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I can't understand how people use Spotify. It was great ~10 years ago? It's terrible these days. Pushing Podcasts at you (no thanks, Podcasts are terrible. If

I can't understand how people use Spotify. It was great ~10 years ago? It's terrible these days. Pushing Podcasts at you (no thanks, Podcasts are terrible. If I wanted to hear idiots laughing at each other I'd listen to the Radio DJs), terrible music, the UI getting harder and less intuitive to use. It's a shame all good things have to slowly tend towards sucking, instead of getting better. Bitwarden, one of my beloved apps, has done the same with a god-awful UI redesign. Youtube music is just as bad with pushing unwanted content. I can't believe the answer after 10 years of this is to go back to doing it myself, downloading MP3s and using something (currently Jellyfin) to curate them. At least Youtube music lets me upload my own music to it, so that's the main reason I'm still mostly using it. PS: Please don't reply and tell me I just haven't found the right podcast. The "X person/people talking taking 2 hours to discuss something that could be discussed succinctly in 5 minutes" isn't a format I'm interested in.

LeoPanthera 2y ago
> no thanks, Podcasts are terrible. If I wanted to hear idiots laughing at each other I'd listen to the Radio DJs When you inject personal opinions like this which are obviously at odds with millions of other people, it's difficult to take the rest of the comment seriously.
- muppetman 2y ago
  Fair point.
- lern_too_spel 2y ago
  It's at odds with millions of people but also in agreement with millions of others. I also don't listen to podcasts for the same reason. Spotify shouldn't push something that so many people detest without letting them opt out.
  - robertlagrant 2y ago
    I don't think there's evidence for this. While listening to podcasts is evidence of liking them, not listening to podcasts isn't evidence for detesting them.
    - lern_too_spel 2y ago
      Spotify has over 640 million active users. Of those, 100 million are active podcast listeners, despite having an app they frequently use that lets them listen to podcasts. This suggests that many of Spotify's users hate podcasts as much as they hate the wacky morning DJs who say democracy's a joke.
      - robertlagrant 2y ago
        Zero could hate them and they wouldn't all listen to them. I don't hate podcasts and I've never listened to one on Spotify.
        lern_too_spel 2y ago
        I didn't say that all 540 million hate podcasts. I said that many do. It doesn't take a very large fraction of 540 million to get millions that hate podcasts.
        robertlagrant 2y ago
        Well, you said "many of". I thought you meant "a significant fraction of", not "at least a tiny fraction of".
        lern_too_spel 2y ago
        I said millions of people. Millions of people is many. I have been consistent. You're living in a bubble.
        robertlagrant 2y ago
  - mvdtnz 2y ago
    I don't know if you think this opinion (expressed in this way) makes you seem insightful, but just so you know, it just makes you seem uninformed. It's like saying "Listen to music? No thanks, I don't want to listen to a guy in makeup screaming about satanism into a microphone". Like, yes, that type of music does exist, but it's uninformed to make the claim that that's all music is.
    - lern_too_spel 2y ago
      It is not uninformed to say that podcasts are worse than articles, books, and audiobooks on the same subjects. I know. I've tried. I'm informed.
      - mvdtnz 2y ago
        It is uninformed to say that podcasts are "idiots laughing at each other".
        lern_too_spel 2y ago
        It is also uninformed to say that they aren't. You're being pedantic. You know what muppetman meant.
  - mingus88 2y ago
    Weird take. I don’t know anyone who detests podcasts. They just don’t listen to them. Having such strong feelings about something you can just ignore is unhealthy. FWIW, I cancelled Spotify last year and their focus on podcasts was one of the reasons. But there are plenty of other services that cater to music lovers so I just increased my bandcamp spend and moved on with my life.
  - stevenwliao 2y ago
    Unless I'm missing something, the opt-out is one click away. I don't understand the problem. Screenshot: https://imgur.com/a/2tLoFkQ https://imgur.com/a/2tLoFkQ
    - muppetman 2y ago
      If I have to opt-out everytime I open the app, that's not really an opt-out, that's a temporary fix at best.
Sabinus 2y ago
>no thanks, Podcasts are terrible. If I wanted to hear idiots laughing at each other I'd listen to the Radio DJs I agree this format of podcast is terrible, but there are many podcasts that are more like one or a couple of people each giving a presentation and I enjoy them a lot. Ukraine the Latest by The Telegraph and The History of Rome by Mike Duncan are ones I particularly enjoyed.
- beart 2y ago
  Hardcore History has not been as productive lately but the back catalogue is incredible. Makes a 6 hour drive feel like nothing at all. I know some people don't like Dan Carlin, but I really enjoy the long-form historical storytelling style.
macNchz 2y ago
I actually really like podcasts but never wanted my music app forcing theirs above links to actual music, or inserting extra ads into episodes that I could listen to from other sources. Their rollout of podcasts made me make a point to never, ever listen to a podcast on Spotify.
askvictor 2y ago
> Bitwarden, one of my beloved apps, has done the same with a god-awful UI redesign. +1. Given it's open source I'm tempted to revert to the older one, though it will probably stop working over time as other things change :(
- lern_too_spel 2y ago
  The Bitwarden API is well-documented. There is a popular alternate implementation of the server, and there are alternate client implementations like https://github.com/AChep/keyguard-app https://github.com/AChep/keyguard-app.
mcmoor 2y ago
> The "X person/people talking taking 2 hours to discuss something that could be discussed succinctly in 5 minutes" isn't a format I'm interested in. Yeah same for me too. The only podcasts I can bear are monologues, when there's more than one people at least they're each talking to me not to each other. Things like Hardcore History, Anthropocene Reviewed, and most of 99% Invisible.
redherring22 2y ago
Terrible music? You know you choose what you listen to, right?

LeoPanthera 2y ago

> no thanks, Podcasts are terrible. If I wanted to hear idiots laughing at each other I'd listen to the Radio DJs When you inject personal opinions like this which are obviously at odds with millions of other people, it's difficult to take the rest of the comment seriously.

muppetman 2y ago
Fair point.
lern_too_spel 2y ago
It's at odds with millions of people but also in agreement with millions of others. I also don't listen to podcasts for the same reason. Spotify shouldn't push something that so many people detest without letting them opt out.
- robertlagrant 2y ago
  I don't think there's evidence for this. While listening to podcasts is evidence of liking them, not listening to podcasts isn't evidence for detesting them.
  - lern_too_spel 2y ago
    Spotify has over 640 million active users. Of those, 100 million are active podcast listeners, despite having an app they frequently use that lets them listen to podcasts. This suggests that many of Spotify's users hate podcasts as much as they hate the wacky morning DJs who say democracy's a joke.
    - robertlagrant 2y ago
      Zero could hate them and they wouldn't all listen to them. I don't hate podcasts and I've never listened to one on Spotify.
      - lern_too_spel 2y ago
        I didn't say that all 540 million hate podcasts. I said that many do. It doesn't take a very large fraction of 540 million to get millions that hate podcasts.
        robertlagrant 2y ago
        Well, you said "many of". I thought you meant "a significant fraction of", not "at least a tiny fraction of".
        lern_too_spel 2y ago
        I said millions of people. Millions of people is many. I have been consistent. You're living in a bubble.
        robertlagrant 2y ago
- mvdtnz 2y ago
  I don't know if you think this opinion (expressed in this way) makes you seem insightful, but just so you know, it just makes you seem uninformed. It's like saying "Listen to music? No thanks, I don't want to listen to a guy in makeup screaming about satanism into a microphone". Like, yes, that type of music does exist, but it's uninformed to make the claim that that's all music is.
  - lern_too_spel 2y ago
    It is not uninformed to say that podcasts are worse than articles, books, and audiobooks on the same subjects. I know. I've tried. I'm informed.
    - mvdtnz 2y ago
      It is uninformed to say that podcasts are "idiots laughing at each other".
      - lern_too_spel 2y ago
        It is also uninformed to say that they aren't. You're being pedantic. You know what muppetman meant.
- mingus88 2y ago
  Weird take. I don’t know anyone who detests podcasts. They just don’t listen to them. Having such strong feelings about something you can just ignore is unhealthy. FWIW, I cancelled Spotify last year and their focus on podcasts was one of the reasons. But there are plenty of other services that cater to music lovers so I just increased my bandcamp spend and moved on with my life.
- stevenwliao 2y ago
  Unless I'm missing something, the opt-out is one click away. I don't understand the problem. Screenshot: https://imgur.com/a/2tLoFkQ https://imgur.com/a/2tLoFkQ
  - muppetman 2y ago
    If I have to opt-out everytime I open the app, that's not really an opt-out, that's a temporary fix at best.

Sabinus 2y ago

>no thanks, Podcasts are terrible. If I wanted to hear idiots laughing at each other I'd listen to the Radio DJs I agree this format of podcast is terrible, but there are many podcasts that are more like one or a couple of people each giving a presentation and I enjoy them a lot. Ukraine the Latest by The Telegraph and The History of Rome by Mike Duncan are ones I particularly enjoyed.

beart 2y ago
Hardcore History has not been as productive lately but the back catalogue is incredible. Makes a 6 hour drive feel like nothing at all. I know some people don't like Dan Carlin, but I really enjoy the long-form historical storytelling style.

macNchz 2y ago

I actually really like podcasts but never wanted my music app forcing theirs above links to actual music, or inserting extra ads into episodes that I could listen to from other sources. Their rollout of podcasts made me make a point to never, ever listen to a podcast on Spotify.

askvictor 2y ago

> Bitwarden, one of my beloved apps, has done the same with a god-awful UI redesign. +1. Given it's open source I'm tempted to revert to the older one, though it will probably stop working over time as other things change :(

lern_too_spel 2y ago
The Bitwarden API is well-documented. There is a popular alternate implementation of the server, and there are alternate client implementations like https://github.com/AChep/keyguard-app https://github.com/AChep/keyguard-app.

mcmoor 2y ago

> The "X person/people talking taking 2 hours to discuss something that could be discussed succinctly in 5 minutes" isn't a format I'm interested in. Yeah same for me too. The only podcasts I can bear are monologues, when there's more than one people at least they're each talking to me not to each other. Things like Hardcore History, Anthropocene Reviewed, and most of 99% Invisible.

redherring22 2y ago

Terrible music? You know you choose what you listen to, right?