Spotify

I don't know if it's because I'm actually listening for it, but seem to be hearing a lot more detail in the music on tidal, even on my basic system.
For the same price as spotify, think I'm gonna stick with tidal, so thank you hackers, you've done me a favour.

New DJ algorithm is quite hilarious.

Currently led in with "up next some song with a similar vibe" and played Beastie Boys - Sabotage, Public Enemy - Don't believe the hype (so far so 80s rap) then threw Missy Elliot into the mix (OK, 90s rap, I can see the link) then Sugababes.
I mean, I don't hate them, but it really isn't "similar vibes"

So prices up again and that's my limit. 16.99 GBP for duo, madness!

Alternative suggestions?

Wish they'd do a year membership at a discount.

Perhaps they know they've got you. I'm fucked, I stoped downloading music or buying it. Now I've nothing and realise I'm up shit creek without a paddle.

But their price gouging has it's limits with me.

£19.99 for family - my boys (men) may have to start paying for themselves

I got the email too. Last yeah I could understand as it hadn’t changed in at least 5 years for an individual account, was a bit miffed to hear about another 8 months later.

Apple Music probably the closest competitor for ios users?

Exactly.

I think I'm less inclined to pay apple than Spotify, I swore off apple since a laptop broke with a known fault and they told me to jog on.

I think I'm just over the subscription for music model but know I'm stuck in a corner.

Well a duo account in Spain is 14.99€. v the now £16.99. So quite a bit cheaper. I guess that's my short term answer.

Apparently rates in Turkey and Argentina are cheapest - do you have a VPN?

Yes but I guess to use it all the time would be impossible.

Oh I believe you just need to VPN to sign up with. You can do the same with Netflix.

Just tried to get an account in Nigeria, less than US$1 a month. Payment wouldn't go through.

Seen this?

https://harpers.org/archive/2025/01/the-ghosts-in-the-machine-liz-pelly-spotify-musicians/

About Spotify commissioning music to fill mainstream lists with low margin content. So bleak.

I really need to remove myself from Spotify, but I've become hooked - no longer having a private music collection. Their costs are absurd and I'm not wanting to pay it, but so tied in.

It's a bit fucked really.

It's disgusting, honestly, without even remotely overplaying it. I've got most of what I could ever want to play on vinyl, but always threw away the download codes. What are the other options to get away from Spotify? Are there any?

It's part of a wider project currently being carried out across various sectors of the economy, the 'no ownership' model, basically what rentiers have relied on for a long time in property. You get suckered into not owning anything, and initially the cost of something like S****** is nice and cheap, but the screw will only keep turning. Don't deal with them, they're a disgusting company.

If only because my money is paying Joe Rogan.

But I do need an alternative, as I've now lost all my saved music - silly me!

Just cut your losses and if there's anything you can't get in analogue recordings, buy 3-for-£1 CDs in charity shops. Or a little more expensive ones, some charity shops price CDs between £2 and £3. Of course, there are plenty of places where you can download shit-sounding files illicitly, but even though people deride CDs, at least you can put them in a CD player in a HiFi stack with a decent analogue amp and good speakers or headphones. It doesn't fix the digital sound, but it makes it a little better.

See below your post for the best advice I can give. Real and owned is always better. I realise, of course, that where you are it's not that easy to get to a charity shop, and it's all a bit random there, anyway, but for the time being you'll have to build yourself up again. It sucks, but many people will be suckered in yet before there's a widespread recognition that all the Marie Kondo shit was run to drive customers to these companies. If you persist with S******, you won't get out.

Does iTunes still work?

Same crap as S******. Avoid.

In iTunes you could rip your CDs and have a digital library though, not just stream songs.

Why would you use iTunes to rip CDs? It was very easy to do in Windows Media Player all along, and now I can just do it in a simple file manager. Keep the CD, despite the propaganda it's still a valuable item.

I had a Mac, seemed the obvious option.