Update: This post generated a thread on lobste.rs with some more recommendations and thoughts from the friendly folks over there!
If you haven’t heard yet, in big 2026 we’re all ditching Microslop for systems that actually respect you, and we’re also breaking up with our ever-pricier Spotify subscriptions in exchange for actual ownership of the media we consume. So, for Fun February, I thought I’d take a look at some of the apps we can use to fill the Spotify-shaped void.
The manifesto, which you can skip if you do not care about the self-righteous Linux user rant
At this point, I strongly believe even straight up piracy is better for artists than streaming. At least looking up your favorite artist on Soulseek doesn’t pop up a dozen ads and two AI-generated ripoffs that Spotify would rather you listen to as they profit more from them.
But copyright infringement is only good when multi-trillion-dollar corporations do it to feed their LLMs. Us peasants are still bound by regular laws. So do not Google “life of a showgirl torrent safe no virus”. Instead, you can just… buy music for cheap.
The never-ending vinyl trend cratered prices of CDs, and even new releases can be found for under 10€, with older ones available for half that, especially if you look up sales. If you aren’t too bothered by a lossy format, iTunes - yes, that iTunes, the Apple one - will sell you DRM-free music on release day just like in the good old days. Finally, most music that’s not released on a major label finds its way to Bandcamp, which is another venue for lossless DRM-free music.
Of course, we’re not living in the stone ages anymore, so no one expects you to carry your Discman or iPod around. It takes whole of five minutes to pop a CD into a cheap drive and rip high-quality FLACs onto your drive, which you can then stream from wherever you are in the world. Yes, this advanced technology that took Spotify almost two full decades to figure out can be yours in just a few simple steps through servers like Jellyfin or Navidrome running on your own hardware.
You might say that owning is more expensive than renting, even with all the price increases. Sure. But I’ve paid for Spotify for ten years, from 2014 to 2024, and that’s a solid 1200€ with the old pricing. At the end, I had nothing to show for it. My carefully curated “library” was not mine - it was held hostage by a company that can up the prices at any point. If I stop paying, it’s all gone. And it’s not like the artists profited from that exchange either - one purchase of an album easily pays them more than a thousand streams, and realistically I do not stream most albums a thousand times.
At a time when copyright, and laws in general, only seem to apply selectively, I would rather directly support the artists whose work I enjoy and who need it. And for the rest… well, Taylor already got my right kidney for the Eras tour tickets. I’m sure she won’t mind if I give Opalite a few spins without selling my left one too.
The competition
... continue reading