Oh, how I miss the days of paging through an album cover while listening to it. And I still love listening to a whole album, but that mostly happens in the car because that is the only place I still have a working cd player.
But on the topic of non-streaming music player apps for phone and ipad - do you have any more suggestions? I bought Data Lords from Maria Schneider via ArtistShare a few years ago, and have been listening to it using VLC, but are there any other good recs?
yes! as a teen I used to have the album booklets torn up and stuck on my walls. It was all part of the enjoyment and ownership of a record.
I can recommend Swinsian and Foobar2000 but I also heard good things about MusicBee in my research, although it's only for Windows, which is why I didn't download it. Might be worth checking it out if it's relevant to you!
My current rules are that I'm gonna spend £10 a month on music (what I'd be paying Spotify) and try to buy directly from artists. I'll allow myself listening to stuff on Youtube so I can gauge whether or not I wanna then go ahead and buy a song or an album if I've listened to it enough times and want it in my library.
But there's some other stuff which I'm not so sure of. If I already own a physical album, do I go grab it for free somewhere on the internet because it's already mine? I am gonna start off by listening to what I have and trying to build my library with that £10 a month, but I guess I'll see where it goes from there and what sort of accommodations I'll make.
My ultimate goal is to have the kind of integrity that I'd want other people to approach my music with -- I'd want them to pay for my music, so I'll pay for theirs.
Where do you land on borrowing albums from the library, downloading them to add to your collection, and then returning them for others to enjoy? I often forget what a vast collection even the library in our tiny town has. Options!
my laptop is one of those new ones without a disc drive!! which in my opinion, is ridiculous. if I had one, I think I would do this or start buying CDs from secondhand shops. you have tempted me though.... amazon says a drive is only £25......
as a Mac user w no disc drive, getting an external one was such a game changer!! I can’t find it atm and maybe gave it away? but this was the sign that I need it back in my life. I miss these days. this may also be my gateway into buying records?…
i have been trying to figure out how to best do this! i bought and downloaded an album off of Amazon music and then added it to the Swinsian app. But sometimes Amazon doesn't have certain albums available for download. I've also bought music off of iTunes and manually added it to the app. Trying to figure out which is the easiest way to do it!
Don’t forget that you can download your Spotify streaming and playlist data - take it with you when you go, it costs nothing, and you keep all that hard-earned listening history!
I did a post about it recently if you’re interested
No problem! It’s a little clunky and I still don’t know if a free way to get the history imported to any other service, but it would hopefully work for your purposes.
Oh! This is so interesting and a great way to retain the new finds that Spotify did facilitate so that those artists can be supported directly. Thanks for spelling out the steps to execute this.
oh brilliant! I've been reading so many articles which have been convincing me to stop using social media and I feel like this is part of that path as well. I wanted to give people a green light to step away from streaming subscriptions! glad you've felt inspired to take this step too!
I’m a musician with around 10k monthly plays on Spotify (I was told this by a friend as I have never used it). The roughly £30 earnings from this doesn’t cover the cost of product the music and I work a 9-5 job to pay the rent. Streaming services have made it impossible for most musicians to make a living from music.
Cool recs! Never heard of some of these bands, but Violins by Lagwagon was especially awesome! And so are Cloud Nothings. Can’t wait to listen to more of their songs.
Hell yes! I've been considering ditching streaming lately since I can't deal with half-assed listening-skipping, next next next-ing through music. Fuck it, maybe I'll go all in on vinyl...
yeah that was another thing which i realised -- i feel like i've been listening a bit closer now as i have to find things that i love in what i already own.
Yeah! I commented about that below. I spent the new year party playing old records on LP and I had such a wonderful time. It felt much more meaningful that playing directly from streaming. The physical aspect of it has a beauty on its own. I can’t afford to buy new records but I can enjoy the ones I do have (from my mother’s collection) and discover (old) new music!
Ah! I love this so much - it's just way more meaningful and memorable isn't it? That reminds me: I need to go pillage my dad's record collection (he's still into CD's...)
Curious... why not view Spotify as YouTube in this scenario for you?
"My current rules are that I'm gonna spend £10 a month on music (what I'd be paying Spotify) and try to buy directly from artists. I'll allow myself listening to stuff on Youtube so I can gauge whether or not I wanna then go ahead and buy a song or an album if I've listened to it enough times and want it in my library."
Similar to "followers" on Substack, use Spotify as the discovery part and find a way to make it incredibly easy for folks who find you/your music to pay you for it (maybe a higher quality downloadable playlist/album)?
(And you get to 'own' your brand and have direct relationships with your followers/subscribers/customers.)
I’m keeping my own music on Spotify! I’m just not using it as a consumer anymore. I agree, Spotify is still necessary for artists because of the ‘discoverability’ factor. I think of it as marketing, really. But in terms of my own music consumption, I’m taking a step back from being so involved in streaming.
I'd be interested to hear more about your thoughts on iTunes/Music. I recently cancelled spotify, and I luckily have thousands of songs already on a flashdrive bc I have always been obsessive about my music. I really just need an easy way to get songs from a CD (or a download) to my phone (that's the next big transition for me--away from iPhone). SO sadly Music is what will sync with my iPhone the easiest. I'm worried that if I downgrade to a non-smart phone one day, it'll be even harder to listen to music. I'll need an MP3 player or something
it’s kind of my music junk drawer? it has old voicenotes which were synced up from my iphone and drafts of songs on it. but i don’t like it’s interface for actually listening, i miss the way that it used to look.
I put music on my phone by plugging it in and then manually adding/removing songs from it via Finder. I use the app Foobar2000 to listen on my phone. It’s not the smoothest way of doing it but I don’t hate it.
As a fellow musician, I’ve also been thinking of going more old-school. I used to love Spotify so much, and now I kind of hate it. I can’t stand how little they pay musicians, as if art is only to be exploited and is of no other value. You’re so brave for doing this! I commend you, since I don’t feel quite ready to let go of my catalog yet :’)
Thank you! I felt the same -- really loved it for a long time but I just can't stomach it anymore. I definitely miss the range of my catalog but I also enjoy just being able to hit 'shuffle' on my music app and listen to everything i own in one place.
That totally makes sense! Something I love doing is playing analog music, specifically my records. It feels like a reprieve from streaming and the artists are being supported better when we buy these <3
I never converted to Spotify (tried it in 2010s) because I feel like their algorithm was too repetitive for my taste. For discovering new indie artists, SoundCloud is my favorite platform. YouTube is okay for discovery but annoying for frequent listening imo.
I still buy CDs and digital music when I can. I love that Bandcamp lets you "pay what you want" for music. It's crazy to me that a single is priced at $1-2 USD, and streaming is an even lower market rate. Music absolutely costs more than $1 for the creativity, effort, and training behind the scenes. I wish the public valued the arts more than treated it as disposable entertainment. 🥲
Having recently found my giant binder of CDs that moved with me from dorm to dorm in college, the thought of transitioning back to music you can hold in your hand occurred to me. Granted, there's a heavy influence from what was being peddled by a Columbia House subscription in the mid-90s, but perhaps some nostalgia is exactly what I need while I cook dinner or sit quilting. There's something to be said for pulling the disc out of the sleeve and placing it into the machine. I'll definitely be eyeing the digital options you so generously suggested as well. Thanks!
was just looking back at this piece and came across your comment! love that binder of CDs. i think physical music helps us to be more present. i have a boombox in my room which takes cassettes, so i've been building an odd collection recently. i'm sad that my Granddad's collection got donated when he passed away 8 years ago, he made tons of mixtapes which I wish I could still listen to.
I recently cut ties with Spotify too, I also wrote an article on my reasoning and I enjoyed reading your reasoning which was definitely different than mine.
Oh, how I miss the days of paging through an album cover while listening to it. And I still love listening to a whole album, but that mostly happens in the car because that is the only place I still have a working cd player.
But on the topic of non-streaming music player apps for phone and ipad - do you have any more suggestions? I bought Data Lords from Maria Schneider via ArtistShare a few years ago, and have been listening to it using VLC, but are there any other good recs?
yes! as a teen I used to have the album booklets torn up and stuck on my walls. It was all part of the enjoyment and ownership of a record.
I can recommend Swinsian and Foobar2000 but I also heard good things about MusicBee in my research, although it's only for Windows, which is why I didn't download it. Might be worth checking it out if it's relevant to you!
Thanks! Going to check those out.
hell ya i'm gonna do this but also wait are you...paying for all the music? even like a led zeppelin cd?
My current rules are that I'm gonna spend £10 a month on music (what I'd be paying Spotify) and try to buy directly from artists. I'll allow myself listening to stuff on Youtube so I can gauge whether or not I wanna then go ahead and buy a song or an album if I've listened to it enough times and want it in my library.
But there's some other stuff which I'm not so sure of. If I already own a physical album, do I go grab it for free somewhere on the internet because it's already mine? I am gonna start off by listening to what I have and trying to build my library with that £10 a month, but I guess I'll see where it goes from there and what sort of accommodations I'll make.
My ultimate goal is to have the kind of integrity that I'd want other people to approach my music with -- I'd want them to pay for my music, so I'll pay for theirs.
Where do you land on borrowing albums from the library, downloading them to add to your collection, and then returning them for others to enjoy? I often forget what a vast collection even the library in our tiny town has. Options!
my laptop is one of those new ones without a disc drive!! which in my opinion, is ridiculous. if I had one, I think I would do this or start buying CDs from secondhand shops. you have tempted me though.... amazon says a drive is only £25......
as a Mac user w no disc drive, getting an external one was such a game changer!! I can’t find it atm and maybe gave it away? but this was the sign that I need it back in my life. I miss these days. this may also be my gateway into buying records?…
loved the writing 💛✨ feeling v inspired!
Getting rid of disc drives is one of my pet peeves, too...
I'm sorry for this very basic question: do you buy the music, download the music and then add it to the app you use? Or do you buy it in the app?
i have been trying to figure out how to best do this! i bought and downloaded an album off of Amazon music and then added it to the Swinsian app. But sometimes Amazon doesn't have certain albums available for download. I've also bought music off of iTunes and manually added it to the app. Trying to figure out which is the easiest way to do it!
Waiting for this response too!
just posted it above!
Don’t forget that you can download your Spotify streaming and playlist data - take it with you when you go, it costs nothing, and you keep all that hard-earned listening history!
I did a post about it recently if you’re interested
thanks Dave! I was curious about this and wondered if it was possible
No problem! It’s a little clunky and I still don’t know if a free way to get the history imported to any other service, but it would hopefully work for your purposes.
https://open.substack.com/pub/jamwise/p/i-downloaded-my-spotify-user-data?r=ujm57&utm_medium=ios&utm_campaign=post
Oh! This is so interesting and a great way to retain the new finds that Spotify did facilitate so that those artists can be supported directly. Thanks for spelling out the steps to execute this.
how do you download your spotify data? through the app or 3rd party?
You inspired me to cancel my Apple Music subscription and listen to your music on Bandcamp!
oh brilliant! I've been reading so many articles which have been convincing me to stop using social media and I feel like this is part of that path as well. I wanted to give people a green light to step away from streaming subscriptions! glad you've felt inspired to take this step too!
For the amount of time we give to social media, and for the supposed "benefit" sometimes it just doesn't seem worth it!
I’m a musician with around 10k monthly plays on Spotify (I was told this by a friend as I have never used it). The roughly £30 earnings from this doesn’t cover the cost of product the music and I work a 9-5 job to pay the rent. Streaming services have made it impossible for most musicians to make a living from music.
yep yep yep yep!!!
Cool recs! Never heard of some of these bands, but Violins by Lagwagon was especially awesome! And so are Cloud Nothings. Can’t wait to listen to more of their songs.
thanks Andrei! i have a soft spot for happy punk music. you should check out my mate's band Bad Nerves, they have some great singles.
Will do!
Hell yes! I've been considering ditching streaming lately since I can't deal with half-assed listening-skipping, next next next-ing through music. Fuck it, maybe I'll go all in on vinyl...
yeah that was another thing which i realised -- i feel like i've been listening a bit closer now as i have to find things that i love in what i already own.
Yeah! I commented about that below. I spent the new year party playing old records on LP and I had such a wonderful time. It felt much more meaningful that playing directly from streaming. The physical aspect of it has a beauty on its own. I can’t afford to buy new records but I can enjoy the ones I do have (from my mother’s collection) and discover (old) new music!
Ah! I love this so much - it's just way more meaningful and memorable isn't it? That reminds me: I need to go pillage my dad's record collection (he's still into CD's...)
You and many others, I hope!
that's what I hope too, Andy!
Curious... why not view Spotify as YouTube in this scenario for you?
"My current rules are that I'm gonna spend £10 a month on music (what I'd be paying Spotify) and try to buy directly from artists. I'll allow myself listening to stuff on Youtube so I can gauge whether or not I wanna then go ahead and buy a song or an album if I've listened to it enough times and want it in my library."
Similar to "followers" on Substack, use Spotify as the discovery part and find a way to make it incredibly easy for folks who find you/your music to pay you for it (maybe a higher quality downloadable playlist/album)?
(And you get to 'own' your brand and have direct relationships with your followers/subscribers/customers.)
I’m keeping my own music on Spotify! I’m just not using it as a consumer anymore. I agree, Spotify is still necessary for artists because of the ‘discoverability’ factor. I think of it as marketing, really. But in terms of my own music consumption, I’m taking a step back from being so involved in streaming.
Makes sense! Thanks again for your insights - super helpful!
I'd be interested to hear more about your thoughts on iTunes/Music. I recently cancelled spotify, and I luckily have thousands of songs already on a flashdrive bc I have always been obsessive about my music. I really just need an easy way to get songs from a CD (or a download) to my phone (that's the next big transition for me--away from iPhone). SO sadly Music is what will sync with my iPhone the easiest. I'm worried that if I downgrade to a non-smart phone one day, it'll be even harder to listen to music. I'll need an MP3 player or something
I still use iTunes/Music for a couple of things:
buying music from the iTunes store
converting things from wav to mp3
it’s kind of my music junk drawer? it has old voicenotes which were synced up from my iphone and drafts of songs on it. but i don’t like it’s interface for actually listening, i miss the way that it used to look.
I put music on my phone by plugging it in and then manually adding/removing songs from it via Finder. I use the app Foobar2000 to listen on my phone. It’s not the smoothest way of doing it but I don’t hate it.
As a fellow musician, I’ve also been thinking of going more old-school. I used to love Spotify so much, and now I kind of hate it. I can’t stand how little they pay musicians, as if art is only to be exploited and is of no other value. You’re so brave for doing this! I commend you, since I don’t feel quite ready to let go of my catalog yet :’)
Thank you! I felt the same -- really loved it for a long time but I just can't stomach it anymore. I definitely miss the range of my catalog but I also enjoy just being able to hit 'shuffle' on my music app and listen to everything i own in one place.
That totally makes sense! Something I love doing is playing analog music, specifically my records. It feels like a reprieve from streaming and the artists are being supported better when we buy these <3
I never converted to Spotify (tried it in 2010s) because I feel like their algorithm was too repetitive for my taste. For discovering new indie artists, SoundCloud is my favorite platform. YouTube is okay for discovery but annoying for frequent listening imo.
I still buy CDs and digital music when I can. I love that Bandcamp lets you "pay what you want" for music. It's crazy to me that a single is priced at $1-2 USD, and streaming is an even lower market rate. Music absolutely costs more than $1 for the creativity, effort, and training behind the scenes. I wish the public valued the arts more than treated it as disposable entertainment. 🥲
Your song is really great! Splendid and well polished. Good tips on getting away from Spotify
Having recently found my giant binder of CDs that moved with me from dorm to dorm in college, the thought of transitioning back to music you can hold in your hand occurred to me. Granted, there's a heavy influence from what was being peddled by a Columbia House subscription in the mid-90s, but perhaps some nostalgia is exactly what I need while I cook dinner or sit quilting. There's something to be said for pulling the disc out of the sleeve and placing it into the machine. I'll definitely be eyeing the digital options you so generously suggested as well. Thanks!
was just looking back at this piece and came across your comment! love that binder of CDs. i think physical music helps us to be more present. i have a boombox in my room which takes cassettes, so i've been building an odd collection recently. i'm sad that my Granddad's collection got donated when he passed away 8 years ago, he made tons of mixtapes which I wish I could still listen to.
I love this so so much
I recently cut ties with Spotify too, I also wrote an article on my reasoning and I enjoyed reading your reasoning which was definitely different than mine.