Whether you’re listening to your assorted playlist while staring into space or trying to find the motivation to cram those extra five minutes of studying in, Spotify is most likely there.
Over a little more than a decade, Spotify has successfully ingrained itself within the modern zeitgeist as “the” music app. But should it be? The amount of controversies has continued to pile up, from their abuse of artists to the firing of workers and replacing them with AI. It begs the question: why do we even still use it at this point?
And the answer is sadly, just ease. We, as consumers, often look for the path of less resistance when it comes to getting the content that we want. That’s part of the reason why Apple’s design for iPhones works in its favor, doing the thinking for us when it comes to pretty much everything. There is also the fact that Spotify offers a free version of its platform with little barrier to entry meaning close to anyone can use it. However, that convenience also comes at a price.
First, when it comes to Spotify’s algorithm, which has become ever more notorious for basically picking a short list of favorite songs for you and forcing them down your throat, practically making a cycle of the same five songs to play over and over again. This also creates a gambling-like effect on the non-premium listener, as they try to find that perfect last song before closing out. Spotify locks features such as true shuffle behind a paywall, pushing the everyday listener closer and closer to the breaking point where they give in and buy Spotify Premium.
Spotify has been known for years to actively abuse artists, paying almost non-existent royalties. Spotify has continued to cultivate an abusive relationship with artists, even announcing that they will no longer pay artists who aren’t able to reach 1,000 streams within a year. Spotify is also thought to pad out playlists with so-called “ghost artists” as a way to make the royalties paid to actual artists even lower.
Most recently, artists have started to boycott Spotify’s Grammys event in protest over low payout rates. This started mainly due to Spotify’s change to their subscription plan, which means even fewer royalties for artists than before.
Spotify recently laid off 1,500 employees during one of the biggest events for Spotify, Spotify Wrapped, and used AI to cover it up. In general, Spotify Wrapped is one of the things they are most known for, and it is also a massive promotion for them with millions of people posting screenshots of their top artists and songs. However, this year’s Spotify wrap felt a tad different, with a general lack of quality. From genre names that simply did not make sense to just a bland finish, it was simply empty of anything worth your time, and the person to blame is AI and corporate greed. With disconnected “AI hosts” that half the time just spew nonsense, or them removing some of their most known features such as seeing your top genres, Spotify is trying to find a way to incorporate AI into the site despite close to no one asking for it.
So again, why do we still use Spotify? Well, if you are already paying $11.99 a month for Premium, there really aren’t all that many reasons to. Apple Music is cheaper, being around a dollar cheaper than Spotify, has objectively better sound quality, and actually pays their artists rather than coming up with overly elaborate and cartoonishly villainous schemes to get around it. However, there are some reasons to prefer Spotify’s algorithm over Apple’s.
While Apple usually relies on the human aspect for content generation, letting you take more of the reins over your listening, Spotify is generally better when it comes to finding new genres and artists. The algorithm does play a major role in the reach of songs; there is no denying that Spotify’s features offer a large amount of opportunities for finding new songs and artists. As well as the connectivity of Spotify, in comparison to other music apps, with a culture forming around certain playlists, especially for niche genres. There is also the fact that it’s simply free with ads that pretty much any ad blocker will take care of. But is that worth everything else that comes along with it? It’s not as if there aren’t nearly infinite other ways to find new music to listen to while using apple music, or that it’s hard to put time into the music that you listen to, rather than have it force feed to us. It is time for us as consumers to stop emboldening companies by telling them it’s okay to constantly treat us as another sale, view, or empty body to sell another constant stream of ads to.
We are living in a time where the clear divide between us and corporations that view us as little more than ants is growing ever more apparent and the day where almost every part of our lives has become privatized grows ever more impending. Streaming has already killed animation and has been strangling creatives since its conception and if we don’t do something now, we are allowing music to become ‘its’ next victim. It’s not hard either. If you’re already spending your money on Premium, there are a plethora of third-party apps such as “TuneMyMusic” that allow you to transfer your playlists from Spotify to Apple Music. There is also always the vintage option, physical music. There is a whole lot of physical media out there at very low costs if you know where to look. Buying bulk CDs is especially cheap, and burning your own discs is a lot easier than it seems with a little research and the plus side is that you actually own the music you play.
So the better question is: is it worth staying with the toxic, gaslighting, and abusive relationship that is being the average Spotify user, or to start to take control of your entertainment?
