can, (edited )

Why do people use Spotify still? Momentum?

Edited for clarity, I’m not saying music streaming I’m specifically referring to getting it from one company.

Whose CEO heavily invests in military AI

And pays artists’ (and of course labels) the least out of their competitors?

Mordachai_Shedbacon,

It’s convenient. It’s where all my playlists are… that said, I’m open to alternatives?

krimsonbun,

download mp3s from youtube. Use rhythmbox on linux and metro on android. Metro even tries to find the lyrics online

glacier,
@glacier@lemmy.blahaj.zone avatar

That is what I do, however it is very tedious when you want to listen to full albums, and add info to the file such as the album art and artist. Services like Spotify also sync your Library and playlist automatically across devices.

Sekoia,

I made myself a python script to automatically tag and download entire albums from youtube at a time. I use syncthing to automatically sync it all. Quality isn’t the best but I can’t tell anyway so

DessertStorms,
@DessertStorms@kbin.social avatar

Fwiw, some youtube to mp3 converters will let you convert full playlists (don't remember which, but there are a few).

Icalasari,

4k Video Downloader is one example, but I believe you need to pay for playlist downloading?

DessertStorms,
@DessertStorms@kbin.social avatar

I've never had to pay, so worth looking around

iso,
@iso@lemy.lol avatar

Now thats what inconvenient is.

genoxidedev1,

Yup, can understand if your library is small, but for bigger libraries that's definitely the most inconvenient thing you can do.

Speaking from experience because I was basically forced to do it that way when I didn't have regular internet access yet. My library was longer than 50 days. Just Hip-Hop alone was above 100GB.

I used to find a shitton of music that way, but the inconvenience was real. Worst was music that I had to tag myself for example. Love mp3tag but that's shit.

krimsonbun,

I find it inconvenient to have limited skips and depend on one service to give you the song you want with the version you want. Also spotify ui doesn’t make sense to me, things just don’t work at times. Not to mention the ads.

zpoex,
@zpoex@sh.itjust.works avatar

If you pay for premium you won’t have most of those problems…

krimsonbun,

I don’t like paid services, especially when you can get the same or most of the same stuff for free. It’s just not worth it for me, so that is my suggested alternative, doesn’t work for everyone.

zpoex,
@zpoex@sh.itjust.works avatar

Not really trying to argue with you but we were not discussing your preference haha😅 Just trying to say spotify premium is pretty convenient at a cheap price

krimsonbun,

I’m saying if you find it worth it to pay fir premium go ahead, I don’t.

BarrelAgedBoredom,

There’s cracked apks out there for Spotify if you’re completely against paying

can,

Unlike movie and tv streaming music streaming convenience is no contest for piracy if you’re an enthusiastic.

And this is coming from someone would download albums and discogrpahies, using programs to meticulously tag and organize them. I wish I had the time and patience now, and for the highlights of my collection I will, but with my music craving a music stream subscription is well worth it.

Amir,
@Amir@lemmy.ml avatar

Mp3s from YT are garbage quality, it’s double transcoding from YT’s already low quality input.

scytale,

Yeah. If you’re gonna be downloading music from youtube, might as well just torrent flac or at least 320kbps quality instead.

iHUNTcriminals, (edited )

Torrents mostly have pop music ime.

(Popular music trendy, ie Brittany Spears, Eminem, etc.)

Whirlybird,

😂 torrents and Usenet have everything.

iHUNTcriminals,

Any good spots for oz music? Hiphop…

Whirlybird,

I’m not sure, don’t listen to it sorry. Pirate bay?

DrQuint,

This is the most 2001 comment I’ve read this week.

can,

Um, you need a hookup?

Destragras,
@Destragras@kbin.social avatar

You can download audio from YouTube as 160kbps opus files, which aren't lossless sure but it's the highest quality you can get from YouTube if alternate means aren't an option.

red,

And that’s trusting that whoever uploaded the track had a good quality source. And it’s still double encoded.

Pulp,

Any official uploads from recent years are going to be just fine. And if not then maybe their spotify upload is broken too

red,

Hq is equivalent to 320kbps, noticably better than YT quality

Amir,
@Amir@lemmy.ml avatar

Well if you save the opus or aac it’s only single lossy compression, not double unless the uploader used a lossy file as their input. But if that was the case, ripping mp3 would be triple lossy compression…

Whirlybird,

160kbps is garbage tier.

Destragras,
@Destragras@kbin.social avatar

For mp3 sure, but for opus standards 160kbps is great. I read that 128kbps is generally considered the most you need but 160kbps smooths over any artifacts, assuming the source file doesn't have them.

krimsonbun,

I haven’t noticed any quality issues and I only listen to mp3s from youtube

realcaseyrollins,

You can download relatively good sounding audio from YouTube but you need to be using the right format in YouTube-DL, which not all downloaders do

can,

What about NewPipe?

Amir,
@Amir@lemmy.ml avatar

Then you probably don’t know any better because the vast majority of YT uploads are terrible quality. If you have anywhere near decent headphones/earbuds you can hear the difference immediately.

krimsonbun,

Well I’ve used spotify with and without headphones on popular phones, I can’t tell the difference from youtube. I usually download the music directly from the original uploader.

jochem,

I was big into downloading before streaming services were a thing. Music streaming is one of the few services that’s totally worth my money: no hassle and I rarely have to resort to other platforms to find what I want (very different from video streaming, which totally sucks when it comes to that).

ribboo,

100% this. Paying $12 a month for basically all music I’ll ever want to listen to, is just an amazing deal. It’s so convenient. Felt the same when Netflix came about. But now when I need like 6 services, and there’s still lots not on them. Piracy is just so much more convenient.

can, (edited )

Felt the same when Netflix came about. But now when I need like 6 services, and there’s still lots not on them. Piracy is just so much more convenient.

Yep, that’s the step they forgot: be more convenient than the pirates.

Psychonaut1969,
@Psychonaut1969@kbin.social avatar

Can I use any of those at the same time I am playing a game on ps3/ps4/ps5 they way they have integrated spotify? I use spotify because it is available on the devices I use. I would use bandcamp on them if it were an option as I love my collection there but, it is not available on many of the devices I use.

krimsonbun,

personally I don’t find that convinience worth it for the money/ads and other inconveniences, but that varies from person to person

balderdash9,
can, (edited )

Well, piracy, but I’d say apple music or tidal, etc are even better than Spotify. There are services for transferring your playlists.

Some are paid but if it’s just a one time transfer you could do them all in a free trial window.

stagen,
@stagen@feddit.dk avatar

Been using Soundiiz.com for that!

can,

That’s the one! I’m sure there’s many options though.

People, don’t let your playlists stop you from shopping around streaming services.

Aopen,
  1. Listen on YT with adblock
  2. Download audio with Newpipe (OPUS 160kbps)
  3. Manage files with Amaze
  4. Listen with VLC

I like this model, because YT has niche creators and I dont have to care about “Spotify changes X” news. Note: I have 1.5GB songs stored locally and listen ~30 minutes daily. I acknowledge discovering new songs is slower

Whirlybird,

160kbps? Jesus no lol

can,

What’s OPUS compression like?

Aopen,

For Opus codec its when you hit diminishing returns stage

…wikimedia.org/…/Opus_quality_comparison_colorbli…

Whirlybird,

Learn something new every day!

What devices can play OPUS format?

N1cknamed,
@N1cknamed@feddit.nl avatar

All of these are absolutely awful in terms of convenience.

Mothra,

You can just use NewPipe background player. NewPipe lets you create and save playlists. No ads.

blargerer,

Momentum is the driving force behind all enshitification.

SuiXi3D,
@SuiXi3D@kbin.social avatar

You nailed it. People’ve been using it for so long they don’t want to use any number of paid or free services to automatically move all their playlists and whatnot over to a different service.

Whirlybird,

Maybe people are happy with Spotify?

CybranM,

What would you suggest as an alternative?

metaStatic,

xManager

can,

What’s that?

hdgdlfiuebdtus,

I dont know

can,

thx

BraveSirZaphod,
@BraveSirZaphod@kbin.social avatar

I don't get why anyone would use the free tier - not being able to choose songs would actually drive me insane, let alone the ads - but $11 monthly for essentially all the music anyone could ever want, plus solid playlists and recommendations, is a perfectly good value for me. Admittedly, I listen to music all the time and it's a pretty big part of my life, so it's an easy sell.

I guess the free tier is still an improvement over radio, but regardless, producing and distributing music has costs, and I'm more than happy to pay for it. Given that Spotify isn't even profitable, having lost about a billion dollars last year, I'm not sure how long this situation will last, but for the time being, I really don't mind it.

Iceblade02, (edited )

11$/month is 132$/yr. That’s a significant amount of money - about the same as my car insurance, broadband or phone bill. Putting a bunch of good music in a playlist and letting it roll is nice enough, especially with a 3rd party app to mute ads automatically. Besides, I don’t feel sorry for Spotify. The reason they’re hemorrhaging money isn’t a lack of profitability, but due to the massive royalties going to record companies.

E: spelling

BraveSirZaphod,
@BraveSirZaphod@kbin.social avatar

For the median American that works full-time, who earns around $56,000, the cost of Spotify is 0.2% of their income.

Obviously everyone is in their own financial situation and for some people that will still be a burden. But for sake of comparison, in 1989, the average cost of cable TV was $18, and that's of course in 1989 dollars. I don't think it's unreasonable to say that $11 for unlimited access to basically all music at any time is a pretty good value for the money.

That said, if it is still onerous to someone, they're obviously not in ideal circumstances and I'm really not gonna fault them for just pirating.

Iceblade02, (edited )

Swedish student (Median full-time wage here is 35’790 USD equivalents before an avg ~30% payroll tax), not taking loans, working part time teaching (and occasionally nursing) to make ends meet, so yeah, pretty cash strapped atm.

Also, note that I already do have access to all the music in the world for free via youtube if I want something specific, or spotify for “radio style” infinite listening. 1440SEK/132USD is for added conveniences. No real need to pirate anything.

Whirlybird, (edited )

If $132 a year for unlimited access to pretty much all the music in the world is a significant amount of money to you then Spotify is the least of your worries.

Also your car insurance is $130 a year? What are you driving, a cardboard box and only in your living room? Your broadband only costs $132 a year?

Press X to doubt.

Iceblade02, (edited )

Swedish student (Median wage here is 35’790 USD equivalents), not taking loans, working part time teaching (and occasionally nursing) to make ends meet, so yeah, pretty cash strapped atm.

As for my car, not a cardboard box, but apparently there are 25 packs that cost as much as I bought it for five years ago. Just the mandatory traffic insurance, but it ends up at almost exactly same price.

Also, note that I already do have access to all the music in the world for free via youtube if I want something specific, or spotify for “radio style” infinite listening. 1440SEK/132USD is for added conveniences.

can,

Spotify isn’t the only company offering a monthly fee though.

nave,

Actually you can choose songs and create playlists on free tier.

nooneescapesthelaw,

I love their algorithm

kratoz29,

The random algorithm needs to be polished though.

iHUNTcriminals,

Random usually sucks for everything that I’ve used.

They should have two… True random and one that ‘radioifies’ your library.

refurbishedrefurbisher, (edited )

Basically exclusively because of Spotify Connect and the network effect. A lot of the music I listen to isn’t even available on Spotify.

I prefer Deezer’s recommendation algorithm. I don’t have experience wity other streaming services.

turkalino,
@turkalino@lemmy.yachts avatar

If you have an eclectic music taste and don’t spend your life next to a computer, there’s practically no other option

can, (edited )

Apple music, Tidal, etc.

Spotify is funding military AI tech. That’s enough for me. I’m on android but I’d still rather use Apple Music, plus they pay artists slightly more, and tidal pays more than them.

turkalino,
@turkalino@lemmy.yachts avatar

I hate to tell you but everyone is funding scary military tech, even if you’re not an American tax payer. If you’ve flown on a Boeing plane, used Microsoft software, worn Oakley sunglasses… all that revenue goes to companies who do or support that research

can, (edited )

I wouldn’t pay a recurring fee to any of them either.

turkalino,
@turkalino@lemmy.yachts avatar

I mean I just named some of them, my point is you can’t avoid funding the military unless you live under a rock. Such is the military industrial complex

rockhandle,
@rockhandle@lemm.ee avatar

Tidal, Deezer, Qobuz, Funkwhale, Apple Music, Youtube Music, just to name a few. Spotify has no shortage of competition.

turkalino,
@turkalino@lemmy.yachts avatar

My point is there’s little actual difference between them. Identical services provided by greedy corporations with shitty track records

rockhandle,
@rockhandle@lemm.ee avatar

You said there’s no other option, I just listed some options. Also Funkwhale is decentralised, there’s no corporation backing it. Ofc, you can also just download the music you like.

turkalino,
@turkalino@lemmy.yachts avatar

😂 practically no other option, my friend. Haven’t heard of Funkwhale though, sounds interesting. And no, as I mentioned in my first comment, downloading isn’t feasible for people with eclectic tastes cuz I just can’t keep up with my spontaneous “need” to listen to that one album that hasn’t even crossed my mind in 20 years

Whirlybird,

Because it’s fantastic? Because it has almost all the music out there? Because it has an app on every device under the sun? Because it has amazing artist discovery? Because it lets you know of upcoming shows in your area?

Why wouldn’t you use Spotify if you’re a music fan? I’ve got 200gb+ of music on my NAS that I use Plexamp to listen to but I still subscribe to and use Spotify more.

can,

I’m saying use one of the many streaming alternatives.

Do people use “Spotify” as a generic term for steaming?

can, (edited )

I’m saying use one of the many streaming alternatives.

Do people use “Spotify” as a generic term for steaming?

Whirlybird, (edited )

Do people use “Spotify” as a generic term for steaming?

No, they use it to mean streaming from Spotify…?

You asked why people use spotify still, and I answered with many reasons why people specifically use spotify. Not every streaming service is the same, and spotify is widely regarded as the best.

can, (edited )
Whirlybird,

That’s got nothing to do with why people use spotify though.

I don’t care if their CEO invests heavily in Military AI, neither do I care about them paying slightly less peanuts than Apple and Tidal. Bands make money from shows, not from CD sales or streaming. Execs make money from streaming and cd sales.

can,

Hey, if those aren’t caveats for you, or just just prefer an interface too much to care, by all means, do you.

Whirlybird,

I will.

Maybe ask the question you actually mean next time rather than the exact opposite one to what you want answered.

N1cknamed,
@N1cknamed@feddit.nl avatar

Because they have the best offer and it’s well worth the money. If you want to avoid shady CEO’s you might as well go live in a cave. And last I checked artists are doing absolutely fine financially.

GeekFTW, (edited )
@GeekFTW@kbin.social avatar

Still working for me with just the basic bitch plan on the web/desktop.

That being said: Fuck you Spotify lol

Edit: fuck GadolElohai and CybranM too ya low expectation having downvoting motherfuckers lol

FfaerieOxide,
@FfaerieOxide@kbin.social avatar

Do the people who wrote those lyrics get a cut of Spotify gatekeeping them?

Hauskrampf,

hahahahaha spotify and paying someone lol

BraveSirZaphod,
@BraveSirZaphod@kbin.social avatar

Spotify is not profitable right now; their current revenue doesn't come anywhere close to covering their costs. The only reason they're able to survive is investors holding on to the belief that, some day, it'll be possible to actually make the numbers work.

lemann,

The majority of their investors are record labels now, so there’s also an incentive to prevent competing streamers from taking Spotify’s position

sparky678348,

Spotify purchases their lyrics from Musixmatch

FfaerieOxide,
@FfaerieOxide@kbin.social avatar

Musixmatch has a free, public database where lyrics are displayed. To contribute to the database, users can sign up and contribute lyrics, synchronizations, translations, and structuring to get points and move up levels. Musixmatch's points have no redeemable value, but are instead a marker of a particular user's contributions.

So no?

sparky678348, (edited )

You as an individual can go access the public free database. Spotify as a corporation is a customer of musixmatch.

about.musixmatch.com/business/…/Spotify

I’m not sure what exactly you’re trying to say?

FfaerieOxide,
@FfaerieOxide@kbin.social avatar

Spotify is receiving money for something they did not create.

Neither the writers of the lyrics nor the fans who transcribed them get a cut.

That is fucked up.

sparky678348,

It is fucked up that the fans who are transcribing do not get a cut, but it’s not like they were misled to believe they would make a cut before they started doing it. The people doing that are doing it out of a passion for the music.

I’m not saying they shouldn’t be paid of course they should, if it was up to me I’d say make them all rich. I just think it’s a stretch to imply that Spotify is stealing anything here

FfaerieOxide,
@FfaerieOxide@kbin.social avatar

I like stealing. According to my belief system theft is good.

It's the fact Spotify is charging users for something stolen is what I think is fucked.
Something stolen should be freely shared.

BraveSirZaphod,
@BraveSirZaphod@kbin.social avatar

The writers almost certainly do get a cut. Musixmatch does not own the copyright to any of the lyrics, and as such, negotiated with the copyright holders in order to be allowed to store, display, and sell access to the lyrics. This almost certainly involved some amount of money changing hands.

Spotify is paying money for access to the lyrics and using that as a feature in their product. A chunk of that money is almost certainly going back to the actual writers.

Whirlybird, (edited )

Spotify is receiving money for something they did not create.

Spotify are paying musixmatch for the lyrics.

FfaerieOxide,
@FfaerieOxide@kbin.social avatar

Spotify are paying musixmatch for the lyrics.

musixmatch didn't create the content either.

Whirlybird,

Irrelevant. It’s up to musixmatch to pay the creators or supplier of their content, not Spotify.

FfaerieOxide,
@FfaerieOxide@kbin.social avatar

Ah, the buygamekeys .ru approach.

Whirlybird,

It’s not up to Spotify to pay the wages of the company that provides a paid service to them.

FfaerieOxide,
@FfaerieOxide@kbin.social avatar

Just to sell stolen goods, huh?

Whirlybird,

Stolen? Who stole the lyrics?

FfaerieOxide,
@FfaerieOxide@kbin.social avatar

Anyone extracting rents on gatekeeping access to them.

Whirlybird,

No one is gathering access to lyrics.

Who “stole“ something here, and from who?

FfaerieOxide,
@FfaerieOxide@kbin.social avatar

No one is gathering access to lyrics.

I never said they were. The verb I used was gatekeeping.

You know, like how Spotify locks access to them behind a paywall. The exact thing I just described.

Whirlybird, (edited )

Autocorrect sorry, supposed to be gate keeping.

Spotify isn’t gate keeping access to the lyrics - you’re free to look them up on musixmatch or any of the other lyric sites and services. They’ve simply added them to their subscription services. You don’t know what gate keeping means.

You also still haven’t answer how anyone “stole” anything? Who stole what and from who?

FfaerieOxide,
@FfaerieOxide@kbin.social avatar

Spotify isn’t gate keeping access to the lyrics

"If you pay us, you can see this. If you don't, you cannot see it."

Now who doesn't know what gatekeeping is?

You also still haven’t answer how anyone “stole” anything?

I have. Multiple times.

Whirlybird,

So every product on the market is gate keeping?

FfaerieOxide,
@FfaerieOxide@kbin.social avatar

How is freely copyable information no one who is profiting from wrote or transcribed a product?
It's rent-seeking and it's gross.

Whirlybird,

Spotify don’t just sell lyrics lol. The lyrics are just another of the features that require premium m.

FfaerieOxide,
@FfaerieOxide@kbin.social avatar

Right. They gatekeep them behind a paywall. This is like the forth time we've been over this.

They are engaged in rentseeking behavior and that is wrong.

Whirlybird,

“rentseeking behaviour” is one of the dumbest things I’ve ever heard used to describe a subscription service.

Is that all this is - you dislike subscription services?

They can’t gatekeep something that is available freely and easily outside of their service. They’re putting their implementation of the lyrics being matched to the music inside their subscription service. That’s not “gatekeeping”.

You still haven’t explained how anyone “stole” anything either.

FfaerieOxide,
@FfaerieOxide@kbin.social avatar

They can’t gatekeep something that is available freely and easily outside of their service.

Can you see what they are there if you don't pay them? Do I need to explain a 6th time what gatekeeping is?

You still haven’t explained how anyone “stole” anything either.

Yes I have. You just keep ignoring everything I say.

Whirlybird,

Yes I have. You just keep ignoring everything I say.

You haven’t, so do it in reply to this. Who stole what from who?

Do I need to explain a 6th time what gatekeeping is?

I think you need someone to explain what it is to you tbh lol. Like I said, is this just you thinking that all subscription services are bad and “gate keeping”? Do you think needing to buy a ticket to go to a theme park is “gatekeeping”?

FfaerieOxide,
@FfaerieOxide@kbin.social avatar

What part of gatekeeping access are you not able to wrap your head around and how many times do I need to explain profiting off uncompensated labor?

Whirlybird,

Who is profiting off uncompensated labor? Who stole what from who? You keep dodging the questions lol.

Spotify pay Musixmatch for lyrics. Spotify are paying for a service. If Musixmatch are “stealing” lyrics from somewhere that’s not Spotify’s problem.

Do you just believe that ALL subscriptions and payments to access something are “gatekeeping” behaviour? Answer the question. Is a movie theatre requiring you to buy a ticket before you can see the movie “gatekeeping” and bad? Is having to pay to watch netflix “gatekeeping”?

This is getting unbelievable in how much you are dancing around answering any questions about your crazy train of thought.

FfaerieOxide,
@FfaerieOxide@kbin.social avatar

And how do you think axes get sharpened?

Whetstones! And you can't just smash a bat into a berry barn.
The edge is what gives axes ...pardon the expression... edge!

So if the gravy thickens what are you going to do with that apretrieaour of yours?

I hope you got some long-term strategy for weevils.

Whirlybird,

So you’re … not… going to answer the simple questions?

FfaerieOxide,
@FfaerieOxide@kbin.social avatar

And then you gotta talk about giant squids.

Them things is huuuuuuuuuuge. Like you can fit two regular size squids inside one and the big ones at that.

All wriggly and covered in equal parts suckers and slime.

Life is like that, my friend. You got all sorts of movement in it and it's trying to slip away from you AS (get is? as) it grips onto you.

Them suckers is painful too, because they got fish hooks in them. Squid fish hooks are natures fish hooks, that's why they used to use them as fish hooks.

Of course they had to catch the squid to cut its arms up and once they managed that no one wanted to use the hooks anymore as they had just went through the trouble of inventing a non-hook-related method of catching sealife.

And life is like that, friend.

Whirlybird,

aaaaaaaaaand blocked :)

FfaerieOxide,
@FfaerieOxide@kbin.social avatar

And that's ANOTHER thing. You never cleaned the cheesewheel from the hampster aerdrion valtrex.

Why won't you address the cruise boat missive ?

Right, your moral cowardice.

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