Three Alternatives to Spotify to Support Real Artists
Streaming giant Spotify has regularly faced criticism over the years, from the low rates it pays its artists to the content it allows on its platform. Though ubiquitous among music listeners, serious audiophiles have often been disappointed with its features. Among the music streaming services available today, Spotify offers some of the lowest audio quality, as well as the lowest payouts for artists. However, its personalized playlists, aesthetic UI, and social UX keep the platform at the top.
This was certainly true of my choice to use Spotify for the last several years. However, news about the increase of AI-generated music on the platform caught my attention a few weeks ago and ultimately caused me to choose not to renew my subscription. As a writer, I find generative AI very concerning and, in many cases, unethical and detrimental to the creativity of the human spirit. I will always support human artists, writers, and musicians. While my singular choice to leave Spotify won’t affect the company’s decisions, I believe in the importance of living out your beliefs even if they may seem unimportant or meaningless to others. Change only comes when we choose to act despite opposition and discomfort.
I anticipated leaving Spotify to be harder than it was. However, I have found several alternatives to my formerly favorite platform, and they have improved my music listening experience. If you’re looking to be more intentional with your media consumption or give more support to your favorite artists, I highly recommend considering some of the alternatives below.
Bandcamp
Bandcamp lets you buy and stream music directly from the artists themselves. While streaming doesn’t generate any revenue, artists keep around 80% of their sales. If you listen to a lot of independent artists and bands, there’s a good chance they have a Bandcamp page. You can buy albums for the same price you’d pay on iTunes, and sometimes even download them for free. Many albums I found were “pay what you can”, which can be zero, but even paying one dollar would give the artist more than your streaming would. Unlike with a streaming service, any albums you download are yours to keep.
I loved finding all my favorite indie artists on Bandcamp. The website has a simple nostalgic feel reminiscent of the Internet’s early days. I also felt more intentional downloading and listening to whole albums rather than streaming playlists of songs that were algorithmically tailored to me.
PROS:
More profitable for the artist
Many albums available for free or very low prices
Nostalgic, retro, intentional feel
One of the best ways to support indie artists
CONS:
Streaming doesn’t generate revenue
Could add up quickly if you want to purchase a lot of albums
Conclusion: Best for buying music
YouTube Music
Like YouTube itself, YouTube’s dedicated streaming service has pretty much any song or performance you could want. I can easily stream live or alternate versions of songs that Spotify doesn’t have. The interface isn’t as clean as Spotify’s; however, I have found its recommendations to be better. The mixes do a good job of sprinkling new songs into your familiar rotations without being overwhelming. I’ve discovered more of my favorite artists from YouTube rather than Spotify.
YouTube is also reported to pay its artists better, offering around $0.008 per stream, more than Spotify and Apple’s 0.3 to 0.5 cents. For those like myself concerned about AI, YouTube is also beginning its crackdown on demonetizing channels that produce “inauthentic” content, which at the least includes heavily and completely AI-generated content.
A YouTube Music subscription includes ad-free listening and downloads, and on the mobile app, it allows you to turn off your screen or switch apps while still listening to music. It can be purchased on its own, but it’s also included with YouTube Premium, and like Spotify, is discounted for verified students.
PROS:
Any song or performance you could want
Better payout for artists
Demonetization of AI-generated content
CONS:
Interface is a little clunky, more so on mobile
Requires a subscription for the best experience and usability
Conclusion: Best for music discovery
Deezer
Deezer is a dedicated music streaming service that offers music, podcasts, and radio station mixes. It pays artists slightly better than Spotify, at around $0.006 per stream, and is also reported to have better, CD-quality audio than its competitor. What attracted me to Deezer is its proactive anti-AI stance. Deezer has created a system to detect and tag AI-generated content on its platform, noting “that roughly 10,000 fully AI-generated tracks are delivered to the platform every day, equating to around 10% of the daily content delivery” (Wendel). Deezer has been the first music streaming service in the new AI landscape “to champion fairness and transparency in the music ecosystem. In October 2024, the company was the first and only streaming platform to sign the global statement on AI training, taking a stance against the unlicensed use of creative works for training generative AI” (Wendel).
Deezer offers both free and paid versions, including a student discount. However, the free version only allows for shuffle play and mixes several related songs into your playlists. In my opinion, it’s only worth it if you pay for it, so you can listen to the music you want without being interrupted by similar songs.
PROS:
Better payout for artists
Proactive anti-AI stance
CD-quality audio
Personalized mixes and playlist creation, as with any platform
CONS:
Requires a subscription to be truly usable
Catalog isn’t quite as extensive as Spotify’s
Conclusion: Best for streaming
In my research, I’ve concluded that Spotify is actually one of the worst music streaming platforms in terms of artist compensation. In addition, if you are concerned about AI-generated content, data collection, and the sponsored content Spotify is now promoting, it might be worth it to you to make the switch. I guarantee it won’t be that bad and in fact, might make you appreciate the music you listen to even more. Whatever you decide, keep supporting your favorite real artists.
