Friends, please stop linking to Spotify like it’s ok.

The company steadily siphoned money from independent artists, then spent millions to host Joe Rogan, then littered their library with AI music, and now the CEO is investing in AI weapons.

There are plenty of less damaging ways to listen to music and podcasts.

Fascinating to see how Bluesky reacted to this post. I generally see a similar level of “engagement” on the two platforms, so I think the dramatic gap in this instance really shows how Bluesky culture still normalizes the use of problematic platforms (especially Substack!), while Mastodon abhors them.
@stewf Bsky is really Twitter Redux in every single way, and for those who want Twitter back in some way, problematic warts and all. When I was on it, it just had all of the bits of Twitter that I disliked — with the caveat that I had already waned on Twitter in 2016.
@stewf what mastodon client/app are you using? I have no rockets! (Bsky for me feels so much like talking to the void)
@stewf @martabernstein Didn’t like Ivory, bad UI icons, subscription model, and weird attitude about feature suggestions. Happily switched to Mona.
@martabernstein @stewf Brief sidenote: How cool is it when it’s even possible to have different clients for a social network?!? Open protocols are so much more fun to explore and experiment with.

@nicksherman @martabernstein @stewf At @typecon, @IceCubesApp was suggested by a new friend and I see that Nick uses @MonaApp. Now, to explore Mona and @ivory.

Totally, open protocols are the way we built the net. And the way things should be.

@composerjk @nicksherman @martabernstein @stewf if I had a blue sky I would be interested to try one of those multimodal apps like Tapestry by @Iconfactory … but I only hang out here
@colinmford @composerjk @nicksherman @martabernstein @stewf Partly the beauty of Tapestry: You don’t need a Bluesky account to follow specific people there. Tapestry lets you follow any Bluesky account without having one of your own. Maybe of value? 👍
@Iconfactory @colinmford @nicksherman @martabernstein @stewf I do like other Iconfactory apps, but would also want a macOS version of Tapestry as I do lots of stuff on larger screens.
@composerjk @colinmford @nicksherman @martabernstein @stewf Tapestry is in the Mac App Store now as an emulated iPad app. We’ve been working on the native version for a while now though. Hope to have it ready soon. Currently in private beta. 🖖
@Iconfactory Native and supporting Intel would help as I still have one of those as a primary box. That’s why I didn’t notice the emulated iPad app.
@stewf @composerjk @colinmford @nicksherman thank you, that’s helpful, as I am on bsky too, at least for now.
@nicksherman literally the only thing giving me hope for the internet right now, tell you that much!
@nicksherman @martabernstein @stewf it's not really open protocols that allow that (twitter used to have alternate clients until they banned having those) but they certainly make the experience easier
@stewf I use this via a shortcut on iOS. Platform-agnostic link to the music you want to share. https://odesli.co
Songlink/Odesli

Automated, on-demand smart links for songs, albums, podcasts and more. For artists, for fans, for free.

Songlink/Odesli
@stewf i mean bluesky is one of those problematic platforms so that's probably why
@stewf I went to boost and favourite the original toot, and saw I'd already done that. Boosting again for good measure
@stewf BlueSky is a larp from
people who want to look good while actually doing fuck all to change anything.

Many responses to the post are along the lines of, “But how do I listen to music if I don’t use a streaming service (I don’t like Tidal, Amazon, Apple Music, etc. either.)”

At first I was baffled. But, of course, many young people grew up without the MP3 in their lives. It’s not their fault they can’t imagine a personal downloaded library of files as a legit music source. The industry has trained them that streaming is the only way.

@stewf one thing I love about bandcamp is you can also stream the tracks/albums you buy using the bandcamp app

But indeed, there is a different mindset to owning your music library vs renting one, which many are not used to

@stewf The industry has trained them to think paying regularly and owning nothing is convenient.

I pay for digital goods one. Tops.
I can listen to my music library or watch my movies on a mountain, in the deep sea or in a faraday cage.
Ad- and AI-free.
And no billionaire can delete items from my library because they are too woke.
That's convenience.

@stewf @anarodrigues Perhaps there could be an app or service that takes a Spotify link and converts it to something better/else
@awoodsnet @stewf @anarodrigues https://nin.lnk.to/GhostsV is an example of a band using https://www.linkfire.com to provide multiple streaming links. I agree that it would be nice if there was a reverse lookup, so if someone posts one service link, you could find another.
Nine Inch Nails - Ghosts V: Together

Listen to Ghosts V: Together by Nine Inch Nails.

@drewdaniels @awoodsnet @stewf @anarodrigues Looks cool. Might be worth it if streams ever generate more than $27 a month
@awoodsnet @stewf I use song.link anytime I’m sharing an album or track with someone and also use a Shortcut on iOS to easily generate a share link for a song.

@awoodsnet
Not even replace - redact the link entirely. If someone reviews and audio file and tells me why they think I should listen, I'm more likely to go look for it. My favorite places to buy music often have previews, so I can easily search for the artist or the album and listen.

Just linking is lazy web

@stewf @anarodrigues

@awoodsnet @stewf @anarodrigues "Merch Table" scans Spotify Playlists or liked artists and finds their stuff on Bandcamp: https://hypem.com/merch-table
Merch Table / Hype Machine

Buy music from your Spotify playlists on Bandcamp

Hype Machine

@frederic @awoodsnet @stewf @anarodrigues

I recently discovered BandCamp too snd start to purchase Albums/Songs there abd put them into my mp3 library.

Songlink/Odesli

Automated, on-demand smart links for songs, albums, podcasts and more. For artists, for fans, for free.

Songlink/Odesli
@noodlejetski @stewf @anarodrigues Those are both great! Thank you. Saving them both for later :D
I Don't Have Spotify

Turn any Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube, Deezer, Tidal, SoundCloud, Qobuz, Pandora, or Bandcamp link into a shareable preview across the streaming services your friends use.

I Don't Have Spotify
@awoodsnet @stewf @anarodrigues Odesli kind of does that. odesli.co/
Songlink/Odesli

Automated, on-demand smart links for songs, albums, podcasts and more. For artists, for fans, for free.

Songlink/Odesli
Songlink/Odesli

Automated, on-demand smart links for songs, albums, podcasts and more. For artists, for fans, for free.

Songlink/Odesli
@awoodsnet @stewf @anarodrigues its called yt-dl and converts spotify links into an .mp3 file on your local drive.
@stewf what do you usually recommend to people instead? Because I personally don’t feel that there is a viable alternative at the moment, that doesn’t involve significant amounts of money and/or technical abilities/experience and/or personal technical infrastructure

@nachtfunke
The viable alternative is "Just don't"

I mean, they're a Bad Company, and like Twitter or Substack, not using them should be the first step.

If you must share, while YouTube is evil, they do seem to have better licensing setup to pay artists.

Or maybe talk about it, write it up like a music review and leave it to the reader to find it.

Maybe we don't always need to link to media?

@stewf

@nachtfunke @stewf I listen to music using Qobuz and share from that - more expensive but pays more to artists and streams in HD
@wlukewindsor @nachtfunke @stewf I see on the web version of #qobuz you can also buy albums / songs, drm-free.
@stewf @awoodsnet I always link to a YouTube version so anyone with a browser can watch/listen.
@stewf i miss when people used to burn their favourite songs to a CD and listen to them either through a CD player or a walkman
“I want our music to be accessible to people. It was hard to take that away”: King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard reflect on removing their music from Spotify

King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard frontman Stu Mackenzie has spoken further on the band’s decision to leave Spotify.

MusicTech

@jab01701mid
This Gizzard guy talks about being on Spotify was like an act of kindness towards their fans.

I don't really think many would keep having their music on Spotify if they didn't feel it was worth it.

They are the backbone of the service. They make it possible for Spotify to keep on doing what they do.

But yeah, it's good that some of them break out of it.

@stewf

@stewf I'm not trying to pick on people, but pretending "what service would YOU recommend" is an earnest reply is just silly. Like you couldn't type "alternative to spotify" into ANY search engine and not get the same results. If you're genuinely curious, that's a LOW BAR for effort to look up some basic information.

But why not. Here we go.

I share links to individual songs from youtube if I want someone to sample a song.

I pay for a Qobuz subscription because they pay the best to whoever owns the license and they were the first to offer the highest and best streaming quality. Plus they write great articles, and have a goofy audiophile social media club to hang out in.

Then for the artists I REALLY like, I buy their stuff directly, and I manage my own local music and movie collection through Plex.

There. Now you dont need to ask about alternatives. You can stop doing business with Spotify. Problem solved.

@stewf I tried Amazon Music it sucked. I tried Apple Music it sucked. I tried Pandora it sucked. I tried Tidal it sucked.

Your suggestion instead is what exactly?

@systemadminihater
It's possible to dislike something and not have an answer on how to fix it.

@stewf

@systemadminihater Must you stream music? Buying directly from artists or from Bandcamp lets you own the file and play it forever. It’s such a joy!
@stewf dude im just gettin in my car to go to work. What? Im supposed to keep like playlists and follow artists and ... we have jobs...?
@systemadminihater I’m not getting the problem with finding artists you love and supporting them directly. Maybe music just isn’t a major part of your life? Which is totally cool. But then why give money or attention to a destructive platform?
@stewf
Thank goodness I stopped paying for Spotify Premium for a long time, and I now have a decent CD collection
@stewf Its like no one has ever heard of shoutcast. Literally thousands of free streaming radio stations *right there*.
@stewf @marshray Don't forget the time they donated millions for Trump's inauguration thingy.

@stewf Ditching #Spotify applies to creators too. I've intentionally kept the podcast off Spotify and Amazon Music, which I know might reduce the reach somewhat.

"Available on select platforms" ranks higher than "available everywhere" IMHO.

@stewf I have an Amazon Music account I use mostly to stream stuff I already own on CD or MP3, or occasionally to listen to an album once. Bandcamp is my first choice for buying MP3s, and my local record shops are my first choice for buying music I want to hear more than once. Amazon’s selection seems to be dwindling though, and I may kill my subscription eventually.
@stewf
Personally, I've C p p blocked all toots containing links to FB, Instagram Twitter and Spotifypp
@stewf
As for me, I've blocked in my parameters any toots containing links to FB, Instagram, Twitter and Spotify
@stewf I used to just drop the mp3 that was so much better