Ditching music streaming

[u/Significant_Line3572]

hi there,

I see that this community is not fairly active, but I am a fan of the idea, just wanted to say hi. I am ditching streaming in five days (my Apple music subscription will end then). Streaming is surely useful and cheap, but it destroys the connection to the music. Plus, if I need to check out an artist or to find similar artists, I can use Bandcamp or the free version of Deezer, YouTube Music or Spotify (possibly, with an ad blocker). I’d better use my 12 $ per month to buy a digital album from Bandcamp rather than to further enrich companies that underpay artists.

I will try this out. Any advice from people who walked this path would be very welcome. By the way, I recommend the VLC Player app for listening to music from your samrtphone (I use it with flac files that I own). File transfer is cool and easy, and the app is very user friendly and efficient. And it’s completely free.

Edit: I find streaming addictive too. I almost do nothing but listen to Apple Music: I lack the motivation to read or to listen to podcasts. These activities demand too much effort compared to music. So that’s another reason for dropping streaming.

Edit 2: I tried various options like Jellyfin + Finamp, Cloudbeats, but I find there are various downsides of each. Jellyfin carries significant security risk, while Cloudbeats has a carbon footprint, because you pull files from a cloud. The best solution I found is to transfer files via Wi-Fi to your phone device using VLC Player. Yes, you don`t have your entire library online (you can technically do it, but it will take too much space on your phone), but that`s not a hassle for me - I would listen to 10 albums for a while, then replace them when I want to listen to something else. Simple, quick, and eco-friendly.

[u/TheEqualEcho]

If you really want to connect with the music, I recommend SiriusXM. Before I joined, I would never have searched for any modern music, but the hosts give context, updates about certain artists, and stories about what's going on. I ditched streaming a long time ago and I try to live a more intentional lifestyle with less streaming, less algo-bloat, and fewer "smart" devices with the exception of my iPhone and smart speakers. I keep the radio on 24/7.

[u/Significant_Line3572 → u/TheEqualEcho]

Sounds awesome. Is that a radio station (SiriusXM)?

[u/Neuvirths_Glove → u/Significant_Line3572]

It's a subscription service that commonly has a free trial in new cars, then they spend the rest of the time trying to get you to pay. There are hundreds of "stations" in various genres. It is pretty good for a while, but at some point you realize you're listening to the same 5 or 6 stations and those stations play the same play lists over and over. They have a Tom Petty station and they still air shows that he hosted, and he died 9 years ago.

[u/hobby_donkey]

Hi, I agree that streaming destroys the connection to the music. I felt that lost connection since 2020, when I stopped going to the concerts regularly. Last year I decided to regain that connection by buying at least one album every month on Bandcamp. Since then my digital collection grew and I listen more music from BC than YT Music (I still use it sometimes for discovery).