Spotify boycott: Artists leave ‘garbage hole’ platform after CEO invests in AI weapons

From the shitty artist compensation, to the AI content, to their exclusive deals with Joe Rogan you need another reason to stop using Spotify???
- Don't forget their donation to Trump's campaign!
- I used Spotify premium apk for near a decade. They shut down the modded apks so I stopped using them. Not a terrible service honestly, given I didn't pay them a dime.
  
  Modded apks still going strong.. 🤫
- Navidrome
  
  Navidrome rules. Made the switch from Spotify some time ago, using the FOSS Tempo app on Android and Feishin on desktop, it's been a lovely experience so far.
- and they are trying to move to videos to, which i assume would be giving podcast/video to the viewers to draw in more subscribers for ROEGAN.
- Yes because people are driven by money a lot sadly.
  
  Is Spotify cheaper than the alternatives?
- Android user from India. Only other alternatives available here are Amazon Prime and Apple Music.

Either buy the albums from the musicians or pirate that shit and just pay to see them in concert. Fuck all these companies.
- Pirate it, and send $10 to the band.
  
  Pirate it, and send $10 to the band.
  Most members of The Band are dead now though.
  
  […] send $10 to the band.
  What method would you recommend for one to do this in general?
- Buy on Bandcamp.
  
  https://www.songtradr.com/blog/posts/songtradr-bandcamp-acquisition
  
  Til thry decide to tevoke ownership.
- I pirate things to see if I like them, and if I like them, I buy the CD and a t-shirt or something from the musician's website.
  
  Where do you buy CDs? The vending machine in the old folk's home lobby?
- Paying for music - in a world where the artist gets almost nothing and it's all wasted on middle-men- is unethical. Music is art and even without the industry there would still be making music for free. Pirate your favorite and donate the money to a local good cause
  
  There's not much middleman if you buy an album from small bands like Pokolgép directly.
- Yeah... Give some love to Ticketmaster...
  
  Sneak in and slip the roadie a 10 spot?
  
  Don't get me started......just....don't.

Yes, Spotify is not an ethical company. However, I would argue that Europe achieving defense independence from the US military industrial complex is a good thing. Germany is just two doors down from Russia.
- However, I would argue that Europe achieving defense independence from the US military industrial complex is a good thing.
  I would argue that spotify ceo doesn't give a shit about europe achieving defense independence (the company donated money to trump). I would also argue that europe pretty much already spend in war as much russia does and that wasting public money in war is not a good thing.
- Poland is next door and technically is also in Europe.

Kind reminder that no streaming platform is very good on the ethical front. There are no ethical alternatives because the root of the problem is the legal strangle hold labels and record companies keep on artists and commercial music distribution.
- I can stream from Jellyfin
  
  I have found a bunch of my new favorite songs this year on Jellyfin. Some of them are pretty old too, lol.
  It worked pretty well doing it the old human-based way, where I got a bunch of albums because I liked the band or even just a particular song. Listening through those or just playing the whole pile on shuffle led me to find plenty of gems that I stuck in my playlist.
  
  +1 here
- The ethical alternative is listening to mp3s straight from your own hard-drive, just like we did in the '50s.
  
  Fuck yeah, down with streaming I wanna own my shit again
  
  Dude, I remember my grandpa telling me about ripping CDs back then. The computers they used were the size of entire rooms and could only rip at .5x
- Whatever happened to magnatune? Are they still around?
  
  Not actively, they stopped trying to make money long ago. Since 2018 you can't buy anything from them and artists are leaving. No new releases since then, of course.
- Tidal puts artists first, and pretty awesome.
  Can't promise that's how they are forever, but that's how they are today.
  
  Zionist supporters :/

They didn't leave already when they gave millions to bag of human shit Joe Rogan?
- That's sure as fuck when I left!
  
  Same
- bag of human shit Joe Rogan
  This is libelous. He's a bag of cockroach shit.
  
  At this point he's a bag of HGH.

Tomorrow is Bandcamp friday people.
- In case anyone isn't aware, this means that Bandcamp won't take their usual cut, so the artist gets more money from each sale. It's this Friday only.
  
  Stealing this link from another comment, but there are actually more than one Bandcamp Fridays coming up
  https://daily.bandcamp.com/features/bandcamp-fridays
- Isn't bandcamp on a road to enshit? I thought I heard they were. I love it though. Feels like a record store online.
  
  All roads lead to enshitment
  
  Well yes, probably. But, if you buy on Bandcamp or sites like it you can download the songs and host and store them yourself so it's not like you have to start over when they eventually get shit.
- yay for corpo generosity?

Anyone want to poke fun at me for thrifting physical media now?
- Well sure, since you ask... Spotify might be crap, and the CEO is... Well, the usual shit person CEOs tend to be. That doesn't make physical media any better, digital media is by far much much better in many ways. Specially if you go sailing with your wooden leg and hook hand and parrot on the shoulder. You don't want to carry all the extra weight of physical media while sailing... And if artists sell directly their music even better, I always support artists selling on their own without intermediaries.
- That’s still not good for the artists though since they don’t see a cent from that.
  
  They saw cents when the songs were sold originally; it's not like I'm running a music charity.
  
  Hip hop was created when a generation of poor kids inherited their parents music collection. Some artists benefitted.

https://infosec.pub/comment/17208208
It feels weird defending Spotify as I have always disliked them and preferred YTM
- i just YTM as well. mostly because it's the less shitty option out there. sucks that there are no good options.
  hope this comment summons people with actually good suggestions for my to check.
  
  I will never use YouTube music. Specifically because back when it was Google play music, they allowed you to upload your own library... Then arbitrarily decided to delete everything after a couple years.
  
  there are no good options
  Tidal is great. A little more expensive, but it's owned by artists, and puts the most back in the pockets of artists. The audio quality is also fan-fucking-tastic.
  
  Deezer and Qobuz
- Thanks for the context
- Ukrainians are actually reporting the drones to be vastly overpriced compared to similar Ukrainian drones.
  Otherwise there is quite a few indications of corruption and it wouldn't be surprising if Helsing will become the next Wirecard, as Germany once again follows the fever dream of some billions-worth start-up without following up on what it actually can and cannot do.
  https://archive.ph/20250409074743/https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-04-08/helsing-europe-s-most-valuable-defense-tech-company-is-facing-allegations-from
  
  Correct me if I'm wrong, but aren't they expensive simply because of startup model and having to pay off R&D? Meaning they should normalize over time.

Bandcamp waives their share on Bandcamp Fridays
August 1th
September 5th
October 3rd
December 5th
https://isitbandcampfriday.com/
- Bandcamp is owned by union busters. Fuck bandcamp.
  
  I agree, fuck Bandcamp, so I only buy on Bandcamp Fridays.
  
  So... What's a good alternative?
- Like Bandcamp or not, i can't ever find the bands i'm looking for.
- Forgive me if it's obvious, but what does "waves their share" mean?
  
  "Waives" instead of "waves"
  
  They won't take their percentage on the sales, and leave them to the artist

Is there another music streaming service around, so I can leave? I use it damn near everyday and the accessibility is what I crave.
- I switched to Tidal a couple years ago and I'm happy enough with it. It's cheaper than the comparable membership tier I was paying for with Spotify. The higher fidelity streaming is nice and supposedly it pays artists the most over any other steaming service. Their recommendation algorithm doesn't index so heavily on your favorite tracks like Spotify's does, so I'm discovering new music a lot more.
  The UX isn't quite as smooth as Spotify's. I can't cast from the browser app and it doesn't remember what I'm listening to between devices. When I first switched there were a lot more bugs but I haven't noticed as many over the last year.
  After Tidal inevitably succumbs to corporate rot, I'll be switching to owning my own collection and self-hosting. But until then, I'm happy with Tidal.
  
  Tidal is owned by Square (the mobile payment app/company), and I think Jack Dorsey (Twitter founder) owns that. So, probably safe to say it's already pretty corporate.
  
  Isnt Tidal responsible for the problems of high quality music formats like .ogg? Making it hard to find and download from them.
- Have you tried Qobuz? It's french.
  
  I use Qobuz and I like it.
  
  Thank you for the rec. I will check it out, looks like theres even a mobile app.
- Honestly thata the issue I ran into. Napster and tidal were both in the running for a minute, both were more expensive, tidal is ran by Jay z and Napster is owned by a tech bro. Honestly, I'm more inclined to go back to cd.
  
  Its such a massive PitA to self-host things. Dont get me wrong I love the idea of it, it works in theory, and then you get an update for one of the multiple services you have to run to make it work ex-prem, or your isp does some funky stuff and drops out. There is such a massive time sink into self hosting that its not a reliable answer for 90% of people.
  
  Yep, I’ve started buying all my media again, even music. Don’t want my copy of a movie to get censored, don’t want my music to get delisted.
  The only exception is games. Damn you, steam, for being so awesome in every way except ownership.
- I use a Revanced YouTube Music app that doesn't play any ads, and it functions almost exactly like Spotify.
  
  I feel like this might not work as a mobile solution but will look into it
- Do you have money? If so, buy music you like from the artists. Bandcamp is pretty good (though they sold out, and might enshittify).
  I've been buying music for years and have a big library now
  
  Is there anywhere that guarantees access to purchases forever? Ive purchased music in the past from other providers that went under and lost access to it all.
- currently i'm doing bandcamp and tidal for my two most least evil options
- Tidal pays the highest per play amount to artists, and Apple Music also pays high (second highest for mainstream artists after tidal last I checked), and they have a massive library -but obviously they’re an evil megacorp so use your best judgement.
  I personally use Apple Music but then I’m fully ensconced in the Apple ecosystem, so it works for me.
  
  How is Tidal evil? I've never heard anyone complain about anything but the old mqa standard they have since dropped.
  
  Tidal pays the highest per play amount to artists, and Apple Music also pays high (second highest for mainstream artists after tidal last I checked)
  I think this info may be outdated. I've been seeing a lot of people recommending Qobuz. It looks like they may be paying the most per stream now, and they also allow you to buy tracks and supposedly have the best sound quality streams(?).
- Apple music surprisingly. Good price, good bitrate, and aptx support on android.
  
  I have become frustrated with Apple musics library management as the only Apple products I use are iPhones anyway
- I use YouTube music because I all ready pay for premium, but YouTube and Google are getting worse everyday though.
  
  Back almost a decade ago I was using Google Fi and it had access to YT Music when that existed. It was easy to use, but the content was limited and I found it very hard to find new music.
- Have you tried Deezer?
  https://lemmy.ml/post/33837544
  
  Isn't Deezer owned by some Russian oligarch? If so, I worry about jumping from the proverbial frypan into the fire.
  
  I was just complaining about selfhosting but this, this makes me choose violence

Convinced the wife to drop Spotify for Tidal with this shit.
Fucking hell, find out here it's owned by Dorsey. Just doing the trial for now, so may give quboz or however it's spelled too.
- Qobuz is great, been using it a few months now. Probably isn't quite as advanced in terms of recommendations etc. as Spotify so have to do a bit more of the leg work deciding what new stuff I want to check out but that's been a positive for me and how I engage with new music.
  
  Yeah, in doing some research on Qobuz, their recommendation engine is way behind Tidal/Spotify. I'm really enjoying Tidal so far, which is a shame. I've heard of some people using Qobuz alongside Roon to use their recommendation engine, but I'm not sure the wife would like to add another layer to just pressing play.

Spotdl is a command line program that is easy to use, you just need to feed it the playlist link and it will download all the songs off YouTube.
You can then self host with azuracast or airsonic. Azuracast is what I use but it makes it into a radio station more or less, sonic I think is more of a spotify clone. There are a few other options.
The subscription fee can then be used to support your favorite small time artists through other means, without the middle man.
https://github.com/basings/selfhosted-music-overview
- Seriously, just torrent your music, downloading songs off YouTube sounds like an awful idea, automated or not.
  
  From my understanding, it's a bit of a bother downloading less popular music through torrents. You need a private tracker I think. For big names though, definitely the way to go.
  
  Yt downloads are just copy and paste a link, and the quality doesn't really matter for anything I own, no audiofile gear.

Are there any alternatives that aren’t associated with a tech giant?
- Yes...self host on a nas ;)
  
  Are there self hostable alternatives to their discovery algorithm?
  
  Agreed, looks like I have my solution!
- I've been using tidal for a couple years and enjoy it
  
  Tidal is owned by Block Inc which is owned by Jack Dorsey
- Have to sail the high seas, and send money directly to people like Butch Vig.
- Try Deezer. It's owned by a publication traded French company. I've been enjoying them for the past year.
  
  Theres a link posted in this thread about deezer and how its own by a russian oligarch and donates to the Right in the US at least
  
  Founder of that company is a Russian oligarch under sanctions by Ukraine. Man also was part of a big business group chat focused on "changing the narritive" about the atrocities committed by Israel in Gaza.
  
  It’s owned by a Russian oligarch bastard

I'm not subscribed anymore, but as someone who uses the desktop client mainly it's hard to find a good alternative (good UI, snappy)
Deezer and Qobuz are meh. I won't use Apple or Amazon. edit: or Google.
Maybe Tidal? Are there other ones?
I just found a third party player for Qobuz though. Not enough features but cute:
- Tidal is good so far. I don't think it has podcasts though as far as I'm aware which is kindve a bummer
- I like Tidal
  Napster is back, believe it or not, as a legitimate streaming platform

I left Spotify when they tried to force tiktok ui update out of nowhere and I wasn't even paying for it

Would love to see a bandcamp revisit. Not as popular as Spotify but at least sales go to artists now. edit: wasn't aware about the union busting. kinda sucks there are no good alternatives.
- Back To the 70s mail order physical media
  
  You and TotalCourage007 could always try the other option available... 🏴‍☠️

I could never get on board with spending money to stream music. There are a TON of radio stations, free streaming services, small independent artist collectives, and more hours of live free music than I could probably listen to in a lifetime.
I am the weirdo though, I get it. I VASTLY prefer live music over studio work.
- Some people just use music as a tool. I think you are more likely to say you see it as human expression. Live music is far better when you want to feel something in my opinion.
- I've never cared much for listening to live music, even if I play myself. Well, at least not for those big ass concerts you pay €200 for. I once heard a guy playing in a church near me and it was intimate and amazing; that's how music should be.. anyway, sidetracked, my point is that I love streaming so much and I listen to music when I cook, when I focus at work, when I need to get pumped, when I need to relate. The idea of streaming is amazing - although having everything in one place all at once does remove some of the magic. I don't really have a point other than that I hope for more ethical streaming services..
  
  For work I am right there with you. I have been streaming SomaFM for as long as its been around. Several of the channels on there are perfect for working: beat moves forward, no lyrics, great flow.
  I do have my own server and about 8 TB of music, 90 percent of which is free and non commercial anyways, lol.

Why is nobody mentioning funkwhale in this thread?
https://www.funkwhale.audio/
- You should have left when Rogan was let onto the platform.
  After that you should have left when fake music was discovered. Seriously, they have lots of fake music.
- No monitization

Thanks for the reminder! They shan't get another cent from me!

I downloaded Spotify once and deleted it within a few days. F-them.
- When I requested the data they have of me thanks to GDPR, I learnt they shared my information to other apps and websites. I deleted the app as soon as I got the info.

I’ve had it with these streaming platforms. I now rely solely on RED for downloading and finding new music (their top 10 page is very solid). To stream I use navidrome.
- What's red? Got a link?
  
  Invite only torrent tracker. It’s not enforced but it’s proper etiquette to not share the direct link. If you search for redacted music tracker on Google I’m sure you’ll find the URL.
  Some info can be found here: https://interviewfor.red/

What is an 'ai weapon'?
- Stuff like auto targeting drones

I've still got my old mp3 collection. but haven't added to it in years, been using YouTube premium for a decade now since it's the easiest option for my family. Individual sub is not worth it but family is. Tried Spotify but hated it.
I think it's time to get my jellyfin running
- I use YouTube music premium because it also means no ads on YouTube.
  
  Same, the features and ease of use make it worth it. I can't handle being at friends places watching YouTube with ads it's horrid.

My producer, Neigsendoig, uses Wavlake. I'd be happy to provide a link if you all are interested.

Why does someone with $9 billion need to invest more money into anything at this phase?
- Investment generally is a good thing. You wouldn't want someone with that much money to simply hoard it. Otherwise nobody else benefits of it. Critical thing is, what you invest in...

Is this Russian propaganda

[Helsing, based in Germany, says it was founded to “help protect our democratic values and open societies” and puts “ethics at the core of defense technology development.”]
Show me your democratic values, open societies and the ethics at the core of your murderous defense development .... then I'll show you mine.

Hmm, I would say quit if the defense company will be US but its German. Do not be naive, we need european defense. See what is doing ruSSia. We cannot defense it with stars and rainbows.
- https://archive.ph/20250409074743/https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-04-08/helsing-europe-s-most-valuable-defense-tech-company-is-facing-allegations-from
  I highly recommend that read. Seems like Helsing's shooting star success is tied to having good contacts with the German defense ministry and Ursula von der Leyen, which both are indicators of corruption.
  Ukrainian soldiers report the drones to be vastly overpriced for what they are and drones costing less than a quarter of the Helsing drones to have similar capabilities.
  This sounds like another Wirecard scandal in the making, where the desperation of Germany to create some billion Euro startup is exploited by corrupt politicans and company owners. Given the context it also wouldn't be surprising if intelligence is involved.
  Ukrainians seem to be better of with domestically produced drones.
- German the country who always side with genocides and apartheids