I’ve been subscribed to Spotify since 2015, attracted by its ad-free mobile streaming and offline listening. Ten bucks a month to listen to hundreds of thousands of songs on-demand seemed like a great deal! On the other hand, there were a few moral implications creeping up on me. Although Spotify redefined access to music on a global scale, they continue to abuse the artists that make the service relevant and heedlessly dip their hands into blood-soaked ventures.
The last straw
First, it was the abysmal royalty payments. At about $0.003 per stream, it would take over 300 streams for an artist to make $1. Then, Spotify began to platform AI-generated tracks. This pushes already struggling artists to the fringes and is a continuation of the wealth transfer from authors, artists, and musicians to the tech oligarchy.
On top of that, Spotify began running ICE recruitment advertisements on their platform, stating that it does not violate their policies. Art and music is a healing entity that brings people together, but on Spotify it is a carrot on a stick to increase shareholder value, no matter the harm committed.
Finally, it was the warmongering investments. Spotify CEO, Daniel Ek, has invested over $700 million in militarized AI, accelerating its use in killing people en masse. I could no longer pay Spotify for music, as I felt complicit in these morally depraved acts.
The commodification of music
I used to laud Spotify’s discovery, which helped me find new songs and artists during each listening session. But eventually, my algorithm became saturated with content I already knew, and it was near impossible to break out of the box Spotify had determined of my music tastes. Over time, I’ve been able to find many other sources of recommendations (human ones!) that have since expanded my tastes and furthered my love for a variety of genres.
Check out my favourite albums of 2025 to see what I’ve been listening to!
A few weeks ago, my buddy sent me a band to check out. I opened my Spotify client, barring any other alternative at the time, and really enjoyed the nu disco vibe. Wanting more, I started Spotify’s Radio for more of this genre that I haven’t previously engaged with. It didn’t take long for me to realize that nearly half of the queued songs were AI-generated slop.
This has become so prevalent in the past year. In fact, over 11 million albums have been added to Spotify in 2024, compared to just under 2 million in 2018. Unbeknownst to you, this cheap imitation of sound could be playing at your favourite coffee shop or in your favourite lofi playlist. Identifying AI-generated music gets easier when you look at contextual details and, like all abhorrent slop, there’s a lack of detail that can be noticed by a keen ear. Other indicators include low sound quality, an absurd amount of content, obvious AI cover art, and vibes-based keywords (e.g. “Autumn Oldies Jazz” and “Nostalgic Ambience”).
I urge you to critically engage with the music that you listen to. What’s the song called? Is it on an album? Who is the artist? Where are they from? Music is not about generating a three hour playlist in seconds. It’s about inspiration and feeling; a journey into the artist’s mind and heart, moulded by experiences, opinions, and desires.
Qobuz: First Impressions
So, what’s the alternative? The best way to support artists is by purchasing their albums on Bandcamp (preferably on the first Friday of the month), but that can be untenable for some. Other streaming services, such as Qobuz, Deezer, and Tidal, offer a comparable experience to Spotify’s on-demand listening. Personally, I chose Qobuz for its high-resolution playback, human-made playlists and recommendations, highest pay per stream, and their buy-to-own store.
I like that Qobuz is transparent with playback quality. Before streaming or purchasing an album, I can see its bit depth and sampling frequency. I’m fond of 96 and 192 kHz tracks, and despite knowing full well that I can’t hear those extra bits, it sparks joy to see my DAC/AMP switch colours.
After coming from Spotify’s automated algorithm, it’s a breath of fresh air to see handpicked albums and playlists. Upon perusing Qobuz’s Discover page, I was pleasantly surprised to see “Press Accolades”, a collection of critically acclaimed classical albums. I’ve always had trouble finding new classical albums so having this is a boon.
Out of all the top streaming services, Qobuz pays artists the most per stream at $0.0187. To top it off, they have a store where you can buy DRM-free FLAC. This brings the best of both worlds; on-demand streaming and offline listening, as well as buying your favourite albums without vendor lock-in.
Though, it’s not all roses. There’s no official Linux client, but there are Wine workarounds. Annoyingly, the web player is blocked if the window is less than 1024 pixels wide. I’ve opted to use this terminal interface as well as the web player.
There’s also the substantial library difference. Spotify has a lot of music. After transferring my library, there were quite a few lesser-known artists that haven’t published their music on Qobuz. Although this will get better in time, it’s also a good opportunity to purchase any missing albums that you can’t live without.
Transferring playlists with SQotty
Over the years, I’ve authored over one hundred playlists. They hold an immense amount of sentimental value as they detail my moods for a given time period and unlock memories of that era. I couldn’t abandon them, but found the transfer tools lacking. Qobuz recommends Soundiiz but I didn’t want to accept the terms and conditions for such a one-off tool, so I took it upon myself to develop one!
Introducing SQotty (Spotify to Qobuz Over TTY). It’s made in Python and powered by Minim, a fantastic API wrapper for music streaming services. I challenged myself to build this “old-school” style, meaning without any generative AI tools. Just me and a lot of StackOverflow. Sure, genAI could’ve helped me pump this out in a quarter of the time it took, but there wasn’t a deadline and it was simply fun. There’s also something to be said about knowing every nook and cranny of your code. I’m proud to say that it actually works, transferring all my playlists with a minimal amount of false matches. I’ve open-sourced it on Codeberg for others to use.
Do the Right Thing
Spotify is another scourge among the rapidly-declining webservice landscape. I assure you, Spotify will only get worse as they keep prioritizing profits for the bosses. It’s time for us to prioritize the musicians we love and reject the mediums that abuse them.