I LOVE Music, So I cancelled my Spotify Membership.
This is a series I am doing on opting out. For more advice on getting out from under our corporate overlords, click here to see more.
The Problem
Around the tail end of 2024, I started to notice that my Spotify Discovery playlists started to, well... suck. This vibe change, which I was unable to put my finger on also coincided with the new AI DJ feature, which also didn't do much other than serve me very familiar music on loop.
I took a look at one of my favorite music/engineering websites Every Noise, an incredible site built by then Spotify engineer Glenn McDonald. It turns out that he, along with other people in charge of the incredibly complex algorithms that drive music discovery, were laid off by the company and replaced by AI. The change has not been very positive to say the least.
Along with these changes, more and more artists began to take issue with Spotify's business practices and policies. I don't want to go through their concerns, so for more information, please watch this.
The Solutions
I wanted to like music again. And I agreed with the band DeerHoof when they said that streaming has made music disposable. The art, process, exploration the STORY of music is being completely lost as it becomes a highly consumable background track to our chaotic lives. Believe it or not, there are plenty of ways to listen to music without using streaming.
The most obvious is Vinyl. However, I chose not to do this since that doesn't fit what I was looking for. Just be aware I know that record players are a thing, I didn't skip them on purpose, I just didn't end up going with that route.
Music Sources
To find music without streaming, you do need to find sources. Fortunately, there are literally thousands of ways to find new music! These are the ones that I use, but like I said, there are thousands of blogs, sites, concert venues, and musicians handing out their CDs that you can use as well.
- Bandcamp - Bandcamp is great for music discovery and ownership. The website is simple to explore and purchasing music supports the artist significantly more than streaming would.
- Local Radio - Believe it or not, radio is still a thing and there has never been a better time to support local radio. Many stations have websites where you can listen live and see the playlists of the current set. I personally love Indie 102.3 hosted by Colorado Public Radio
- Be social - Ask your friends what they're listening to, follow artists that you like on social media, find curators that are doing cool stuff. Music IS 10000% a social experience.
- THE LIBRARY - Yes, your library may offer CDs, Vinyl, or even in some cases, FREE MUSIC STREAMING. I cannot continue to over-stress how amazing our public libraries are, and they are criminally underfunded and underutilized.
Ways to Listen
There is no denying that streaming is just easy. Convenience is the singularly most difficult chain to break. However, there are still ways that I have found to listen to music that are easy and still offer features that streaming boasts.
- Navidrome - I F^&%ing love Navidrome. It's basically a privately hosted music streaming tool that can enable quite a lot of neat functionality for listening and organizing your personal library. I store all of my digital music inside of my navidrome instance and I can listen to it anywhere I am.
- MP3 Players - Dedicated music playing devices have been around since the concept of portable music was invented. Get creative, there are a million solutions, from an old school Walkman, a classic iPod, or even a Nintendo 3DS.
- Radio - This is a repeat, but I do really think that local radio and/or internet radio stations are great ways to listen. They don't offer the 'freedom' that streaming services provide, but radio DJs are literally paid to make curated music playlists. Trust me, the radio is a STILL a great way to take in music.
Why it matters
Music should be fun, not stressful, and a service that makes you pay for access to every song in the entire world but it only serves you the same 50 songs shuffled in different ways is not worth it. Enjoy your music. Own it too. Have fun with it!