Spotify are not a “big tech incumbent”?
Definitely not FAANG or MANGA or whatever we’re calling it now.
Qobuz also sells DRM free files in both high resolution and lossy file formats. https://help.qobuz.com/en/articles/10167-what-are-the-different-audio-formats-available-for-download
Bandcamp is US owned, but still worth mentioning I think because of their commitment to high revenue sharing, about 80-82% goes directly to the artists. They have custom playlists, and offer high quality formats as well.
If the goal is a quality product and an ethical approach to supporting artists I’m not dead set on only using European alternatives
They also have Bandcamp Fridays, where 100% of the revenues go to the artist. Personally I always wait till those days to buy music on there
May be worth mentioning that it’s not every Friday that this happens. I was under the impression that it was, and would have accidentally made a purchase on a random Friday if I had not looked further into it because I wanted to check which time zone was used for the cutoff.
The remaining 2025 dates:
- May 2nd
- August 1st
- September 5th
- October 3rd
- December 5th
That is entirely true, sorry if my previous comment was ambiguously worded.
I would also add Mirlo (https://mirlo.space/pages/about) Even if US based they are a coop (the company is managed by its members), and "allows for direct and ongoing support of artists. It’s different from other crowdfunding platforms because it:
- is rooted in mutual aid and is stewared by a worker co-op, which intends to exit-to-community as a multi-stakeholder cooperative;
- It’s open source and is working together with other similar products to build towards a standard-based and sustainable ecosystem."
I switched to Qobuz today. I used to use Tidal because I wanted to be able to get the best possible quality from a streaming service, and I wasn’t happy with the way Spotify pays the artists. But after Trump got elected and turned the world upside down, I kicked every US services out of my portfolio.
Qobuz feels quiet clunky, and the desktop application lacks some basic functionalitys, but overall I think it’s a good alternative.
Qobuz is unavailable in Poland. So much for being European.
Additionally, Spotify highest quality, while not perfect for nitpickers, is actually totally fine and good enough for 99% of audio equipment used by consumers. If you play your FLACs through wireless headphones… oh boy you have some learning to do.
Did qobuz by now implement a way to check their catalogue without agreeing to an abo?
I won’t switch to a company that obfuscates their offer behind a paywall.
Their catalogue isn’t visible even if you are in a supported country? Ouch. I hate how Qobuz keeps coming up in these threads, but they still don’t serve even Eastern Europe, let alone Global South countries - I don’t want to listen just to classical and jazz.
Correct - I wanted to compare my Spotify playlists with the alternatives but qobuz wants a credit card before allowing you to check their offer… Won’t do that.
I’m using Rokk for somedays now. It’s a new Provider from Germany, specialy for Metal and Rock Music.
You can try it a month for free.
Deezer has hi-res audio
I can also recommend soundiiz for transferring between them (its in that useful resources note in bottom right corner). I paid $5 for 1 month but was a few years ago
Qobuz includes a soundiiz subscription to allow you to transfer your playlists and favourites from other services.
I don’t get it, why doesn’t Torrents, the largest of the group, not simply eat all the other music services?
they did, that’s why spotify won
I did not know it had finished eating
Without Spotify, many Europeans will go back to piracy.
Honestly another circle with “pays artists less shit than others” or “pays small artists at least partially” would be good. Fuck Spotify.
Lol at Spotify being one to consider over Apple Music when it has way more market share
not listed but for those who also like classical, idagio is based in germany
