this post was submitted on 17 Oct 2023
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Can't even seek through songs.

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[–] [email protected] 183 points 1 year ago (29 children)

Well, if you don't pay with money, you're paying with your attention. Do you think they create this huge service just for funsies?

Tbf, out of all media streaming services across movies, series, and music, Spotify has the highes bang-for-your-buck. It's still like Netflix at that time when there was only Netflix and you could watch almost everything on one platform. I still buy records that I like on physical media like vinyl, but Spotify is such a great deal for convenient listening to all music out there.

[–] [email protected] 61 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (7 children)

Man these people forget the days when a month of Spotify would afford you 1 CD. I remember cause I would spend half my paycheck on music. I'm just sitting here happy for services like Spotify and YouTube in my life. I remember a time when music and information was much harder to obtain (even illegally).

[–] [email protected] 27 points 1 year ago (3 children)

But if you bought the CD you actually owned something. Stop paying for the services and you have nothing if all you used was spotify/YouTube/pandora. I gave up on paying for streaming years ago and spend the same amount monthly on purchasing music. I get CDs, either new or used. I’ve amassed a collection and I don’t need Internet or monthly charges to play them.

[–] [email protected] 37 points 1 year ago

But I don't want to own it. I don't want to amass a collection of CDs taking up space somewhere. Been there, done that. I have a large collection of ripped mp3s from CDs I bought in the 90s and early 2000s (I've long since disposed of the physical media). I haven't clicked on a single one of them in years, I just keep them for nostalgia sake and because they take relatively little space.

I just occasionally want to listen to music sans commercials or annoying DJs wasting my time. For the cost of 1 CD a month my entire family can listen to almost anything they desire, at any time, without hassles (on Pandora in our case but I assume the economics are similar).

Same thing with movies, honestly. I watch them once and move on. There's a small handful I like enough to rewatch and I do own those.

I get the whole, we don't own anything anymore, argument and I mostly agree with it (see my massive Steam library). I just want both options to be viable. Streaming for ephemeral entertainment and actual ownership for the things I choose to keep.

[–] [email protected] 19 points 1 year ago (1 children)

We all have our preferences and I enjoy the quantity of music I can get in a heartbeat. It really sucked when you were 16 and spent $15 on a CD that sucked because there was no way to hear it ahead of time.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

My rule was always “buy it if there are at least 3 songs I know & like”. Only really had a few disappoint. I used to hang out at used CD stores though. I got so many for $2.50 or $5. Even a few gems for $1.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago

Valid point, but commuting with my turntable to listen to my sick vinyls on the go is a pain in the ass. Also moving sucks ass when you have a metric fuckton of sensitive vinyl to move. Owning stuff also has its downsides. Also no way I'm digitizing my vinyls and cutting them and shit to listen to them on the go, ain't nobody got time fo dat.

I gave up on CDs roughly 15 years ago because I don't like the format compared to vinyl (small album art, plasticy jewelcases, ...).

[–] [email protected] 12 points 1 year ago

You owned the music when you buy it. With multiple backups the risks of losing it it very minimal but with spotify or other streaming services, if you have to reduce your expenses you completely lose the access to the music till you pay again. Spotify always grey out songs too so even when you pay you may not have access to the some of the music you want to listen to

[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 year ago

I feel you, the value from Spotify is enormous. I can sift through ten different bands in no time just because I decided that I want to look up a new genre that I may or may not be totally into by the end.

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[–] [email protected] 39 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (7 children)
[–] [email protected] 22 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Surely you have a better explanation for why Spotify isn't giving you the full service for free.

[–] [email protected] 15 points 1 year ago

Yeah don't use it if you don't want to, idc. But you might accept the thought that there are people that think the deal Spotify puts on the table is good.

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[–] [email protected] 24 points 1 year ago (6 children)

I know not everyone will agree, but I think YouTube premium is the better bang-for-buck service. $3 more per month than Spotify and includes YouTube Music premium and YouTube Premium. So all the music and ad-free YouTube.

[–] [email protected] 19 points 1 year ago (4 children)

Except what YT Premium does is easily doable with free tools.

[–] [email protected] 24 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Only so long as Google decides to continue serving content for free to people who contribute nothing to their bottom line, which isn't guaranteed to last.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Anyone that thinks Google's WebDRM is going to stop with ads is a fool.

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[–] [email protected] 20 points 1 year ago (1 children)

*with free tools from thankless efforts.

[–] [email protected] 23 points 1 year ago (2 children)

You can donate to projects you like tho

[–] [email protected] 8 points 1 year ago (3 children)

Preach. I’d rather donate to those folks than give google money lawl

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[–] [email protected] 10 points 1 year ago (1 children)

An argument could easily be made for Spotify as well. There are plenty of options for streaming music for free to your device with download support. Just about anything can be done for free if people are willing.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

YT is just the more egregious example of this imo.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

Sure, for now. YouTube is cracking down on ad-blockers, don't think they'll let those free tools work forever...

[–] [email protected] 9 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

YouTube is basically the same price as Spotify in my country (only 12 cents more actually), so even more bang for my buck, specially for family plans.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

I'm currently in a three month trial due to the value (music streaming and ad free you tube), but coming from Pandora YT Music's radio algorithm sucks sooooo bad. One of my first plays was a foo fighters album and now all the stations I create have alt/grunge in them. It's making it really hard to consider staying.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Surprising to see any suggestions on here for YouTube Premium. I have been lucky enough to be on a family plan for years and it's honestly great. Sometimes, it's just easier not to deal with having to hack around things to make them usable.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

Family is one of the biggest reasons. A huge part of it for me was minimizing at least SOME of the ads my kids would be exposed to.

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[–] [email protected] 9 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I'd rather vote for Deezer. Costs the same, but you also get lossless (16-bit 44.1kHz FLAC) audio.

By the way, free-mp3-download.net rips songs from Deezer. And if you don't like spending storage, you could self-host your own Navidrome server, though I get that may not be convenient.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

I need 48-bit 96kHz raw PWM otherwise my ears can't tolerate it. I can hear the difference in the waveforms.

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