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In recent years we have moved, more or less quickly, from a totally illegal system such as Napster and others peer to peer, to a legalized system like Spotify. In reality, perhaps we have not yet arrived at the true solution to all evils given that earnings with Spotify, unless you are Madonna, They're pretty miserable (Also here). But Are there any alternatives to Spotify?
By the way, this site called Royalties calculator it allows us to understand better or worse how much an artist can potentially earn Spotify based on the number of streams.
Let's talk about Spotify first of all because it is probably the music streaming service most famous and used in Italy perhaps second only to Youtube. And then why Spotify, if you don't know, he actually has one terrible privacy policy. For example, a lot of information is collected from our smartphone like that related to the accelerometer and gyroscope. Currently this information they are only used to offer us music suitable for what we are doing, tomorrow who knows ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ We don't say it just to say it but also based on the latest acquisitions by Spotify.
Also this tweet of 2018 is very interesting and shows the monstrous amount of data collected, as well as some doubts emerged last year on the GDPR.
We add, more recently, this article about The poster Of Stefano Bocconetti which we quote: “So Spotify will steal the voice, a comment on the song, maybe an expletive. To understand if you are on the street or in a park, if you are happy with a mainstream melody or angry with a hip hop, just to stay within the stereotypes.“
Always because our articles are constantly updated, we also highlight these two other pieces of news on Spotify:
- Spotify CEO invests $100 million in artificial intelligence for the defense industry;
- Spotify wants to use emotion recognition to recommend songs to listen to: the streaming company is patenting a technology that has disturbing implications for privacy and which has raised protests from activists;
- Spotify's problem isn't (just) Joe Rogan's misinformation, a very interesting article by Blue suitcase;
- Reasons to ditch Spotify that have nothing to do with Joe Rogan, another article on the Spotify issue written by The New Yorker.
Finally, we also point out Justice At Spotify, an organization to ask for a fair payment for all musicians on Spotify.
However, we understand that Spotify offers a truly excellent service in certain respects truly irreplaceable. In the meantime, we suggest that if you want to continue using it, you avoid logging in with your Facebook account. That might not be a completely good idea.
Alternatives to Spotify but always live the music!
We want to continue by saying that in no way, ever, will we support piracy. Listening to music should be a right but artists have the right to make a living from their music. Rule number one then: don't steal from artists. If you find yourself doing this, make peace with your conscience and buy at least some CDs or vinyl or, more importantly, go to their concerts. Some artists are also on Bandcamp, others still use Patreon. Actively support what you like, we will never stop repeating it.
Last premise: the purchase of physical media seems trivial, but it is the only way to create a music library without being tracked or profiled in some way and to be able to own an asset forever. Buy the music you are interested in and listen to it forever on the music players you prefer.
Alternatives to Spotify
Obviously the latter is a provocation and above all a slightly extremist alternative, we know this well. Not everyone can afford to buy tons of CDs and above all this is not exactly a simple method of learning about new music.
However, there are some alternatives to Spotify as nice and decent as one can initially alongside Spotify, especially useful for discover new musical genres or new music.
A interesting project in this respect it is Radio.garden which unfortunately it is not Open source and also uses Google banners. But the project is so beautiful that we cannot fail to mention it. It will allow you to listen to all the radios in the world. All. The. Radio. Of the. World. 😲
Let's get to the alternatives we found, as you can imagine we won't talk about the commercial alternatives, you probably already know them all (Deezer, Tidal, Soundcloud, Last.Fm) and there isn't a particularly privacy-oriented one.
Here are our picks
At your suggestion we have decided to divide this article into two sections: actual ones alternatives to Spotify, alternative clients to listen to music from online platforms without using the official ones e online radio where to discover new music.
Alternatives to Spotify
Funkwhale
Open source
fediverse
decentralized
We quote from their website: “Funkwhale is a social platform for listening and sharing music”. In short: you can upload your music library and share it with whoever you want. It's a platform Open source and decentralized where anyone can create their own independent “pod” but at the same time all the “pods” can communicate with each other. A splendid initiative, very useful also for discovering new music. The main site is funkwhale.audio. There is also one Instance Italian: funkwhale.it.
• • •Libre.fm
Open source
A large community of fans and artists who decide to share their music with anyone for free. Also in this case you can donate something to the artists you prefer. The service is completely free, you can listen to music even without being registered. You can also discover interesting new artists through the subdivision by categories, playlists you can also listen to them in the background, just like you would with Spotify. It's a project Open source and are appreciated donations.
Jamendo
An interesting alternative that you suggested to us via Twitter 1: allows you to listen to independent artists completely free of charge. A sort of non-federated and non-federated Funkwhale Open source.
• •eSound Music
A real Spotify clone, even graphically. It is not entirely clear where the songs come from although most likely many are taken from YouTube. Unfortunately it isn't Open source, for now it is free but should become paid later.
Nuclear Music Player
Open source
music from SoundCloud, Bandcamp and YouTube
Nuclear Music Player it's a project Open source 2 still in the beta phase which allows you to listen to music by aggregating different platforms that offer it for free such as Soundcloud, Bandcamp And YouTube. To download it you have to go to their GitHub page and download the necessary package for you (exe for Windows, dmg for macOS and so on). Thanks for having it reported on our Telegram group.
• •Jango Radio
Jango Radio It's an interesting project, even if it isn't Open source and his application for Android contains i tracers of Google and Facebook. There is also a version forApp Store. However if you want to try it it is a radio that automatically generates playlists based on the artist you chose. It has quite a following and has been around since 2007. Thanks for having it reported on our Telegram group.
• •Resonate
A community of artists with an interesting idea behind it. All songs are free until the ninth listen. From the tenth listen onwards you have to start paying only for that song or album. An intriguing idea therefore, paying only for what we are sure we like after several listens. The proceeds will go directly to the artist!
•Mirlo
Also Mirlo, like Resonate, is a community of musicians who are building an online audio distribution platform (style Bandcamp) and donations (such as Patreon) but totally accessible, free and Open source.
• •Alternative clients
Newpipe
Open source
music from YouTube, SoundCloud, Bandcamp and PeerTube
Newpipe it's an application Open source For Android which allows you to watch Youtube without tracers. It's a true YouTube mirror done incredibly well. We recommend it as alternative to Spotify because it is possible to listen to all the music on Youtube while also leaving it as the background. Truly one of the best solutions for listen to music online for free on Android. You can only find it on F-Droid.
• •ViMusic, RiMusic e ViTune
Open source
music only from YouTube Music
ViMusic is an application that has no longer been updated since 2022 but several have been created Fork among which RiMusic And ViTune. The latter seems to be the true heir of ViMusic and the Fork more complete and updated.
Excellent application for listening to music taken from YouTube Music. Intuitive, functional and modern interface. The app is customizable and very fast and responsive. In addition to YouTube Music, you can also listen to videos on YouTube by clicking the "Videos“. You can also open public YouTube playlists. Thanks for your report 3.
• •Harmony Music
Another application that is graphically inspired by ViMusic (of which however it is not one Fork) with several features including the ability to play music from YouTube or YouTube Music, support for background music, and support for lyrics. There is also a desktop version.
• • •SimpMusic
Another very simple application for listening to music from YouTube and YouTube Music.
• • •Spotube
Open source
A real client Open source alternative to Spotify. We weren't able to try it because we don't have a Spotify account but we've read positive comments. If you use it or if you know it, write us some comments and we will add it! Thanks for your report 4.
• • •Moosync
for desktop only
Open source
An exclusive desktop client that will allow you to play both music locally and music from YouTube (even if you are logged in). It also allows you to play music from Spotify via account and can therefore also be considered in all respects an alternative client for Spotify.
• •Beatbump
Open source
music from YouTube Music
New front-end for listening to music from YouTube Music. Beautiful graphically and usable exclusively via Browsers (desktop or mobile). As always, thanks to your suggestion 5. It doesn't seem to be working currently.
•InnerTune
Open source
music from YouTube Music and YouTube
Application similar to ViMusic, but allows search and playback from all of YouTube, not just YouTube Music. An interesting feature is the possibility of renaming the songs in the playlists: it can be useful for sorting songs which, being uploaded by different people, do not follow a standard order of titles. To use it you need to use the Repositories IzzyOnDroid or download the APK directly from GitHub. This also comes from your suggestion 6.
Warning: InnerTune development appears to be at a standstill.
• •Online radio
Radio Paradise
Open source
On your suggestion we also include this online radio that lives mainly on donations and Amazon affiliate links. Just music (nice) and no adverts between songs. Furthermore the website and playback systems use Linux and components Open source 7.
Radio4000
Open source
Another interesting project ed Open source. In fact, Radio4000 allows you to listen to radios created by users. More than radio, in reality, they are YouTube playlists, but it is still a great way to discover and explore new music and new artists. You can also look at map to listen to radios created from different parts of the world, or you can explore them all. There are so many of them and it's always a pleasure to share your musical tastes with other people!
Poolside FM
You want to be thrown back to the 90s? Poolside FM it's the right place for you and not just musically but for a real journey into the past! The website is in fact designed to bring tears to the eyes of all nostalgic people. From the music (there are up to 5 stations, all strictly vintage) up to video by Poolside TV with vintage videocassette style filter (or are they really vintage videos?). The desktop is a version of Windows 95 (also look at the date at the top right 😎) really extremely kitsch. There is also a Guestbook (very 90s). In short, in our opinion it is very funny and the music to be left in the background is really excellent for relaxing a bit! Finally, the project is “Powered by” Soundcloud.
Headset
Open source
This free application (but the paid version costs only 2$ per month with a few more features) is equally interesting. In fact, it allows you to listen to any song and playlist from Youtube. But don't think it's a banal application, it's very useful for finding new music thanks to some of its specialties. The “radio” section, in fact, fish from the subreddits dedicated to various genres of music. Are you a fan of 80s music? Press on “Radio 80s” and the songs published on the subreddit will be automatically taken /r/80smusic. In short, in our opinion it's really cool! The only flaw: you need to have a Google account (even a disposable one) and do a simple operation with Youtube API to make it work. Ah, we almost forgot. AND Open source.
Openwhyd
Open source
Same goes for Openwhyd. In this case, however, there is a community that can post songs taken from YouTube, Soundcloud, Deezer and many other realities. Here too you will find some very useful radios for discover new music And new artists. This project, like all the previous ones, is also Open source. To listen to music in the background, without having to keep the window open, you need to install them desktop apps. A "get App" for Apple also appears on the site but the link, unfortunately, points to a non-existent page.
If you liked the article you can also take a look at all our other alternatives!
- Tip from Jamendo on Twitter[↩]
- Nuclear Music Player on GitHub[↩]
- ViMusic reporting[↩]
- Spotube reporting[↩]
- Alternatives to Spotify #181[↩]
- Tip Music[↩]
- Radio Paradise[↩]
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