I really liked Spotify, but when they started subsidizing hate speech I left. For the last year, I keep trying different platforms and cannot find anything that works well. I am ok with spending money for no ads. I have very diverse music tastes so want to have different “stations” based on my mood. Any suggestions?
I know YouTube Music got a lot of shit from the fans of the previous service, Google Play Music, but over the last year they’ve added most features back and YTM works really well. I also get YouTube ad free, although I’ve had it so long, I don’t know if that’s still part of the deal
The reason why I can’t recommend YouTube music is that it uses audio from videos instead of playing the studio versions of the tracks. The fact that it makes me listen to those silly audio parts in music videos while I’m trying to listen to a studio release is terrible in my opinion, and I couldn’t figure out a way to hide those results from search entirely. Does anybody know if they’ve fixed this?
I don’t think this is true, I only ever get audio from videos in some community playlists, it definitely doesn’t do this for me by default. Maybe it’s a setting somewhere?
I just did a bit of research and it looks like if you have a free account it will almost always play the Youtube video instead of the album version (possibly as an attempted foil for ad-blockers?).
I noticed this, too. But I think it’s a matter of how the search algorithm works along with a smaller streaming library than other services. First it checks the first party audio that YT has streaming rights to. If it doesn’t find it there, then it goes to the general uploads. And that’s where you start getting the music video audio instead of the studio version.
I’ve also found it will offer me playlists uploaded by users that match my search results.
I use YouTube Music and this (usually) isn’t a problem if you have premium. The only times I’ll get the music video audio instead of the studio track is if I’ve liked the music video on YouTube. In that instance it’ll sometimes show up in my automatically generated Playlist. For me, it’s worth it for the huge music library that YouTube Music has.
It’s not exactly the same but you can use the SponsorBlock addon to skip the non-music segments of music videos when playing in browser, and for Android there’s a fork of NewPipe that has this integrated.
YouTube music has the best algorithm for radios in my opinion. But my account is almost 20 years old so it has a lot to work with.
It also has a lot of rare music that will never exist on other platforms e.g. old myspace bands that were mostly lost with the myspace database disaster. The original files and copyright are likely lost, so it’ll never show up anywhere else.
Do you mean because they host Joe Rogan?
I’ve heard good things about Tidal, it integrates with Plex which is why people in my circles like it, but overall from what I hear good quality, they pay artists fairly, and no ads
Have you tried Apple Music Yet?
I hate I phones and most things Apple. Maybe I am being stubborn? Is it worth looking into, even on an android?
I have used apple music on my android for years it works fine. But nothing compares to spotify reccomendations… If my apple music wasnt free Id be back to spotify in a heartbeat. So easy to find new good music there
It works pretty well on Android. They have a lot of curated “categories” which are like a mix of Spotify’s curated playlists combined with Pandora radio, which is pretty cool. Also, lossless audio is included at no extra cost, which is great if you have a DAC and nice headphones on your Mac/PC
I use AppleMusic and love it….but I’m super invested in the Apple ecosystem. It’s part of a monthly subscription bundle that includes Arcade, AppleTV and cloud space so….perfect for me. Can’t see it making much sense for android users.
I left Spotify for similar reasons. I chose Tidal because comparatively more is paid to artists (still tiny amounts per play). Just like switching from anything (Reddit to Lemmy, PC to Mac, Coke to Pepsi, underwear to commando, iPhone to Android), there are differences to get used to but it’s not too bad. They do have curated playlists by editors, radio station based on your taste, “rising” track by genre etc. I think they have a free tier if you live in the US. but unfortunatley not yet available outwith.
Have you tried deezer?
Deezer for audio quality
I have a free pandora account which is curateable (is that a word?) and there’s a setting for “deep tracks”. I’ve got some wild combinations just for fun, one being Billie Eilish and Michael Jackson. Then you discover new stuff too! Ads are minimal too.
Tried many, but stuck with Deezer as it has got excellent pod cast support.
Had many issues with offline support with Spotify, and their support was horrible.
Deezer is pretty good at auto-generating playlists/stations based on tastes, genres and moods.
It’s more expensive than other services, no? Iirc it was € 12 or something
I really like spotify for Spotify connect.
Been using Amazon music for a while and I am happy with it
I’ve tried others but always came back to Spotify. Its Sonos integration from within the Spotify app (Spotify Connect) is something I can’t find anywhere else.
As a music listener, I’ve found Tidal has the best sound quality and algorithms. As a musician I surprisingly get the most payout from Amazon.
