What is the most ethical and affordable alternative to Spotify?
Fear not, dear reader; this is a safe space. You are not alone if, in general, but particularly in recent weeks, you have worried over whether you want to continue your Spotify membership due to their rather questionable ethics.
It’s a difficult balance to strike. You’re used to what you know; these types of companies deliberately make the cancellation process as difficult as it possibly can be, and no one wants to start all over again with curating the playlists that have stood by your every holiday, melancholic moment, and drunken night out for years.
There’s also no point in denying that the reason why streaming has become the mode of choice in music now is because of its convenience.
For a relatively small fee per month, you have every song you could ever need at your fingertips, and to many, this understandably seems like it would be a more sustainable model than having to constantly buy physical media, which is not only more costly per item and therefore potentially inaccessible, but also takes an environmental toll with the materials used too.
But when that company you rely on so much is purposely fucking up the livelihoods of artists – let’s not beat about the bush – and, more pressingly, directly contributing to the decimation of the arts through the uprising of AI, it’s perhaps time to reassess your options. For those not yet caught up on either of these points, we will begin with a very quick explainer.
What are the ethical issues with Spotify?
Spotify has long been a poor provider for the music industry, essentially giving listeners full access to any given musician’s back catalogue with very little reward for the artists themselves. The statistics are damning, with the company only paying out between $0.003 and $0.005 per stream, meaning that you would have to become one of the biggest artists in the world before you reap any reward from the service.
This then snowballs into an even bigger issue when you consider the recent actions of Spotify’s CEO, Daniel Ek. He recently took €600million as investment to become the chairman of a German AI military start-up company, making him one of the richest, and frankly amoral, businessmen in the world. The optics of a creative industry relying on AI are not only fishy, but it doesn’t bode well for its future.
OK, what about Spotify alternatives, like Apple or Amazon?
Don’t feel ashamed or isolated if your brain feels slightly fried by this – it’s an important issue, but also a complex one, which can often be difficult to wrap your head around when all you want is an easy way to listen to your favourite tunes while you work or go out on your evening run. OK, Spotify may not be the most ethical, but what about the other big contenders, Apple Music and Amazon Music?
Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but they’re not much better on the moral front. For Apple, the service itself does seem stronger than Spotify, with greater contributions to artists and even benefits for the user, such as improved sound quality. But zooming out to look at the company on a broader scale, there are widespread issues with Apple in terms of the treatment of its workers, its complicity in Israel’s war in Gaza, and its not being fully transparent on its environmental impacts.
Amazon Music faces many of the same problems on a company-wide scale as Apple, but add to the mix that it, too, like Spotify, has been subject to controversy over its fair payments to artists and issues relating to user control through its digital rights management, and on the whole, it doesn’t paint the most glowing portrait.
Is there any ethical streamer that exists to avoid Spotify?
The good news in this seemingly depressing state of affairs is that there are genuinely positive alternatives that hold up to the big companies and also provide you value for money as the customer. For example, the streaming service Tidal may not be as much of a household name as the others, but hosts many of the same benefits, with over 100,000 songs on the platform, and, indeed, potentially offers a better experience.
First things first, they offer the greatest level of artist compensation out of all the streamers, mainly because said artists have a stake at the table. The likes of Beyoncé and Alicia Keys hold stakes in the company, and while this is not to suggest that they alone are martyrs for the cause, it does help that they understand the perspectives of musicians and the payments they should receive for their work.
Additionally, Tidal is also one of the more affordable streaming options out there for the user. Without wanting to enter into my Martin Lewis era, it offers plans priced at approximately £10.99 per month, which, if my admittedly terrible maths skills serve me well, clocks in at up to £6 cheaper than some of the alternatives. That might just buy you an extra pint these days. There are a number of other streamers you can go for as well, such as Resonate and Bandcamp, which, although holding many of the strong ethics, may not hold the vast selection that you seek for your music library.
Let the three Ps be the new mantra of music streaming: principles, protection, and price. Although it may sometimes feel that making minor changes to our daily lives may not make any material change in the world, it’s worth remembering that as more and more people get on board, that’s where things can really come into effect. Making the switch from Spotify is a great way to start.
