say that till just lately, these points didn’t transfer me sufficient to take the time and power to analyze alternate options to Spotify, a platform that I’ve been utilizing day by day since highschool.
It’s sadly simple for us to bury our heads within the sand when the tech firms we pay month-to-month do issues that disappoint us. (Sure, I nonetheless bear in mind when Netflix laid off my business colleagues, however I additionally know I’ll find yourself watching the brand new season of “Love is Blind”).
We don’t really feel like our one subscription makes a distinction — in spite of everything, Duolingo nonetheless beat income estimates after sparking backlash when it mentioned it might change contractors with AI.
However Spotify lastly acquired to me in a means that’s unavoidable: after I open the app, I can’t bear its all-encompassing, suffocating reliance on algorithmic suggestions.
There’s an amazing show of visible litter from the time it takes to navigate from Spotify’s house web page to the music you’re in search of. These solutions are front-and-center if you open the app.
First, I may even see an unsolicited, full-screen pop-up selling a brand new podcast. Then, I’m greeted with a 2-by-4 grid of music and podcast solutions, together with new episodes of exhibits I listened to as soon as as a result of they’d a visitor I preferred, plus another albums that I’ve dabbled in briefly over the past month or so. Beneath that, there’s a sponsored suggestion for a music I would like by an artist that I’ve by no means heard of. After I navigate to the search tab, I’m prompted with an audiobook suggestion, and if I scroll slightly bit, I see vertical video clips that appear to be they belong on TikTok.
It’s simple to fall into Spotify’s suggestions, because the app consistently pelts you with custom-made playlists that its AI has curated particularly for you. On Spotify, you by no means must make any choices — and for some listeners, perhaps that’s the purpose. However I seen that I ended listening to the music I really wished to hearken to, and as a substitute, I embraced the music that Spotify advised me I wished to hearken to.
With out realizing it, I gave up my company.
This isn’t to say that my ethical qualms with Spotify didn’t affect my alternative.
Based on a January report from the music financing platform Duetti, Spotify, an organization price about $140 billion, pays about $3 per 1,000 streams. Amazon Music, Apple Music, and YouTube paid $8.80, $6.20, and $4.80, respectively, per 1,000 streams in 2024. (Spotify beforehand disputed the accuracy of those figures)
Spotify additional alienated a portion of its viewers in June, when CEO Daniel Ek introduced that his funding agency led a virtually $700 million funding spherical for an organization making AI-enabled navy weapons. Some bands like Deerhoof, Xiu Xiu, and King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard pulled their catalogs from Spotify in protest.
It’s like deja vu. In 2022, Joni Mitchell and Neil Younger pulled their music from Spotify over Joe Rogan’s platforming of medical misinformation. (The 2 artists returned to the platform in 2024.)
Maybe it’s taken me so lengthy to depart Spotify as a result of selecting a streaming platform leaves you between a rock and a tough place. However in the event you’re connected to your years of playlists, instruments like Soundiiz make it simple to port your assortment between platforms.
I selected Apple Music, largely as a result of I acquired a brand new iPhone and it got here with a three-month free trial, which helped me ease my transition. Additionally, Apple Music has lossless audio, which Spotify has been promising for almost 5 years.
However I can’t inform you with a straight face that I’ve departed large, dangerous Spotify to assist the little man, after I’ve opted for an additional tech large.
I’ve my moral considerations round Apple, too — whilst I sort this on my Magic Keyboard that’s linked to my MacBook Professional whereas my iPhone, AirPods, and Apple Watch sit on the opposite facet of my desk.
Plus, Apple CEO Tim Prepare dinner just lately confirmed up on the White Home to reward Donald Trump with a customized, Apple-branded plaque, which sits atop a pure gold base, whereas performing his fiduciary responsibility to shareholders to maintain Apple merchandise tariff-free.
At the very least the Apple Music app isn’t as overwhelming as Spotify.
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