For Krawczeniuk, the move away from Spotify after eight years was partly inspired by the realisation that by using open source software, a home server and a VPN on his phone, he could build something similar himself.
I did this as well. Very happy with it. Using Nextcloud Music and Subsonic.
He sees moving away from Big Streaming as connected to a broader movement towards small-scale tech projects and open-source services that are not resource- or energy-intensive.
Not sure if it is less resource intensive though, if everyone has their own storage?
I sympathize with this experience, but I’m not quite sure why you “need” to quit your streaming services in order to achieve the desired effect. I almost exclusively use Spotify, but I use it to listen to new releases from artists I like, listen to way more albums then I could afford to buy physically, and check out music my friends recommend to me. You don’t have to use streaming services as a playlist aggregator, there’s nothing stopping you from actively enjoying music on there.
I think I’m on the verge of leaving. If I had spent the 10 bucks a month on a cd instead of my spotify account for as long as I’ve been on Spotify, my music collection would be about the size of all the albums in my current rotation and I would have been supporting the artists directly instead of the pittance spotify pays them. I’ve started buying cds I listen to on spotify regularly, but haven’t dropped the subscription yet. Baby steps.
Very interesting article. I think it’s true they that streaming music services tend to make passive listening to easy. I remember the days of getting a new album, playing it while I read the liner notes, checked out the cover art and listening intently to the lyrics. Now it’s too easy to play something, anything while I cook dinner, get ready for work…
I do like SiriusXM. I appreciate the curated approach. DJs that spin the music, adding their own take on a particular track and comments. It tends to break up the passive listening and listen more closely.
There’s a good video by Benn Jordan on Spotify and how it is bad for artists and will ultimately fail. The thing I can never get over with something like music streaming is that I have nothing left after it is gone. I want to go back to my old music more than with movies or TV I have watched before (I can see the value of streaming video more, if simple to use and not as fractured as it has become).
