I’ve been meaning to stop my Spotify sub because saving more money how ever small it may be. But I kind of like the discovery part of it.
Been using YouTube (Music) again for music listening honestly because it does have YouTube only artists and songs (not in an official partnership or similar, just that that’s where people only upload there to share kind of thing), as well as live versions and in general the tons of covers, remixes and such.
Truth be told I like what YTM algorithm gives me recently.
Having said that, I am open to hear suggestions that further divorces from big tech.
I don’t mind for anime/movies/shows as I rely on word of mouth in the various chat groups I’m already in. Maybe I should extend to music focused groups too?
I haven’t seen anyone mention Pandora but it’s still around. I kept using it even when I was paying for spotify. Over and over again Pandora has played new (to me) artists that have really caught my ear. I listen to a lot of different things and it’s been responsible for probably 50% over the last 15 years that I’ve been using it. The ads are less invasive than spotify and can be easily removed with uBlock origin in the web player. Can’t recommend it highly enough.
Came here to say this. I’ve tried other services in the past but keep coming back to Pandora. It consistently finds new music that resonates with me.
And if you really don’t like the ads I feel the premium subscription price is still pretty reasonable.
My only gripe is their UI hasn’t kept up with modern times. No dark mode. Album images can’t be made bigger on desktop. And it can be pain to find your stations on mobile.
Nevertheless, I still highly recommend if you are searching new music.