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.
Through the years, I’ve been tempted to depart Spotify many occasions. I do know that the corporate faces accusations of poor streaming payouts for artists, in comparison with its opponents, 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 research alternate options to Spotify, a platform that I’ve been utilizing day by day since highschool.
It’s sadly straightforward 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 trade 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 any case, Duolingo nonetheless beat income estimates after sparking backlash when it stated it will change contractors with AI.
However Spotify lastly received to me in a manner that’s unavoidable: after I open the app, I can’t bear its all-encompassing, suffocating reliance on algorithmic suggestions.
There’s an awesome show of visible muddle from the time it takes to navigate from Spotify’s dwelling web page to the music you’re in search of. These options are front-and-center if you open the app.
First, I might 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 options, together with new episodes of exhibits I listened to as soon as as a result of they’d a visitor I appreciated, plus another albums that I’ve dabbled in briefly during the last month or so. Under that, there’s a sponsored advice for a tune I would like by an artist that I’ve by no means heard of. Once I navigate to the search tab, I’m prompted with an audiobook advice, and if I scroll a bit of bit, I see vertical video clips that appear to be they belong on TikTok.
It’s straightforward to fall into Spotify’s suggestions, because the app continuously pelts you with custom-made playlists that its AI has curated particularly for you. On Spotify, you by no means need to make any selections — and for some listeners, perhaps that’s the purpose. However I observed that I finished listening to the music I really wished to hearken to, and as an alternative, I embraced the music that Spotify informed 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 selection.
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 a corporation making AI-enabled army 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 hooked up to your years of playlists, instruments like Soundiiz make it straightforward to port your assortment between platforms.
I selected Apple Music, largely as a result of I received 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 nearly five years.
However I can’t inform you with a straight face that I’ve departed massive, dangerous Spotify to assist the little man, after I’ve opted for an additional tech large.
I’ve my moral issues round Apple, too — at the same time as I kind this on my Magic Keyboard that’s linked to my MacBook Professional whereas my iPhone, AirPods, and Apple Watch sit on the opposite aspect of my desk.
Plus, Apple CEO Tim Cook dinner just lately confirmed up on the White Home to reward Donald Trump with a custom, Apple-branded plaque, which sits atop a pure gold base, whereas performing his fiduciary obligation to shareholders to maintain Apple merchandise tariff-free.
No less than the Apple Music app isn’t as overwhelming as Spotify.