I've never paid for Spotify. I started with Grooveshark (as dubious as LimeWire) and moved onto Rdio before it was slaughtered by Spotify when it launched in the united states. I'll never forgive that.
Pandora - Yes, it still exists. Yes, it's radio stations are still far better than any other streaming services. I pay for ad-free stations and use these for music discovery. I listen to stations or full albums. I don't give a fuck about playlists.
Bandcamp - This is where I buy digital albums when I can (iTunes/Apple Music when I can't). Bandcamp allows you to stream songs a few times for free before asking you to pay so I preview albums with this service a lot. You can download music you buy to the Bandcamp app on your phone, but you'll need to download on a PC and transfer to your phone if you want the files in the stock music app (I believe that's only an iPhone limitation)
iTunes is still a thing but called the Apple Music App now. It supports all its old functions but kinda worse all around because it pushes an Apple Music subscription at every turn. Like seiji points out, you can "turn off" Apple Music (streaming) and use the iOS and MacOS Apple Music app as just an MP3 player. It's almost old school iTunes with all the playlist creating tools you could want.
Yes, you can still rip CDs! As long as you have a CD reader...
Longplay - MP3 player app for iOS that only allows you to listen to albums in full. No picking and choosing tracks! I almost exclusively use this for listening to music downloaded to my phone.
Vox - Minimal music player for Mac and iOS that also plays lossless audio codecs. Feels like iTunes with all the bloat stripped out. It's completely free. They have a premium subscription that will sync your collection to the cloud (but they don't shove it down your throat). Also supports Last.fm scrobbling.
Related Recs
šµ
I mean, if you own an iPhone, thereās no fucking reason to use Spotify. Let me explain:
On the Spotify front:
- Spotify pays LESS to artists. Whether theyāre Taylor Swift or someone with 10 Monthly Listeners, they pay a MUCH LOWER rate than any other streaming platform
- Spotify is also just a platform to flex with fame and notoriety: you can see how many plays, how many monthly listeners, how many followers each artist has. You can even buy merch and tour tickets (thatās kind of the only cool thing they got going on rn tbh)
- Spotify doesnāt roll out their Organic Promo Features to all artists. Again, if you are Taylor Swift, youāll get all the perks, but if youāre just starting you wonāt be able to do shit besides having your music there. Ex. indie artists donāt have access to Countdowns, Clips, Paid Promo Tools, etc.
- Since last month, Spotify passed a rule in their company to NOT PAY ARTISTS WITH SONGS WITH LESS THAN 1000 STREAMS. This is BULLSHIT. And adding to that, you CANT SEE DATA from less than 1K played content now: since theyāre not paying you, you canāt know how your music is doing. Which again, is BULLSHIT.
- The playlists are all over the place, tainted by modern day Payola (Submit hub, Groover and such) and editorial playlists ran by RANDOM ASS PEOPLE that do not make music or know about music at all. They work on a āVibesā basis for their editorial playlists, which suck because thatās the only way to grow in the platform as an emergent artist.
- They advertise A LOT: it doesnāt matter if you have premium, that weird random song/artists that you got suggested, well, they PAID for that.
- Talking about advertising your music on Spotify: you CANT advertise unless you have 1K monthly listeners already. And when you have them and advertise from your Spotify for Artists account, those campaigns have probably THE WORST OUTCOME Iāve ever seen in years working with online and social media advertising. Itās SO FUCKING EXPENSIVE AND DOESNT DO SHIT FOR YOUR ARTIST CAREER or exposure.
- Spotify does this thing called āNormalizationā which is basically further compressing the songs that are already mastered by the artist. In English, they have a threshold to fulfill and they will get the volume of your song to the levels theyāre looking for to have in the platform, NOT YOUR MASTER and the decitions artists made when post producing their songs.
- Also, their interface is ugly af. Hate the green and black.
On the Apple Music front:
- If you own an iPhone, it literally just makes sense to pay for AppleOne and have Music, AppleTV+ and your iCloud all in one bill. Money wise, it make sense.
- I LOVE the fact that AppleMusic DOESNāT SHOW NUMBERS BECAUSE ITāS A MUSIC LIBRARY, NOT THE BILLBOARD CHARTS. If I want to know how many plays did any song/EP/album/artists has, I will see the charts, not my own music library. Because mainly I donāt listen/search for music because of the amount of times theyāve been played.
- Audio Quality: if you have a good Soundsystem at home, or good quality headphones or any of the Apple earphones/headphones itās just plain better.
- It works with Siri!!!! My girl knows me, she knows what I listen to. I have a HomePod Mini and itās the best thing because I just ask for a song/artist/vibe/radio/playlist and sheāll do it for me. This also works on my Airpods while Iām walking.
- The interface is cute and the animations, lyrics and bios are fucking cool and not ugly
- They pay a HIGHER RATE per song than Spotify. Iāve noticed the HUGE difference when Spotify payed my $2 for what AppleMusic paid my $12
- Playlists and suggestions are linked to your phone use so, it will be better than Spotify no matter what.
- Zane Lowe!!!!!
So yeah, thats my lengthy recommendation for today.
Apr 30, 2024
š¶
i refused to use streaming services at all for a long time because i wanted a sense of ownership over my music library (even if in a nebulous digital kinda way) & i would say itās great for so many reasons , itās slightly more inconvenient but itās honestly pretty easy to just download music from bandcamp/rip from cds/torrenting sites & manually put it into your phone from itunes. you get to think a bit more about what youāre putting in your library (or from your library into your phone) but you also get to hold onto things in a certain version & protect your archive from the whims of streaming services & copyright claims .
Jul 29, 2024
š¶
gonna echo some other folks by saying local file storage is the best. you can go the soulseek or bandcamp route, but I'm also an advocate for ripping from soundcloud and other sites when necessary. having files to work with gives you so much more control over your library in terms of where you source music from (streaming platform exclusivity is the worst), how you sort it (METADATA RULES LET ME CHANGE THEM ID3S BAYBEE), and how you consume it.
my system is a master itunes library that i've maintained for like 15 years now that I prune every so often as my tastes change and I offload things I don't listen to anymore. I also don't have access to all of it all the time since I only sync certain playlists to my phone, which forces me to self curate and decide what to add to my library, what to sync and take with me for daily listening, and what to delete. I love moments where I can sit down, cash out on a bandcamp cart, arrange them in my library by genre and decade and such, and then serve it up for shuffling in the car later.
music consumption was at its peak when libraries were like spreadsheets, the only trappings i want with my music is itunes visualizer (RIP š¢)
Jul 30, 2024
Top Recs from @lucius
Alright y'all, standards have gotten a little lax around here and rec quality has taken a dip (I'm including myself in this). Here are some pointers for High Rec Standards.
ANATOMY OF A REC:
TITLEāThis is the rec or recommendations. This is NOT a lead in. Type exactly what you're recommending here. What appears in the Title should finish this sentence, "I recommend _____."
BODYāThis supports the rec and anything goes. Supporting statements, supporting essays, additional recs, you can get silly, you can pontificate. You can do anything you want. Except putting the main rec down here. Where does it go? That's right. In the Title š
IMAGEāNo rules. Add one to preference. It can be relevant or a non sequitur.
LINKāI highly recommend links but it's not as important as the Title or Body. If you are recommending something that has an online presence (music, movies, websites, products, etc.), Piffies want to click on it immediately. Don't make us google. Be kind a leave a link.
EMOJIāNo rules. Express yourself.
ANTI-RECS:
They exist and they are valid recs. "Anti-Rec: _____" clearly communicates this is something best avoided. But a better way format this type of Rec is to use a modifier or verb that flows with "I recommend _____." Ex. I recommend... Not Eating Tacks, Avoiding Area X, Leaving Off the Anchovies, etc.ā(Formatting Anti-Recs this way first recommended by tyler the Creator)
ANATOMY OF AN ASK:
TITLEāThis is the question or topic of the Ask. Asks can solicit advice or start a discussion. You have some flexibility here because the Ask is expected to be expounded upon in the body if it needs more context. Just be clear. Again, this is not a lead in. Be direct and ask the question or state the topic.
BODYāProvide more context. Narrow the recommendation field. Add relevant links. Remember, the Ask goes in the Title š
EMOJIāNo rules. Express yourself.
ANSWERING AN ASKāRecs on Asks can break style as dictated by the Ask. If the Ask is looking for Recs, give Recs following style. If it's asking for opinions, give your opinion. Asking for links? Give links! Respond however you would respond some someone IRL. Asks start a conversation so you can be more conversational. But keep in mind that these Recs will appear in the main feed. So where you can maintain Rec style, do so.
Example: WHATāS YOUR CURRENT LETTERBOXD TOP 4?
A response to this with High Rec Standards would look something like this:
TITLEāLists your current Letterboxd top 4. You are recommending these four movies.
BODYāFree reign here. Drop your Letterboxd @. Talk about the movies. Make a quip. Emoji. Relevant links. Nothing.
IMAGEāOptional. Screenshot of your top four. Frame from a movie. Dealer's choice.
LINKāAdd your Letterboxd profile only if you want to be found.
EMOJIāWhatever. But it'd be nice if it was relevant.
DISCLAIMER:
This is a living community document! These are only my recommendations for a foundation. Debate and Discussion of proper style are Encouraged. Any editions and changes to the PI.FYI STYLE GUIDE will be notated with attribution.
Changelog:
07.26.2024āClarified a Rec is not limited to one recommendation. Recs can recommend multiple things. Thanks to shegoestoanotherschool for identifying the issue. / Added guidance for Anti-Rec format.
02.11.2025āMoved SpongeBob Bubble Blowing Technique video link from the top level into the body ("some pointers") so the embed wouldn't override the High Quality instructional graphic.
Jul 25, 2024
šø
This combo has just been here the whole time?!
Feb 6, 2025
š„Æ
i will eat one every day i do not give a fuck anymore
Jan 30, 2024