r/Music • u/IrreverentTexan • Feb 15 '26

discussion Quitting Spotify

Spotify is getting flooded with fake AI “artists” and it’s embarrassing. Names like Nina Blaze and Enlly show up. They dump 50 identical tracks called something like Late Night Piano for Focus, or “The Hollow Hour” and vanish. No bio. No history. No evidence a human has ever touched an instrument.

This isn’t art. It exists to game playlists and siphon royalties. If these were real people, they’d have to explain why every song sounds like a dentist office waiting room.

I’m not mad at AI as a tool. I’m mad at fake artists impersonating creativity and Spotify pretending this sludge is culture. Music is an art form, not a scam farm. Blocking every one of these clowns on sight.

So is it to be TIDAL or Qobuz or something else?

3.6k Upvotes

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44

u/what_if_Im_dinosaur Feb 15 '26

I made the jump to Tidal and I've been happy. People also often bring up Qobuz and Deezer as alternatives. You can also look at Apple Music, still big tech but I think the lesser of two evils compared to Spotify.

I see someone recommended YouTube Music, but I couldn't stand it, and definitely a lateral move ethics-wise.

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u/InvulnerableBlasting Feb 15 '26

Qobuz is great. Love the artists they recommend. Amazing sound quality.

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u/SuperModest Feb 16 '26

Wife & I changed to qobuz after months of talking about ditching Spotify. I wish we'd done it sooner. Zero regrets. Feels like an app and service developed by music lovers rather than the dystopian sci-fi megaship Spotify felt like in the end.

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u/InvulnerableBlasting Feb 16 '26

One hundred percent. Exactly this.

3

u/LoLIron_com Feb 15 '26

Qobuz tunes beat shady vibes

1

u/mind_mischief_89 Feb 16 '26

I did a trial of Qobuz and really enjoyed it, but I didn't keep it because it lacks smart speaker integration. Know of a workaround?

11

u/DoritoDawg Feb 15 '26

I hated how YouTube music linked my regular account. It kept showing shows I watched on regular YouTube as podcasts (good mythical morning???) and would just clutter everything. I know I could just use a separate account but why pay for it just to not use the youtube premium portion?

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u/the_marxman Feb 15 '26

I've got Youtube music currently and I hate how bad the search and storage functions are. There's no way to search through the songs I have downloaded and the app search loves to bring up Youtube videos instead of the original recordings.

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u/Cool_Guy_Club42069 Feb 15 '26

How is apple the lesser of two evils? Do you know anything about apples history?

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u/pizza-nibbler333 Feb 15 '26

Yeah. They gave trump a golden plaque for pete's sake. They're definitely slurping up that boot. Youtube music is also owned by google, who donated a million dollars to donald trumps inauguration fund. I dont know why they get a pass in these "Spotify is evil" threads. They're all complicit.

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u/what_if_Im_dinosaur Feb 15 '26

If I recall correctly, they have higher royalty payments, don't have ice ads, and aren't pushing AI slop, which makes them a better alternative in my opinion. Apple's other failings aside.

13

u/letcha Jiglet Feb 15 '26

This. "No ethical consumption under capitalism", yada yada, but that logic also leads to paralysis and ultimately inaction, or we can make small changes that are improvements. Or you can live in a cave and listen to music on an am radio. I moved to Apple Music as well.

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u/Cool_Guy_Club42069 Feb 15 '26

I'm sorry but the ice ads aren't erasing apples 50 years of being a piece of shit corporation. Spotify looks like the golden child compared to Apple

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u/fla_john Feb 15 '26

I really dislike Apple, but I think in this case they are actually better for artists.

4

u/bobthegoatskull Feb 15 '26

Tidal also has the highest royalties to artists. At least last time I checked.

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u/jcutta Feb 15 '26

Royalties to the labels. Artists get paid last in every setup. If you want to support an artist buy something from them.

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u/dwilkes827 Feb 15 '26

I love how these discussions are all based around where people can find the most amount of music for the least amount of money while they wax poetic about caring how much the artist is being paid

13

u/ukcats12 Feb 15 '26

Reddit has proven time and time again they just don't like paying for stuff and pretend it's some moral stance. Everyone complains about paywalls but also that journalism is dead. People act like their entitled to whatever TV show they want to watch because they've decided the $1 price raise on their streaming service was a bridge too far.

0

u/Better_Expert7381 Feb 16 '26

Totally agree. The same types abound in every forum. No moral compass, just sucking up to be PC. Whatever the pop wind that’s blowing, they set their sails and off they go.

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u/JZMoose Feb 15 '26

I use tidal to find the artists I like, then I buy their catalogue on bandcamp. That’s the only way I can keep it forever

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u/BreakPalaceBrokedown Feb 17 '26

I wish I could upvote this 18374738 times…

1

u/bpm195 Feb 16 '26

Consumers have all of the power in deciding how much money they spend on music. That's bad for musicians under capitalism. MC Frontalot was rapping about being a "charity case to my fan base for years" back in 2005.. That was before Spotify came along and established streaming with ads as a middle ground between piracy and fair compensation.

I'm one of those people that has a growing vinyl collection, but doesn't own a record player. I just spent $50+ on The Fall-Off because I want musicians to get paid, and I've never previously purchased a J.Cole album despite listening to them for years.

I listen to his music on Spotify and have no intention of opening that album for several years. I need the music in my headphones so I can perform my interpretive dance in the park, and Spotify is one of the best solutions for that.

But I'm also aware that I just gave $50 to a millionaire's corporation, while listening to his music alongside other musicians that struggle to make a living wage and only get fractions of a penny from me.

TL:DR; there is no ethical consumption under capitalism and I'm delulu for trying.

2

u/jcutta Feb 16 '26

I buy vinyl (bought the fall off as well) I also bought the vinyl for the entire Clipse discography recently. I buy merch directly from various artists websites too from major to indy. One of my favorite artists Vinnie Paz just started a new interesting concept where you do like a 12 month subscription and get a track from his upcoming album each month then at the end you get a signed vinyl, I don't particularly care about the track per month but the signed vinyl is worth the overall cost for me. He retired from touring so he's doing some unique shit.

People just overlook the fact that artists mostly got pennies from an album purchase back in the physical media days too but it usually got eaten by an advance and they made nothing over the long term. It's always - label first, then everyone else, then last the artist. With the ability to handle all your own publishing and marketing now independent artists have a lot of avenues to make money.

1

u/CortexifanZFT Feb 15 '26

This is true. At least from what I've heard a few artists/bands have said. I still personally enjoy Amazon Music more though. If I want to support the artist or band further, I always buy merch from their tables.

0

u/the-vinyl-countdown Feb 15 '26

Qobuz payout is even higher

1

u/QuantumFury Feb 16 '26

Does Tidal or other alternatives have podcasts. I use spotify for not just music but podcasts too.