An Ethical Guide to Quitting Spotify: Video stories: Spotify has been making headlines ever since its introduction, but now more for the worse than the better – especially when it comes to artists being paid for their music, the proliferation of AI generated music, copyrighted music being illegally uploaded and… the CEOs dubious investments elsewhere. Here we have Part 2 of a conversation from Drowned in Sound focused on the Spotify Exodus, to unpack the growing backlash and what can be done.
In part two of our Drowned in Sound podcast series on the Spotify exodus, Sean Adams sits down with Alexa Speed (founder of Cut Off The Spigot), and artist Kadhja Bonet alongside returning guest Laura Burhenn (The Mynabirds) to unpack the growing backlash against Spotify and other streaming giants. From Spotify’s billion-dollar AI investments and Daniel Ek’s controversial war drone ventures to the ethics of billionaire ownership and music’s place in post-capitalist culture, Sean and guests dive into the details and ask what happens when artists say enough is enough. We hear why Kadhja pulled her music from Spotify, how Alexa interrogates corporate influence behind streaming platforms, and what the alternatives are (including Bandcamp, Qobuz and more). We also imagine a future where creativity and community outweigh convenience, and where art is valued for its inherent social good, not algorithmic profitability. Far-fetched? Let’s find out.
. . . . .
Go here to read and/or watch this story:
https://sonicstate.com/news/2025/10/24/an-ethical-guide-to-quitting-spotify/
About the author: midierror is co-founder of Potato Audio, he makes nifty Max For Live devices, award-winning Sample Packs and hosts the ‘midierror meets…’ interview series speaking with all kinds of people working in sound & music.
[Thanks to Jamie Krutz for alerting us to this problem. Https://www.jamiekrutz.com]Apple Music Must Emulate Spotify or Die, Says Nonsensical Report
By William Gallagher and Mike Wuerthele, Apple Insider.com | There’s a recurring theme from industry watchers, repeated on Friday, that Apple Music is doomed, if Apple doesn’t copy Spotify’s business model. The core premise is nonsense, and the reasoning for it is ridiculous.
It is true that Apple Music lags far behind Spotify, even if the European Union doesn’t seem to think so. It is unquestionably true that Spotify is the largest streaming player in the world, as a new Bloomberg opinion piece by Ashley Carman says.
But saying, as that op-ed does, that Apple must therefore emulate Spotify is the politician’s syllogism. We must do something / this is something / therefore we must do this.
The apparent reason for Apple having to do something is that, reportedly, Spotify added 27 million paying subscribers in 2024. In that same year, Apple and Amazon together are said to have only managed 6 million.
. . . . .
That one is especially hard to swallow since Apple Music now sponsors the Super Bowl, very visibly. The 2024 Super Bowl half time show was watched by 129 million people, probably most of them Android and Windows users.
Then after Bad Bunny was announced as the star for the 2026 show, there was a 26% increase in overall demand for streaming his music in the US. For nine days before the announcement, there were 173 million streams, and that rose to 218.5 million over the following eight days.
Bloomberg presumably considers this irrelevant or that all the streaming growth went to Spotify. But Apple is getting attention for Apple Music — and it’s paying heavily to get it.
. . . . .
Article contains an interesting graphic. Go here to read the rest of the article:
https://appleinsider.com/articles/25/11/07/apple-music-must-emulate-spotify-or-die-says-nonsensical-report