As per title, if you had to switch away from Spotify ASAP, what streaming service would you go with? Ideally something around the same price range, meaning the change won’t incur in extra expenses. Also good if the service does its job well: playing music and paying artists. Any feature parity with Spotify is a bonus, except podcasts, which don’t require a paid streaming service. Or audiobooks. Focus on music. No piracy either (it’s illegal). The more money going to artists, the better.
Edit: extra bonus points if it is not 'Murican! Also, piracy is very illegal!!!
Qobuz. That’s what we switched to a bit ago. Really easy to switch, they have a service that will transfer all your playlists, only a few songs didn’t maket it over and they were easy to find after. The music quality is great, that’s a big plus for us. There’s no podcasts or audiobooks either. The only gripes I have is the incredibly slow download speed for offline listening, but that comes with the better sound quality. Just plug in your phone and do other things while they download. And sometimes the music will stop in between tracks. The weekly playlist isn’t great for me, Spotify was better, but for my husband it’s spot on. I’ve also heard from others on Lemmy that say it takes a few weeks and then it’s great. Maybe it’s just having a hard time with my very eclectic music tastes. Generally I’m happy about the switch!
I have heard that they pay artists more, but really no one is paying what the music is actually worth. I am slowly buying my music so we can self host it, just takes time and money. Also we get vinyl of the music we really love.
I’ve heard of Qobuz, and have been very intrigued. Downside is I’ve seen no Linux option :(. They do allow for buying music as well, innit? I reckon that’d pay the artist better?
I’ve heard of Bandcamp, I think, doing a day where all money goes to artists. Seems neat. Not sure I can be trusted with handling my own stuff, though. I mean, I lost music I bought for 0 monies off Play Store / Music back when it was a thing. I like to think they got rid of it, but maybe I deleted it after download. I eventually lost the files (many a system issues that lead to some reinstallations, and crappy last minute backup onto my phone).
Qobuz sounds nice, though. I do have some vinyls, but I’ve been lead to believe they require cleaning often, which is work. Just the other day, wanted to hear an album (haven’t used vinyl in ages). Can’t find cleaning kit, but vinyl seems clean. Nope, skip every other beat.
Check to see if Qobuz has a web player. That could be a possible way to use it on Linux.
The issue with the record player sounds like it could be an issue with the arm adjustment. I specifically suspect too little weight on the needle. But be careful with adjustments as too much weight on the needle could damage both needle and record.
Didn’t know adjustments were a thing. I ended up using its Bluetooth, cause mine is fancy, modern. Some old tunes for a vibe, and Dust & Scratches on MyNoise for added vibes. I think it might just have been the cleaning. Haven’t used vinyls in a minute, wasn’t clean, probably. I just looked at it from afar, not a good inspection. Need to find the cleaning kit. Not sure if I need to clean it that often. Reddit is the place I went to for information a few years ago (early 2020). They make vinyls seem so fragile, and complicated. Store vertical, don’t touch the vinyl, clean it up, etc. I’ve seen DJs just grab that shit however, and scratch it around (i.e. djing). So something feels odd.