Serious question. Who’s the alternative to Spotify?
this post was submitted on 09 Mar 2025
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The french Qobuz. Has close to perfect 1 to 1 match with content in my experience, and it has a service to help you transfer all playlists
Ooooh, didn't know about the playlist transfer, I've got to dig into that!
I'm looking at the reviews and they're not good. Apparently tracks just disappear from one day to the next, searching doesn't work, bad UI, hi res downloads often don't work, cancellations are being ignored, etc.
Funny, because I have all those problems with Spotify! I mean, search works, but only for well known music, and every once in a while one of the tracks in my playlist will just be grayed out and unplayable.
Never had any of those problems
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🏴☠️
Lidarr, Jellyfin, and Music Assistant
Ok but serious question, I don't want to personally manage my music library on a server. For movies and TV this is fine, I consume a couple of these a day but if I want a steady stream of new music streaming apps have made all this very easy and very convenient.
When my 4 year old yells out in the car for a specific song, will these cover it?
I might be in the wrong place for this sentiment, but I also seriously want to pay for my music.
Buy directly from the band to support them because streaming services pay pennies. That's my excuse to buy merch from artists I love. Concert ticket sales don't have very high margins, either.
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Soulseek
Qobuzz?
I can survive using a different service for my podcasts. So this sounds like a good shout. But I’m impressed by the fact they supposedly have as many tracks as Spotify.
Will chase this down.
I think using anotger service for podcasts is important. Podcasts are free, but Spotify has been trying to hijack the scene and ruin it for everyone.
Personally I like AntennaPod.
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Buying from, and supporting the artist directly, IMO.
Many European metal bands host their own webshop selling their merchandise, records, cassettes and CDs; many small and independent musicians sell their songs on Bandcamp (US based website that does take a cut from each payment, 15% I believe goes to Bandcamp, so that is something to keep in mind)
Honestly, the benefit of streaming services is not being able to listen to music legally. It's discovery. Playing a song I like and getting recommended a similar song turn an artist I've never heard of has introduced me to a lot of great music. That's not something you can replicate by going to the webshop of your favorite band and buying their newest album.
That's something you could recreate with a scrobbling service like last.fm (don't use last.fm though, they are owned by CBS).
A quick Google search leads me to ListenBrains, which is also American, but operated by a non-profit.
I've used neither service and my music listening habits never relied on algorithmic recomendations, so I could totally be talking out of my ass here. But it could be worth a look.
The problem there is that scrobblers aren't nearly as convenient as a streaming service. With a scrobbler I have to actively check out recommendations. With a streaming service I can just have it play related songs until I get one I really like.
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The fact that the company that owns cash app also owns a music streaming service makes me laugh.
I'm sure in a few years some Block exec is going to make hay by selling it for a loss to focus on their core tenants which is being slightly better than PayPal.
To be fair, I have a buddy who works at square. He said that the CEO is actually really passionate about Tidal.
Source please
I haven’t done any deeper digging than this. Shout if you find something that contradicts this, pls?
Also, real talk: Bjork hating on a thing kinda makes me more inclined to dump it myself 🤣
Edit: I fucking love this parenthetical here. “Byurk who, just for your information, is a musician who makes music and probably plays some instruments…”
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