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I wish I could get a music only Spotify subscription. I’d be willing to pay slightly more than I pay for my subscription with everything, if they removed the o

I wish I could get a music only Spotify subscription. I’d be willing to pay slightly more than I pay for my subscription with everything, if they removed the other stuff from the UI entirely, guaranteed that none of my money would go towards podcasts or audiobooks or whatever, and that every extra penny went to the musicians I listen to not more profit for Spotify. Yes, Spotify is worth less to me when it includes anything other than music.

epistasis 3y ago
Agreed, nothing more annoying than having to deal with unwanted podcasts when looking for music. I love podcasts. I love Spotify. I do not want them in the same UI. It's like finding email notifications or Google Docs content in among my songs.
8f2ab37a-ed6c 3y ago
Same. I have a dedicated app for podcasts, I'd rather keep Spotify specialized. Long-term the push to podcasts is simply better economics for Spotify, so they aren't going to stop going in that direction anytime soon.
- ethbr1 3y ago
  Agreed. It's like Amazon Video's slide towards being an advertising supported cable company. No company owes anybody being a company of a specific sort. And it's a nigh impossible battle to argue in favor of an order of magnitude less profitable business model if there are more profitable alternatives. One reason I always said Apple's lock on the App Store was a few down quarters from being seriously abused to the detriment of users.
  - Voultapher 3y ago
    I think Cory Doctorow put it aptly: > Corporations run on a form of code – financial regulation and accounting practices – and the modern version of this code literally prohibits corporations from treating human beings with empathy. The principle of fiduciary duty to investors means that where there is a chance to make an investor richer while making a worker or customer miserable, management is obliged to side with the investor, so long as the misery doesn’t backfire so much that it harms the investor’s quarterly return. Source https://locusmag.com/2015/07/cory-doctorow-skynet-ascendant/ https://locusmag.com/2015/07/cory-doctorow-skynet-ascendant/
    - gregwebs 3y ago
      That’s not the full story. Corporations have charters that include things other than a return for investors. Investors also don’t care about maximizing returns as long as expected targets can be hit.
      - Voultapher 3y ago
        Can you point me to substantial evidence that corporations side with their customers or employees when doing so is in conflict with their bottom line? I can point to examples that validate my point. 1. Facebook: https://apnews.com/article/facebook-whistleblower-frances-haugen-4a3640440769d9a241c47670facac213 https://apnews.com/article/facebook-whistleblower-frances-ha... 2. Apple: https://www.ifixit.com/News/82493/we-are-retroactively-dropping-the-iphones-repairability-score-en https://www.ifixit.com/News/82493/we-are-retroactively-dropp... 3. Youtube: adding more and more advertisements to each video even after they became profitable 4. Purdue Pharma and Pharma in general: The opioid crisis in the US 5. Volkswagen: Dieselgate I can list many more, but I think you see a pattern.
plastic3169 3y ago
There is no profit right because all the money goes to artists (labels really)? That’s why the aggressive push for other kind of content.
DavidVoid 3y ago
I ended up switching to Qobuz for that reason basically. It's much more music-focused than Spotify and the editorial content is pretty good (lots of albums have an "about" section which gives you some context about the album).
baix777 3y ago
Then the music focused tidal.com maybe be for you. They claim to send a higher percentage of revenue to the artists.
- cmoski 3y ago
  They also have a ever so slightly finer grained control over telling it that you don't like the song or (one of, I forget which) the album/artist that is playing.
maxglute 3y ago
I want option where my sub cost going towards content production gets split into payment for artist whose content which I've "liked" and listend to.
dkersten 3y ago
I wish my money went exclusively to the artists I actually listen to, split proportionally to how much I listen to them.
- barnabee 3y ago
  Amazing (not to mention sad) that the obviously fair, reasonable thing feels like an unattainable fantasy, isn’t it?
lostlogin 3y ago
I went to Apple music for this reason. It’s fractionally better. Kagi search has user setting that let you block domains. It would be pretty great if a music subscription let you have a master filter. Never show me: Podcasts Mega church music Sleep sounds Sound effects Also, I’d like a button which allowed my kid’s music to be erased from any algorithm that helps chose me music.
- ninkendo 3y ago
  > Also, I’d like a button which allowed my kid’s music to be erased from any algorithm that helps chose me music. Preach. My “Replay 2020” music is the last yearly replay that’s any good. Because I had my first child in 2021 and everything after that is lullaby music. My “For you” and personal radio station are now saturated with the music I play for my kids, and it’s completely destroying my music discovery. Apple Music really needs to fix this.
  - lostlogin 3y ago
    I left Spotify, in part due to this. Set up an Apple Music account and then one for the child. However car rides still contaminate my music as my phone is the one plugged in, and I’m left back where I started. It badly needs some sort of ‘exclude this artist, always’ option. For me this would be indistinguishable from a ‘no Taylor Swift’ option.
endisneigh 3y ago
Why don’t you subscribe to services that do that instead? You’re literally subsidizing the behavior you dislike.
- barnabee 3y ago
  1. I’m lazy. I have hundreds of albums saved to my library and I can’t face recreating that. 2. I collaborate on a small number of shared playlists with others who I won’t persuade to move. Nonetheless I agree with you, I probably should. Until the next platform I choose pulls the same shit and I’m back to square one. At this point I’m more likely to revert to buying/pirating music and self-hosting than give any more energy to another streaming service.
  - seaal 3y ago
    https://github.com/KRTirtho/spotube https://github.com/KRTirtho/spotube Spotube might be the answer if you don’t have an iPhone. Using it on Windows and the client is good enough.
newfriend 3y ago
I wish my taxes only went to things I wanted them to go to
- antiframe 3y ago
  That's a strange parallel to draw. Spotify is one of many places to stream music. Most of which are better than Spotify. Unless we're talking about shopping around citizenship, taxes aren't generally a thing you have granular control over.
- ManuelKiessling 3y ago
  In Hungary, every year you can decide where a (small) part of your taxes go.
cowmix 3y ago
This.
hitpointdrew 3y ago
I wish I could get podcast only Spotify subscription. I don't want to open the app then have to click around to get the podcasts, podcasts should come up by default.
jszymborski 3y ago
I agree, this is why I refuse to give Spotify a red cent.
swalsh 3y ago
This of course is not the NORMAL perspective.
- averageRoyalty 3y ago
  What is your basis for this? I've spoken to many people about it, and most people who actually listen to podcasts I know use a seperate app for podcasts. Not wanting then unified seems pretty normal from my perspective.
mdasen 3y ago
I want to start by saying that I'm not defending Spotify's position, but rather trying to explain it. The problem with a music-only Spotify subscription is that it's a pretty undifferentiated product with little control over the forces around it. Anyone else can sell what they're selling: Apple, Google, Amazon, Tidal. Spotify is a tiny company compared to most of those and doesn't control any of the platforms it uses: iPhone, Android, Alexa. While Europe's Digital Markets Act might make it harder for a company to kick Spotify off their platform, that's hardly worldwide. While the DMA might mean in-app payments with lower fees, it's looking like platforms will still be getting something. Spotify doesn't own the music content that it's streaming. It's getting that from labels and artists. Not to denigrate Spotify's software or user experience too much, but to an extent they're just a middleman between you and the music you want to hear. I'm sure people will reply about how they prefer the Spotify experience to other services and I don't want to dismiss that, but it's certainly less differentiated when everyone has the same content. Now with non-music content, Spotify has differentiation. Even if the deal isn't 100% exclusive (since video is going on YouTube), it might still lock out Apple and Amazon. It might also restrict the ability for Google/YouTube to use it in a non-video format. Now there's more differentiation. There's stuff you can (mostly) only get from Spotify. Even if platforms aren't doing dirty things to harm Spotify, there is often value in being the default in an ecosystem. If you don't have a streaming service, Alexa devices will suggest Amazon Music and you can sign up with no friction at all. That's different from signing up for Spotify and then linking it to my Alexa account. Apple Music is installed by default on iPhones. Spotify has a significant first-mover advantage, but companies that control important platforms and have deep pockets are coming after them. Offering something you can't get from the competition gives Spotify a way to keep subscribers and gain new subscribers instead of being an undifferentiated middleman between you and your music.

epistasis 3y ago

Agreed, nothing more annoying than having to deal with unwanted podcasts when looking for music. I love podcasts. I love Spotify. I do not want them in the same UI. It's like finding email notifications or Google Docs content in among my songs.

8f2ab37a-ed6c 3y ago

Same. I have a dedicated app for podcasts, I'd rather keep Spotify specialized. Long-term the push to podcasts is simply better economics for Spotify, so they aren't going to stop going in that direction anytime soon.

ethbr1 3y ago
Agreed. It's like Amazon Video's slide towards being an advertising supported cable company. No company owes anybody being a company of a specific sort. And it's a nigh impossible battle to argue in favor of an order of magnitude less profitable business model if there are more profitable alternatives. One reason I always said Apple's lock on the App Store was a few down quarters from being seriously abused to the detriment of users.
- Voultapher 3y ago
  I think Cory Doctorow put it aptly: > Corporations run on a form of code – financial regulation and accounting practices – and the modern version of this code literally prohibits corporations from treating human beings with empathy. The principle of fiduciary duty to investors means that where there is a chance to make an investor richer while making a worker or customer miserable, management is obliged to side with the investor, so long as the misery doesn’t backfire so much that it harms the investor’s quarterly return. Source https://locusmag.com/2015/07/cory-doctorow-skynet-ascendant/ https://locusmag.com/2015/07/cory-doctorow-skynet-ascendant/
  - gregwebs 3y ago
    That’s not the full story. Corporations have charters that include things other than a return for investors. Investors also don’t care about maximizing returns as long as expected targets can be hit.
    - Voultapher 3y ago
      Can you point me to substantial evidence that corporations side with their customers or employees when doing so is in conflict with their bottom line? I can point to examples that validate my point. 1. Facebook: https://apnews.com/article/facebook-whistleblower-frances-haugen-4a3640440769d9a241c47670facac213 https://apnews.com/article/facebook-whistleblower-frances-ha... 2. Apple: https://www.ifixit.com/News/82493/we-are-retroactively-dropping-the-iphones-repairability-score-en https://www.ifixit.com/News/82493/we-are-retroactively-dropp... 3. Youtube: adding more and more advertisements to each video even after they became profitable 4. Purdue Pharma and Pharma in general: The opioid crisis in the US 5. Volkswagen: Dieselgate I can list many more, but I think you see a pattern.

plastic3169 3y ago

There is no profit right because all the money goes to artists (labels really)? That’s why the aggressive push for other kind of content.

DavidVoid 3y ago

I ended up switching to Qobuz for that reason basically. It's much more music-focused than Spotify and the editorial content is pretty good (lots of albums have an "about" section which gives you some context about the album).

baix777 3y ago

Then the music focused tidal.com maybe be for you. They claim to send a higher percentage of revenue to the artists.

cmoski 3y ago
They also have a ever so slightly finer grained control over telling it that you don't like the song or (one of, I forget which) the album/artist that is playing.

maxglute 3y ago

I want option where my sub cost going towards content production gets split into payment for artist whose content which I've "liked" and listend to.

dkersten 3y ago

I wish my money went exclusively to the artists I actually listen to, split proportionally to how much I listen to them.

barnabee 3y ago
Amazing (not to mention sad) that the obviously fair, reasonable thing feels like an unattainable fantasy, isn’t it?

lostlogin 3y ago

I went to Apple music for this reason. It’s fractionally better. Kagi search has user setting that let you block domains. It would be pretty great if a music subscription let you have a master filter. Never show me: Podcasts Mega church music Sleep sounds Sound effects Also, I’d like a button which allowed my kid’s music to be erased from any algorithm that helps chose me music.

ninkendo 3y ago
> Also, I’d like a button which allowed my kid’s music to be erased from any algorithm that helps chose me music. Preach. My “Replay 2020” music is the last yearly replay that’s any good. Because I had my first child in 2021 and everything after that is lullaby music. My “For you” and personal radio station are now saturated with the music I play for my kids, and it’s completely destroying my music discovery. Apple Music really needs to fix this.
- lostlogin 3y ago
  I left Spotify, in part due to this. Set up an Apple Music account and then one for the child. However car rides still contaminate my music as my phone is the one plugged in, and I’m left back where I started. It badly needs some sort of ‘exclude this artist, always’ option. For me this would be indistinguishable from a ‘no Taylor Swift’ option.

endisneigh 3y ago

Why don’t you subscribe to services that do that instead? You’re literally subsidizing the behavior you dislike.

barnabee 3y ago
1. I’m lazy. I have hundreds of albums saved to my library and I can’t face recreating that. 2. I collaborate on a small number of shared playlists with others who I won’t persuade to move. Nonetheless I agree with you, I probably should. Until the next platform I choose pulls the same shit and I’m back to square one. At this point I’m more likely to revert to buying/pirating music and self-hosting than give any more energy to another streaming service.
- seaal 3y ago
  https://github.com/KRTirtho/spotube https://github.com/KRTirtho/spotube Spotube might be the answer if you don’t have an iPhone. Using it on Windows and the client is good enough.

newfriend 3y ago

I wish my taxes only went to things I wanted them to go to

antiframe 3y ago
That's a strange parallel to draw. Spotify is one of many places to stream music. Most of which are better than Spotify. Unless we're talking about shopping around citizenship, taxes aren't generally a thing you have granular control over.
ManuelKiessling 3y ago
In Hungary, every year you can decide where a (small) part of your taxes go.

cowmix 3y ago

This.

hitpointdrew 3y ago

I wish I could get podcast only Spotify subscription. I don't want to open the app then have to click around to get the podcasts, podcasts should come up by default.

jszymborski 3y ago

I agree, this is why I refuse to give Spotify a red cent.

swalsh 3y ago

This of course is not the NORMAL perspective.

averageRoyalty 3y ago
What is your basis for this? I've spoken to many people about it, and most people who actually listen to podcasts I know use a seperate app for podcasts. Not wanting then unified seems pretty normal from my perspective.

mdasen 3y ago

I want to start by saying that I'm not defending Spotify's position, but rather trying to explain it. The problem with a music-only Spotify subscription is that it's a pretty undifferentiated product with little control over the forces around it. Anyone else can sell what they're selling: Apple, Google, Amazon, Tidal. Spotify is a tiny company compared to most of those and doesn't control any of the platforms it uses: iPhone, Android, Alexa. While Europe's Digital Markets Act might make it harder for a company to kick Spotify off their platform, that's hardly worldwide. While the DMA might mean in-app payments with lower fees, it's looking like platforms will still be getting something. Spotify doesn't own the music content that it's streaming. It's getting that from labels and artists. Not to denigrate Spotify's software or user experience too much, but to an extent they're just a middleman between you and the music you want to hear. I'm sure people will reply about how they prefer the Spotify experience to other services and I don't want to dismiss that, but it's certainly less differentiated when everyone has the same content. Now with non-music content, Spotify has differentiation. Even if the deal isn't 100% exclusive (since video is going on YouTube), it might still lock out Apple and Amazon. It might also restrict the ability for Google/YouTube to use it in a non-video format. Now there's more differentiation. There's stuff you can (mostly) only get from Spotify. Even if platforms aren't doing dirty things to harm Spotify, there is often value in being the default in an ecosystem. If you don't have a streaming service, Alexa devices will suggest Amazon Music and you can sign up with no friction at all. That's different from signing up for Spotify and then linking it to my Alexa account. Apple Music is installed by default on iPhones. Spotify has a significant first-mover advantage, but companies that control important platforms and have deep pockets are coming after them. Offering something you can't get from the competition gives Spotify a way to keep subscribers and gain new subscribers instead of being an undifferentiated middleman between you and your music.