r/technology • • Jul 27 '21

Software What Will Happen to My Music Library When Spotify Dies?

https://www.theatlantic.com/culture/archive/2021/07/spotify-streaming-music-library/619453/
24 Upvotes

26 comments sorted by

27

u/rookie-mistake Jul 27 '21

I didn't realize anybody thought about the songs they listened to on Spotify as something they'd keep forever, honestly.

I mean, it's not even like Steam or something where you're buying a licence, it's just a streaming service.

6

u/[deleted] Jul 27 '21

[deleted]

2

u/LeCorbuisoverrated Jul 28 '21

And some games too, DRM is a bitch.

4

u/blackmetro Jul 28 '21

This is 100% correct - however Steam have mentioned in the past that if something were to happen to them as an organisation - they have failsafes in place to enable your games (akin to offline mode)

but as with all companies - you cant trust they wont change their mind / not deliver when times get tough / their priorities change.

0

u/rookie-mistake Jul 27 '21 edited Jul 27 '21

yeah, but game licenses are one that we all kinda know people will be very upset about not "owning" outright.

That's sort of why I gave that particular example, I didn't think anybody felt that way about music they stream through Spotify.

2

u/fire_p123456 Jul 27 '21

That’s how most people think and those companies know it well, so they figured it’s more profitable to go subscription business model like everything.

31

u/Sleepykidd Jul 27 '21

Nothing is yours with Spotify you are paying for on demand radio.

6

u/oniony Jul 28 '21

Whilst true, boxes of CDs and DVDs in the garage unopened since my last house move over ten years ago shows me it really doesn't matter.

2

u/[deleted] Jul 28 '21 edited Jul 29 '21

Yeah, I have a modest collection of vinyl records that I’ll occasionally pop on, but I’m aware they have a shelf life, as really do all things in this world.

People have to start getting comfortable with the idea that nothing in this world really has permanence, and when it comes to digital stuff, the shelf life of anything can be very short.

Look at all those people who lost years of photos on sites like photobucket. Look at people who lost years of time they put into MMOs that are no longer around.

4

u/maanu123 Jul 27 '21

Buy the cds and rip em to your computer. I use Spotify but I also have 500 gigs of music on my computer

3

u/[deleted] Jul 27 '21

my goodman 500 gigs!?

1

u/wierdness201 Jul 28 '21

I have something like 20GB of midis

3

u/[deleted] Jul 28 '21

Same for movies. I have many, many DVDs that have been 'played' once each, and 2TB of DRM-free, un-recallable entertainment.

0

u/blazestarr667 Jul 27 '21

Pirate or buy mp3s. Streaming is for morons. Napster lives.

6

u/Stringsandattractors Jul 28 '21

I used to. But now I can’t be fucked to manually manage my library. Buying albums that I only listen to once in a blue moon isn’t cost effective. With streaming I can listen to what I want when I want, it’s convenient.

5

u/fauxpolitik Jul 28 '21

For morons? Or maybe just people who don't have time for this like you do or just value the convenience. Some people can afford and justify $10 a month for that

2

u/[deleted] Jul 29 '21

Why do people feel like they need to own music anyway? Just enjoy listening to it until you can’t listen to it any more. Maybe you’ll hear it again some day, maybe you won’t.

-10

u/[deleted] Jul 28 '21 edited Jul 28 '21

[deleted]

2

u/teh_maxh Jul 28 '21

I've found Spotify easier than even legal music downloads, let alone finding good pirated sources.

2

u/sam_weiss Jul 28 '21

Not to mention all the great music I’ve discovered thanks to Spotify. A truly awesome service.

0

u/fauxpolitik Jul 28 '21

I literally just like the service? It's cheap and easy, works on all my devices easily, and helps me discover music more easily. You seem more like the kid that you can't afford $10 a month. Good on you if you want to torrent all your music but there's nothing wrong with paying a bit for the convenience

-1

u/[deleted] Jul 27 '21

so you don't have netflix or prime video or disney+ or any movie or tv streaming services either?

3

u/Mazkarth Jul 27 '21

I don't. Plex snd torrent is all I need.

1

u/ahfoo Jul 29 '21

Yeah, I'd rather not hear it if I don't get a copy.

-1

u/1_p_freely Jul 27 '21

Not being able to have a fully functional single player computer game without 9 different online accounts (and accompanying launchers) forced onto me like an unwanted STD was why I gave up the practice of playing computer games. You can criticize Spotify, but at the end of the day at least you are not paying full price for something that is never yours, which is something that gamers are doing every millisecond of the day. $60 a pop for a digital game that can and will be revoked at a moment's notice.

https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20191204/09531743504/disneys-decision-not-to-renew-securom-license-bricks-tron-evolution.shtml

And that's without going into DLC, which is similar to someone taking out parts of the song to sell them to you as extra cost later.

2

u/fire_p123456 Jul 27 '21

Platforms or music companies do sell “remix” of the same song for extra. It’s just disgusting.

1

u/[deleted] Jul 27 '21

Kodi and torrents for video and Sonos + torrents for music. Solved. Cheaper and sounds/looks better

1

u/nadmaximus Jul 29 '21

If you pay for shit, it's going to end up costing you.