Spotify alternatives

[TGantz]

I use Youtube when I really need to hear a specific song, but I like Pandora because it knows my tastes well and I can't be distracted as easily by constantly changing tracks. If I used spotify, I'd give up on the pandora function quickly and search for stuff all the time. I have to block myself from future procrastination. I'm weak.

[sighyoung]

I listen to a lot of esoteric stuff, so I wind up mixing and matching different platforms.

I used Pandora for a long time both because it suggested some really interesting music and recordings, and I could also create artist channels for my mother when she had dementia and couldn't remember artists' names, but could instantly remember specific recordings and give me feedback about what she liked. It was a great way to discover her musical past while entertaining her. However, the more esoteric the music, the worse Pandora's suggestions are, and they don't get better on some channels because the service doesn't have access to enough recordings in some cases..

Accuradio is another free service I use, and often has different records from those of Pandora.

Internet Archive has a lot of free older recordings, but you need to know how to navigate it to search for them.

And yes, Youtube.

[AWvsCBsteeeerike3]

Thanks for the info. I don't even have youtube music. I just, typically, type in the song I want to listen to. Rinse. Wash. Repeat. Every now and then I'll create a playlist, but for that I'd use pandora.

Youtube does stink because you have to play the video and the app has to be open on your phone for it to work, both of which are huge drawbacks. But, it's also free.

How much does a spotify, apple music, etc cost? Every now and then I'll pay pandora's monthly fee to remove the ads though I rarely need it for more than a day or two...

[Popeye_Card]

Since we have XM radio in one of our vehicles, I just negotiated a package to be able to stream it as well. The pros are being able to being able to stream all of the normal stations plus some good extra stations on your phone, Alexa, GoogleHome, etc. The cons are having to call them up each time your discounted subscription is up and argue with them for an hour to get it heavily discounted again. I just set up a reminder on my calendar each year to call them up and haggle.

My current go-to station at work is the Rock the Bells Mixdown channel. Just non-stop DJ mixes of hip hop classics flowing one after another.

[BottenFieldofDreams]

I think it's rather easy to find a free subscription for Apple Music, beyond the standard trial. The UI is cleaner/better than Spotify. Though either are miles ahead of YouTube. I chose spotify because Apple Music was terrible on my android. But now I'm in an iPhone so maybe I'll revisit that--though I don't know how much a pita the move would be for my playlists etc. There are also services that will give you much higher quality audio, but I have an unsophisticated palette.

Ultimately I think you have to find other ways to support artists. Buy a t-shirt, buy the vinyl. Go to the show. Start a huge commercial enterprise and license one of their songs for a commercial. Hell, many artists post their venmo all over the place.

We were abused and trained as music fans in the 90s being forced to pay $18 to roll the dice on an album for that one song you liked on the radio (this wasn't the artists fault, notably). The model has shifted. We get the music now, and I would have a lot of trouble giving up every song ever at my fingertips at the benefit of struggling musicians--I know that sounds terrible. It's lame that Spotify gets basically the whole pie. But YouTube is still the number one music streamer by far as I understand it--and that's free and gives artists nothing.

In some ways it's a kind of inverse of TV and other content, where we're learning not to expect everything free and pay for shows and podcasts. We have to find other ways to support musicians. And I do, at least a bit.

[ghostrunner]

I think it's rather easy to find a free subscription for Apple Music, beyond the standard trial. The UI is cleaner/better than Spotify. Though either are miles ahead of YouTube. I chose spotify because Apple Music was terrible on my android. But now I'm in an iPhone so maybe I'll revisit that--though I don't know how much a pita the move would be for my playlists etc. There are also services that will give you much higher quality audio, but I have an unsophisticated palette.

Ultimately I think you have to find other ways to support artists. Buy a t-shirt, buy the vinyl. Go to the show. Start a huge commercial enterprise and license one of their songs for a commercial. Hell, many artists post their venmo all over the place.

We were abused and trained as music fans in the 90s being forced to pay $18 to roll the dice on an album for that one song you liked on the radio (this wasn't the artists fault, notably). The model has shifted. We get the music now, and I would have a lot of trouble giving up every song ever at my fingertips at the benefit of struggling musicians--I know that sounds terrible. It's lame that Spotify gets basically the whole pie. But YouTube is still the number one music streamer by far as I understand it--and that's free and gives artists nothing.

In some ways it's a kind of inverse of TV and other content, where we're learning not to expect everything free and pay for shows and podcasts. We have to find other ways to support musicians. And I do, at least a bit.

I found an importer to bring all my Spotify playlists into Tidal, and signed up for the trial period. Haven't done it yet, but someone i know got all but 300 out of 20000 songs in their playlists, so it seems like it won't be a big problem.

Only downsides so far -
No Xbox app. Kinda sucks but I can deal with it. That's the main way we play music in the house because it's convenient, but I can do it over the phone too.
Limited podcasts - not a huge deal but sometimes it's convenient for podcasts i don't normally subscribe to.

The music quality is apparently much better on Tidal and they even have an audio Masters quality tier. I'm not sophisticated enough for that though.

For whatever reason I'm reluctant to use Apple's service. Just trying to limit what I give to these megacorps mostly, even though I still use them. Square owns Tidal apparently, so just a smaller megacorp.

None of the services' pay is great but doubling or tripling what Spotify pays makes me feel better about it. I'm not saying anyone else should feel bad, but that's the only music related purchases I'm making.

[Transmogrified Tiger]

Thanks for the info. I don't even have youtube music. I just, typically, type in the song I want to listen to. Rinse. Wash. Repeat. Every now and then I'll create a playlist, but for that I'd use pandora.

Youtube does stink because you have to play the video and the app has to be open on your phone for it to work, both of which are huge drawbacks. But, it's also free.

How much does a spotify, apple music, etc cost? Every now and then I'll pay pandora's monthly fee to remove the ads though I rarely need it for more than a day or two...

Spotify has a free ad-supported tier, both it and apple music are $10/mo for individuals or $15 for multi-user/family plans.

I've been on a Spotify family plan for a while, but I've had a long-standing todo to investigate moving to Apple Music, since their newer Apple One plans would be a better cost/benefit given that I already pay them for storage. A buddy just made a similar change this week and said using Songshift to transfer his playlists was pretty quick/painless.

Also, fwiw, I don't have the resource handy but I've read that those artist payout charts are not all that accurate or representative given the complexities of how those payout systems work by provider. Maybe comparatively they're relatively accurate but in terms of nominal amounts it's not one size fits all so it's already showing you an approximation.

[ghostrunner]

Yeah, the exact numbers seem to vary depending on the reporting and the content but the ranking does seem pretty consistent. Napster>Tidal and Apple> Spotify> YouTube and some others mixed in there.

[BottenFieldofDreams]

Whoa. Napster is actually a product in 2022? And it's the best service from the perspective of, say, Lars Ulrich?

Next you're going to tell me that Lime Wire is also a streaming service, and that Melissa is no longer credited to tHe Almond Brothers. And Crash Into Me isn't credited to Counting Crows.

[IMADreamer]

I have a free three month sub to Youtube Music and I really like it. I've listened to it exclusively for six weeks now. The UI is easy to use, it seems to have everything I want on there and when it recommends something for me it seems pretty spot on where spotify always seemed forced as in it would often completely change genres on me. If I'm listening to Megadeth I don't want to suddenly switch to Journey.

For Podcasts I use pocketcast.