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I think this will push me to finally just jump to Apple Music (even though it’s worse and will now be harder to do, plus I’ll miss discover weekly). Spotify’s

I think this will push me to finally just jump to Apple Music (even though it’s worse and will now be harder to do, plus I’ll miss discover weekly). Spotify’s attack on podcasts with exclusivity and trying to destroy the open standard really bothers me: https://stratechery.com/2020/dithering-and-the-open-web/ https://stratechery.com/2020/dithering-and-the-open-web/ Now with this I just don’t have much respect for them. When paired with their complaining about Apple’s policies being unfair it makes me really dislike them, they don’t care about their users or what’s best for them. It wouldn’t surprise me if soon I have to call and beg them to cancel my subscription like Sirius XM. FreeYourMusic also still works, so if you want to do this download it quickly before Spotify forces them to break the feature.

actuator 6y ago
Amusingly enough, I think the podcast move was a realisation that like Netflix they will need their own content to prosper in the long run when faced against goliaths like Apple, as big players will just throw money and platform advantages at their services. It doesn't help Spotify's image though.
- jtbayly 6y ago
  No. It was an attempt to coop free content and profit off of it at the expense of the destruction of the ecosystem.
  - Spivak 6y ago
    So yes but also private podcast feeds are a thing. There are plenty of podcasts where you can get credentials to a private feed (maybe it’s ad free, maybe it has bonus content, etc.) by paying them money. Having podcasts that you have to pay to access entirely isn’t that weird.
    - jtbayly 6y ago
      Nothing wrong with that. The problem is that Spotify is doing its best to break the creator-consumer relationship in order to rent seek in the middle. And you literally cannot do what you described with Spotify if you are a podcaster. Spotify can decide to do it, but you can’t.
lukeschlather 6y ago
Does Apple actually offer any of the services Spotify is banning via ToS? This feels like both companies are clearly in the wrong for engaging in the same sort of bad behavior.
- fossuser 6y ago
  As far as I know these apps can still export from Apple Music and I haven’t heard of any threats to remove support. Apple has also been a good steward of podcasts and keeping the open standard.
- novok 6y ago
  Well you can transfer your playlists out with songshift into whatever else, and some of those playlists can be generated by apple music themselves
LockAndLol 6y ago
Apple is known for making similar moves to keep people locked into their services. You won't be any safer there. Might as well use Soundcloud, Jamendo or Bandcamp. They are much more open than those 2 services.
nxc18 6y ago
I just switched to Tidal in protest of Spotify’s support of that nonsense app alliance and their constant attacks on the podcast ecosystem. I really miss when they were laser focused on music. If they drop their bad business practices, I will switch back. For now I’m really feeling the need for competition. Heads up, Apple Music doesn’t sound as good as Spotify, unfortunately. Tidal is better overall in my experience and as far as I can tell they’re not being anticompetitive in any way.
- adriang133 6y ago
  I switched to Tidal about 8 months ago (from Spotify) and I have to say about the only thing it has going for it is the slightly better sound quality. Otherwise it is completely inferior to Spotify in each and every way, starting with the core functionality that is a train wreck, at least on macOS. I regularly have issues with the scrobbler getting out of sync, recently playback stops after ~5 seconds when waking my mac from sleep and I have to restart it. The experience is just a mess. On top of that it is 2x the price of Spotify. I am seriously thinking switching back to Spotify just because the SQ difference is not worth the disaster that comes with it.
  - nxc18 6y ago
    That’s fair, Tidal is definitely not as good as Spotify in terms of software quality. It hasn’t affected me too badly, but I definitely miss Spotify connect and CarPlay has been spotty. I’m fully making the switch as protest of business practices, not because Tidal is already better. I hope Tidal gets there but if they don’t I’ll have to reevaluate eventually. I hope Spotify just apologizes for being shitty so I can go back to them.
  - mwcampbell 6y ago
    The one alternative that no one is discussing here is to abandon music streaming and go back to owning our own collections. Yes, it's more work to go through and buy tracks or albums, but once you've done it, you're completely free to listen to them however you want. That also seems to be the best deal for artists that aren't superstars.
  - 6y ago
ewelina_fym 6y ago
FreeYourMusic works and will work. Our app doesn't use the official Spotify SDK. Thanks to this we are in the clear.
- ewelina_fym 6y ago
  Btw, we offer a 42.069% discount on all plans with the code SPOTIFYSUCKS ;) Apply the promo code at https://freeyourmusic.com/en/pricing https://freeyourmusic.com/en/pricing
bartoszhernas 6y ago
Hi, founder of FreeYourMusic here. It will still work, Spotify tried to block us just the same two years ago. We then switched to different method of integration to not be legally bound via SDK agreements. We are still operational and have Spotify export working. If they won't let you through doors, we get in via window. ️ We do not expect any platforms to be limited on FYM.FM in near future.

actuator 6y ago

Amusingly enough, I think the podcast move was a realisation that like Netflix they will need their own content to prosper in the long run when faced against goliaths like Apple, as big players will just throw money and platform advantages at their services. It doesn't help Spotify's image though.

jtbayly 6y ago
No. It was an attempt to coop free content and profit off of it at the expense of the destruction of the ecosystem.
- Spivak 6y ago
  So yes but also private podcast feeds are a thing. There are plenty of podcasts where you can get credentials to a private feed (maybe it’s ad free, maybe it has bonus content, etc.) by paying them money. Having podcasts that you have to pay to access entirely isn’t that weird.
  - jtbayly 6y ago
    Nothing wrong with that. The problem is that Spotify is doing its best to break the creator-consumer relationship in order to rent seek in the middle. And you literally cannot do what you described with Spotify if you are a podcaster. Spotify can decide to do it, but you can’t.

lukeschlather 6y ago

Does Apple actually offer any of the services Spotify is banning via ToS? This feels like both companies are clearly in the wrong for engaging in the same sort of bad behavior.

fossuser 6y ago
As far as I know these apps can still export from Apple Music and I haven’t heard of any threats to remove support. Apple has also been a good steward of podcasts and keeping the open standard.
novok 6y ago
Well you can transfer your playlists out with songshift into whatever else, and some of those playlists can be generated by apple music themselves

LockAndLol 6y ago

Apple is known for making similar moves to keep people locked into their services. You won't be any safer there. Might as well use Soundcloud, Jamendo or Bandcamp. They are much more open than those 2 services.

nxc18 6y ago

I just switched to Tidal in protest of Spotify’s support of that nonsense app alliance and their constant attacks on the podcast ecosystem. I really miss when they were laser focused on music. If they drop their bad business practices, I will switch back. For now I’m really feeling the need for competition. Heads up, Apple Music doesn’t sound as good as Spotify, unfortunately. Tidal is better overall in my experience and as far as I can tell they’re not being anticompetitive in any way.

adriang133 6y ago
I switched to Tidal about 8 months ago (from Spotify) and I have to say about the only thing it has going for it is the slightly better sound quality. Otherwise it is completely inferior to Spotify in each and every way, starting with the core functionality that is a train wreck, at least on macOS. I regularly have issues with the scrobbler getting out of sync, recently playback stops after ~5 seconds when waking my mac from sleep and I have to restart it. The experience is just a mess. On top of that it is 2x the price of Spotify. I am seriously thinking switching back to Spotify just because the SQ difference is not worth the disaster that comes with it.
- nxc18 6y ago
  That’s fair, Tidal is definitely not as good as Spotify in terms of software quality. It hasn’t affected me too badly, but I definitely miss Spotify connect and CarPlay has been spotty. I’m fully making the switch as protest of business practices, not because Tidal is already better. I hope Tidal gets there but if they don’t I’ll have to reevaluate eventually. I hope Spotify just apologizes for being shitty so I can go back to them.
- mwcampbell 6y ago
  The one alternative that no one is discussing here is to abandon music streaming and go back to owning our own collections. Yes, it's more work to go through and buy tracks or albums, but once you've done it, you're completely free to listen to them however you want. That also seems to be the best deal for artists that aren't superstars.
- 6y ago

ewelina_fym 6y ago

FreeYourMusic works and will work. Our app doesn't use the official Spotify SDK. Thanks to this we are in the clear.

ewelina_fym 6y ago
Btw, we offer a 42.069% discount on all plans with the code SPOTIFYSUCKS ;) Apply the promo code at https://freeyourmusic.com/en/pricing https://freeyourmusic.com/en/pricing

bartoszhernas 6y ago

Hi, founder of FreeYourMusic here. It will still work, Spotify tried to block us just the same two years ago. We then switched to different method of integration to not be legally bound via SDK agreements. We are still operational and have Spotify export working. If they won't let you through doors, we get in via window. ️ We do not expect any platforms to be limited on FYM.FM in near future.