I so agree. Limits are good for creativity. They allow you to form uniquely personal tastes. Having access to too much can lead to not actually knowing what you like. I yearn for the days I used to carefully select which CDs to purchase and put into my 20-slot CD case. I feel like the costs of living have increased so much that it can be difficult to justify purchasing CDs or records, esp when the studio apartment I live in has so little storage space. But I've also decided to slowly build my physical library this year - music, film, literature! My art consumption does feel more meaningful this way.
i do agree with the cost of living thing, and just like 'who has the time/space/money to buy physical music?' vinyl now seems to be the main way of consuming physical records, which is also the most expensive way of doing it. CDs are underrated imo
Such an interesting read. At the moment I'm somewhere between. I have been collecting vinyl for over a year and must say my overall listening on spotify dropped a lot this year. One thing I will say is it feels good to own the music physically again. It's also more special when you have to take the time to really seek out what you want to listen to.
i don't own physical copies at the moment, apart from a few cassettes and CDs, but it definitely feels good to know that you *have* something of your favourite artists
hello EVERYONE READING please list your favorite methods of finding new music outside of spotify because i am very curious and eager to escape the evil corporation
honestly one of my favourite ways has been listening to different radio stations! MPR the current and KEXP are my current favourites but there's a whole world of radio out there. google 'radio garden' for a cool website where you can browse geographically
thanks for sharing! i'm toying with buying a CD reader for my laptop... there's a whole world of music in thrift shops etc which is just begging to be picked up again.
There is actually a growing market for manufacturing small stand alone CD players now. Kind of like the old Sony Disc-Man, but more robust and with integrated amp for hooking up speakers as well as headphones.
I’m not ready to do this but loved reading this - now it feels like it could be possible!
If I were to quit, I’d also borrow music from the library. They have CDs, I’m wondering now if libraries also have digital albums to borrow - like the Libby app for books? That would be a game changer for me!
This is great! Thank you for the tips and encouragement. Have you ever used 8Tracks? I think it’s largely been forgotten but there are some great user (not algorithm) playlists that include deep cuts and some amazing bangers I’d never heard of.
I'm not quite at the state of where I can even (gently) kick Spotify to the curb, but I love that you did it! I enjoyed your first post about leaving Spotify, and this post is giving me some hope of breaking my Spotify chain. Just gotta figure out where else I want to listen to the 5 or 6 podcasts that I actively listen to, but then hopefully I can say, "Bye bye bye" to Spotify.
On another note, I would reeeeaaaalllllyyyy love to hear your thoughts about this investigation of Spotify by Ted Gioia, a fellow Substack writer! I just read this, and your name kept popping up in my head:
yes I read the Ted Gioia piece! insane but also makes sense. i mean, as artists we're populating their platform. makes sense they'd want to have their own 'artists' in there too as a means of making more money. sadly expected really
i am soooo obsessed with you you don’t understand!!! your piece about this last year really got me thinking about music consumption and even though i am not brave enough to quit spotify - i find wayyy too many smaller artists and obscure songs on that app to give it up (like i listened to 1600 unique artists this year) - i did actually go back to buying music on itunes (AND ON CD) for the first time in years!!! it felt so weird to do at first but now i splurge every few months to start backing up my library again and it’s thrilling. i keep getting the urge to use an ipod for music again and even though my ipod is quite literally impossible to use now (the battery on my poor 2010 classic is shot rip), i do think in the future i might have to run to ebay and get a new one. i just have this horrible feeling that they’re pushing AI into all the smart products and i do not want an iphone with apple intelligence 😭
other thoughts:
- i’m so glad someone is preaching about *this is the one* because there are some bangers on there
- your wrapped graphics deserve to go viral i love them soooo much - spotify could nEVER
- i need to know your top songs from *ttpd*
- albums i’ve been obsessed with this year: angie mcmahon’s 2023 record *light, dark, light again*, searows’ ep *flush*, mercury’s 2024 EPs *together we are one, you and i* & *swarm the hive mind, clancy* by twenty one pilots, maisie peters’ *the good witch,* the last dinner party’s *prelude to ecstacy….*and unfortunately one of my top albums this year was the hamilton soundtrack bc i read the hamilton biography in september 😭
I really enjoyed reading this. I have recently quit Spotify and bought an iPod nano so I am still able to listen to music! When you mentioned about listening deeper to music, I couldn’t agree more. When you quit Spotify, you are intentionally choosing what to listening to and it just feels better ❤️
Am I missing something here? I feel like this issue doesn’t resonate with me because I’m the kind of person who goes to the grocery store knowing what I want—usually with a list. I don’t grab whatever they put on the shelves. Since I started using Spotify, I’ve always seen it as a bad place to discover new music. For me, it’s just a player, nothing more.
I so agree. Limits are good for creativity. They allow you to form uniquely personal tastes. Having access to too much can lead to not actually knowing what you like. I yearn for the days I used to carefully select which CDs to purchase and put into my 20-slot CD case. I feel like the costs of living have increased so much that it can be difficult to justify purchasing CDs or records, esp when the studio apartment I live in has so little storage space. But I've also decided to slowly build my physical library this year - music, film, literature! My art consumption does feel more meaningful this way.
i do agree with the cost of living thing, and just like 'who has the time/space/money to buy physical music?' vinyl now seems to be the main way of consuming physical records, which is also the most expensive way of doing it. CDs are underrated imo
Such an interesting read. At the moment I'm somewhere between. I have been collecting vinyl for over a year and must say my overall listening on spotify dropped a lot this year. One thing I will say is it feels good to own the music physically again. It's also more special when you have to take the time to really seek out what you want to listen to.
i don't own physical copies at the moment, apart from a few cassettes and CDs, but it definitely feels good to know that you *have* something of your favourite artists
hello EVERYONE READING please list your favorite methods of finding new music outside of spotify because i am very curious and eager to escape the evil corporation
honestly one of my favourite ways has been listening to different radio stations! MPR the current and KEXP are my current favourites but there's a whole world of radio out there. google 'radio garden' for a cool website where you can browse geographically
Hi! I came across your original "I finally quit Spotify" post and really enjoyed reading the continuation of your journey :)
I thought you might enjoy hearing about mine as well:
https://backtobasic.substack.com/p/music-may-yet-save-our-humanity
thanks for sharing! i'm toying with buying a CD reader for my laptop... there's a whole world of music in thrift shops etc which is just begging to be picked up again.
There is actually a growing market for manufacturing small stand alone CD players now. Kind of like the old Sony Disc-Man, but more robust and with integrated amp for hooking up speakers as well as headphones.
I’m not ready to do this but loved reading this - now it feels like it could be possible!
If I were to quit, I’d also borrow music from the library. They have CDs, I’m wondering now if libraries also have digital albums to borrow - like the Libby app for books? That would be a game changer for me!
that would be a game changer! dip into an album each week....
Hoopla (library app) has music! Check there :3
thank you!!!!
This is great! Thank you for the tips and encouragement. Have you ever used 8Tracks? I think it’s largely been forgotten but there are some great user (not algorithm) playlists that include deep cuts and some amazing bangers I’d never heard of.
oh yes i have a long-forgotten 8tracks account somewhere.... i wonder if it's still going strong?
I'm not quite at the state of where I can even (gently) kick Spotify to the curb, but I love that you did it! I enjoyed your first post about leaving Spotify, and this post is giving me some hope of breaking my Spotify chain. Just gotta figure out where else I want to listen to the 5 or 6 podcasts that I actively listen to, but then hopefully I can say, "Bye bye bye" to Spotify.
On another note, I would reeeeaaaalllllyyyy love to hear your thoughts about this investigation of Spotify by Ted Gioia, a fellow Substack writer! I just read this, and your name kept popping up in my head:
https://open.substack.com/pub/tedgioia/p/the-ugly-truth-about-spotify-is-finally?r=1il0r5&utm_medium=ios
yes I read the Ted Gioia piece! insane but also makes sense. i mean, as artists we're populating their platform. makes sense they'd want to have their own 'artists' in there too as a means of making more money. sadly expected really
love that butterfly thrown in there
🦋
i am soooo obsessed with you you don’t understand!!! your piece about this last year really got me thinking about music consumption and even though i am not brave enough to quit spotify - i find wayyy too many smaller artists and obscure songs on that app to give it up (like i listened to 1600 unique artists this year) - i did actually go back to buying music on itunes (AND ON CD) for the first time in years!!! it felt so weird to do at first but now i splurge every few months to start backing up my library again and it’s thrilling. i keep getting the urge to use an ipod for music again and even though my ipod is quite literally impossible to use now (the battery on my poor 2010 classic is shot rip), i do think in the future i might have to run to ebay and get a new one. i just have this horrible feeling that they’re pushing AI into all the smart products and i do not want an iphone with apple intelligence 😭
other thoughts:
- i’m so glad someone is preaching about *this is the one* because there are some bangers on there
- your wrapped graphics deserve to go viral i love them soooo much - spotify could nEVER
- i need to know your top songs from *ttpd*
- albums i’ve been obsessed with this year: angie mcmahon’s 2023 record *light, dark, light again*, searows’ ep *flush*, mercury’s 2024 EPs *together we are one, you and i* & *swarm the hive mind, clancy* by twenty one pilots, maisie peters’ *the good witch,* the last dinner party’s *prelude to ecstacy….*and unfortunately one of my top albums this year was the hamilton soundtrack bc i read the hamilton biography in september 😭
this is such a sweet comment and i'm sorry it's taken me so long to reply!!!
JUSTICE FOR 'THIS IS THE ONE', apple and cinnamon has to be played at my funeral... ~ started out so simple and innocent ~
okay my top songs from TTPD are as follows:
- The Albatross, this was a slow burner but i love it now
- Guilty as Sin because of course
- So High School
- My Boy Only Breaks his Favourite Toys
- But Daddy I Love Him
- Fresh Out The Slammer
- s/o to The Prophecy and the Black Dog which are currently growing on me
the dijon film is fucking incredible i have watched it so many countless times.
and otherwise thank you for this, i’m in the process of jumping the spotify ship and needed a nudge.
I really enjoyed reading this. I have recently quit Spotify and bought an iPod nano so I am still able to listen to music! When you mentioned about listening deeper to music, I couldn’t agree more. When you quit Spotify, you are intentionally choosing what to listening to and it just feels better ❤️
Am I missing something here? I feel like this issue doesn’t resonate with me because I’m the kind of person who goes to the grocery store knowing what I want—usually with a list. I don’t grab whatever they put on the shelves. Since I started using Spotify, I’ve always seen it as a bad place to discover new music. For me, it’s just a player, nothing more.