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Oh look, it’s the second Spotify price increase in less than a year. I’m done. Sayonara. Thanks for all the fish.Sure, it’s only a little more per month for the streaming service, but it’s the principle that irks me — especially after swallowing back-to-back rises from Netflix over the past few years as well.
In its email, Spotify states that the increase will allow it to “…continue bringing you the best experience”.
What does that mean exactly? Is the company’s stock being up 135% over the past year not enough to fund further improvement? I don’t know. I’m not an economist. Or a numbers guy. All I know is that I’m fed up being bled dry by massive companies one pound at a time, and I’m pretty sure they’d all manage just fine without steadily dipping into our ever-emptying pockets.
Financials aside, there’s simply no compelling reason to stay. I’ve long thought that Spotify has fallen behind in terms of innovative features. Sure, Spotify Wrapped is nice enough, but it’s a bit old hat now, with IG feeds full of people spamming their most played songs. I used to be one of them, until I realised that no one cares what I listen to. Why should they? And don’t get me started on the new AI DJ feature, which brings little to the table bar an intrusive, overtly enthusiastic voice that seems to play most of the same songs far too often.
And while Spotify’s long-rumoured Hi-Fi service (previously dubbed Supremium, and now thought to be Music Pro) is seemingly around the corner, it’s taking far too long to come to fruition.
So where do I go? My first two alternatives are YouTube Music, and Tidal. The former is tempting because I absolutely detest ads, and killing them off for good would do wonders for my sanity. On the other hand, Google has increased the number of annoying ads to such an extent, that I don’t want to fall directly into the trap they set. Yes, I am that petty.
Tidal seems to be the best choice, at least for my needs. Currently $9.99/£10.99 a month, it’s the same price as pre-price hike Spotify, with the benefit of HiRes and FLAC thrown in for good measure. Like Spotify, it supports ad-free, offline listening, and is compatible with all of my smart speakers. An extra £9 a month on top of that will unlock the Tidal DJ extension, which is something I might be tempted to spring for in future, as it’s a hobby I’ve always wanted to try out. Having access to 110+ million tracks when learning to mix songs sounds a lot more convenient than buying individual tracks, which could be the difference between falling in love with a new hobby, or letting my future decks gather a shameful layer of dust.
Naturally, one of the factors that’s held me back from leaving Spotify is the fact that I’ve spent years curating playlists, but there’s no shortage of services out there to transfer songs from one music streaming service to another, which means that most of my tracks should hopefully carry over without any problems.
If you fancy mixing things up yourself before the new Spotify price increase kicks in, you’re welcome to check out our list of the best music streaming services to see if you fancy jumping ship too. Happy listening.
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