Why is everyone hating Spotify? John DeVore dives in with streaming and a primer on Enshitification.

[@Buddythunder1]

I walked away from social media years ago and don't miss it a bit. My mood immediately improved, and the change has proved to be durable. Quality rant, John.

[@l.m.372]

KZbin is not social media?!

[@CarlVanDoren61]

What else is in that Sanka? 😮

[@maryjaneforgie9882]

Bandcamp Fridays are a useful way to support artists.

[@D1N02]

Spotify promised lossless. Didn't deliver so I cancelled.

[@peteevans8150]

What a great video today! A bit of history, a bit of perspective, a bit of concept. Thank you!

[@NWHiker5836]

I love these videos. I always look forward to hearing your thoughts. Thanks for sharing with us.

[@samuelreggio1611]

‘Never mind what’s been selling. It’s what you’re buying.’ - Fugazi. Streaming access to millions of ‘tracks’ has nothing to do with what I love about music, bands, etc. Never signed up; just no appeal. I buy records, CDs, and tapes from artists, labels, record stores, and Bandcamp. Thanks for the rant, John! 🙏🏻👏🏻

[@PlaybackMansion]

In two days we celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Phoebus Cartel. Est. January 15, 1925 Tungsram, Osram, General Electric, Associated Electricals conspired to make light bulbs burn out at 1,000 hours so they could sell more bulbs. At least back then they didn't record our conversations and sell the data

[@QuintEssential-sz2wn]

Like many audiophiles I had a long lasting CD collection that I ended up ripping and then using a server to stream to my two channel system. Later I added Tidal streaming. All controlled from my iPhone from the comfort of my listening sofa. “ the world of music is my oyster!” This became a careful what you ask for scenario. What seemed incredible in theory became a bit problematic in practice. With endless tracks of music at my fingertips, I found myself surfing music like I would surf the web . I’d start listening to one track and think “ this is pretty good, but I wonder if the next one will be better..swipe..swipe…swipe.” I would save tracks and artist to favourites, but since there was always something new at my fingertips I was always in exploring mode and surfing for the next hit. That meant I rarely went back and re-explored the artist or tracks that I had saved. Essentially, I developed a type of Music ADD. Listening to music had become something more of a restless activity. For me, the antidote to this was getting back into buying and listening to records. I grew up in the 70s listening to records and like most. I abandoned them for CDs as soon as CDs came along. But the vinyl revival, and all those new releases on vinyl, made records feel fresh and contemporary again rather than something dusty and old. It completely cured my music ADD ! When I put on a record I effortlessly concentrate on the music and just always listen to at least one side of an album and usually the entire record. Aside from the physical and aesthetic pleasures of records, not to mention my turntable is just a really cool device to look at and operate…. It also gives me a chance to unplugged from digital life and to stop staring at bloody screens. I work on a screen all day long and otherwise my iPhone is tugging for my attention all day long, and the last thing I want to do is have to keep interacting with my phone or another computer screen in order to play music. Getting back in records was the best decision I’ve made in a long time in terms of my audiophile and music listening passion. It’s clear not everybody has the same issue with streaming. There are audiophiles who can stream and settle down and listen to entire albums. But I also know that my experience has been mirrored in the experience of many other people who got back records even though they have also experienced streaming.

[@myself61607]

I know exactly what you mean. It’s a learning process and I have made myself listen to the same album for a week at a stretch to get back the good feeling.

[@williamtaylor5193]

Buy vinyl. Own the music. Hold the jacket. Admire the cover art and read the liner notes. Enjoy the warmth of the sound. Most of all, compensate the artists and feel good for doing so.

[@l.m.372]

Just frustrating when you catch a bad pressing. Happens quite a bit to me.

[@williamtaylor5193]

@@l.m.372 Yes. It's hard to avoid entirely, but my personal experience has shown that paying for quality is worth it. I mostly shop at Acoustic Sounds, although I occasionally buy direct from Blue Note or MoFi. Anytime you are paying in the $23-27 dollar range it's a crapshoot. Whenever I pay $38 or above the pressing quality is 95% satisfying. Again, just my experience.

[@AlainCliche]

You bring up a very good point about Spotify's algorithm... one of the problems with it is that people's ears will be less challenged - as you point out - and this could prevent them from evolving their tastes, or slow down this process considerably...

[@Peroniriserva]

Support artists and buy their music either on CD, Vinyl or Bandcamp downloads. Spotify and to a similar extent are utter freeloading scum.

[@blackgold7416]

Great video. Who is the band on the tape?.

[@robertpearson]

This is very timely, thanks for these useful insights.

[@medonk12rs]

Lossless streaming (Tidal, Qobuz) sounds 99.9% identical on my chain to CD rips of the same masters. Problem is that Tidal and Qobuz (and all the others) seem to not be able to decide which masters they provide, but the publishers decide. Most remasters sound worse to my 80's/90's CD masters.

[@I.am.KubKab]

That’s the ugly truth

[@JKadison]

John, your “rant” was one of the best things ever on KZbin. Love it!

[@TheJohnniegolden]

John. You're the best. Never stop.

[@UberPilot]

Reminds me of a video I watched that said we went from Inflation to Sizeflatiion and now we are at shitification.

[@CarstenRose]

Top on point, John! Couldn't agree more. Thanks for sharing your opinion here so openly!

[@hoselrocket2001]

Spotify sound quality has always been THE reason I never used it before I ever knew anything about the payments to musicians.

[@teguhsoetikno1219]

idem dito, no matter what I try..just could not listen & enjoys spotify files..too much digititis, I prefer Deezer & Qobuz

[@myself61607]

Regarding sound difference between streaming and local storage I experienced that too when starting with Roon. The remedy was a good network switch. No difference at all now.

[@tomgilbertson2279]

Thanks John, good video/topic.

[@willsullivan3]

Thanks, man.

[@luislunacortez1929]

Hi John , I like your videos always informative and interesting. I have some questions I hope you can answer. What app do you use for playing your files from your computer and what DAC are you using ? Thanks for your response , Luis

[@DeVOREFIDELITY]

I use Roon on a little Intel Nuc and a Totaldac server and DAC

[@luislunacortez1929]

@DeVOREFIDELITY thanks for your response . You have room installed in the Intel nuc to control the totaldac , is the last one a server and a dac? Or do you use another dac ? By the way, what model of total dac devices do you use ? Thanks 😊

[@gotham61]

Who knew they still make Sanka?

[@jeppemichaeljensen2684]

Thanks for sharing. Good info.

[@TheDjcarlos67]

Why not just avoid streaming? Buying records/CD’s isn’t difficult and it’s fun to dig

[@petehurd5301]

That billionaire kid who runs spotify is just loathsome; a bigger thief than those napster twerps ever were, just with venture capitalist backers. Sucking the life out of the music ecosystem, not doing a shred of good for artists creating new music, enriching the enshittifiers, bankrolling the on-line goon-o-sphere. Bandcamp isn't a perfect thing, but as long is it continues to let artists choose which tracks are free, and how much the others should cost, acting as a marketplace for artist's physical merch, they'll have my business.

[@DeVOREFIDELITY]

Bandcamp is always my first choice, no question.

[@petehurd5301]

@@DeVOREFIDELITY it would be kinda churlish to say "my local brick and mortar record store is first" but, if I'm ever to kick my narrow -yet deeply ingrained- materialist habit, then bandcamp is the path. :)

[@peterlundskow4061]

@@petehurd5301 I do buy from artist's directly or Bandcamp when I want physical media but, I must admit I don't by physical media as much as I did when the only way to buy was a brick & mortar store, I worked for one many years ago in College & when I lived in NYC when CDs really took off I remember spending much time in stores when they had their many listening stations.

[@dieselbrodeur]

You really have no clue what so ever. Spotify actually saved the music industry. the alternative to streaming is not buying physical media to ridicules high prices but to download for free. 70% of net revenue goes to the artist, labels etc from Spotify. You can´t compare a perpetuity cash flow (streaming) directly with selling one record either.

[@TheDjcarlos67]

@@dieselbrodeurthat’s not the alternative. Just buy records or cd’s

[@jeffreysobczynski7113]

I listen to Amazon Music because I get it for “free” - but only while walking my dog or driving to work. Otherwise I am listening to vinyl in my basement. I will someday soon buy a server - I will then download my CDs and live shows which are on CDs. Spotify sounds horrible - Amazon with a dongle DAC sounds ok, but generally not as good as vinyl. Lately I have been listening a lot to ripped songs on Discogs in the “video” section of a given release - which I think is from KZbin, but I am not sure. Regardless, streaming is for checking out artists or labels I am not familiar with. I buy a hard copy if I like it - as long as it is available on vinyl.

[@johnpischedda6951]

They promised Hi Res and never delivered. So I moved to Tidal . After everything you mentioned I’m glad I did . Agree physical media has superior SQ over streaming but both have their place !

[@prashantchutke5521]

I have almost 2000+ Records and a 1000+ CDs Devore 96 Orangutans + REL acoustics Subs + Line Magnetic 518ia + Decware Phono preamp All in a dedicated Listening room . No streaming for me . Thank you for the Speakers :)

[@DeVOREFIDELITY]

Happy Listening!

[@danielkromer2295]

My day usually starts with a hot cup of Sanka and a tall glass of Tang. I'm also a big fan of instant mash potatoes and cardboard steak ums.

[@amosperrine1909]

Could it be the 320 kps streams and/or screwing artists?

[@photoipster]

A nice rant. I’ve never been a Spotify user, but enjoyed anyway. I’d love a JD playlist!!!

[@mediascapes2011]

I cancelled Spotify because I don't like it, sound quality and interface are crap.

[@ehlava]

sound quality so so bad, and UI awful

[@4p-is-3]

Modern life is shitification. Up there with your DaVore Fidelity business cost breakdown video. I like your direction of travel.

[@richh650]

Very little from the corporate world is designed to make the world a better place. Most tech companies sit proudly at the front of that awful list...

[@edwardsalkin9478]

$.0032 to the artists per play while the CEO is a billionaire is why I hate Spotify. They’re the main reason artists are still touring in their 80’s, there’s no other income stream available any longer

[@lintashdown4620]

Thank you so much for thinking about this enough about this to expose Spotify's ethics to us all. Essentially it means that exposure to populist music eclipses new alternative music being listened to, effectively dumbing down artistic appreciation of music which throughout time has represented expression of feeling at that particular time in history of both individuals and political expression . Throughout modern time ascending generations have expressed themselves and their ideas through music Music is an artform and art has been described as "the objective interpretation of the emotional side of life". That should never be repressed and is counter to the principle of democracy.

[@Canadian_Eh_I]

Tooth browning power!! LMAO

[@artyfhartie2269]

This is the only Sanka I have for sale and I would like it back, please.

[@davepounds8924]

I have no problem with using streaming services to listen to new music that I might want to purchase in physical form I have over a thousand records and I’ve used streaming services to listen to before buying What I don’t like is that the artists get paid next to nothing on these platforms The greedy record labels are pocketing most of the money I dropped Spoity and am thinking of Amazon Music as well

[@robertbarnett1984]

👏👏👏👏👏👏

[@jebrehbaker8613]

Sanka gonna send you an assload of bad coffee now

[@marksnyderman1347]

I find most of this rant wrongheaded. But that’s OK; John is entitled to his opinion. What he’s not entitled to is his own facts. Throughout the video, his statements about the streaming payouts to artists are off by a factor of 100. It’s not .003 cents per stream; it’s .003 dollars.

[@dieselbrodeur]

Per stream is also a misleading metric. It´s a theoretical perpetual cashflow and in reality at least 10 years. So the comparison with overpriced LPs or CDs is not relevant. Todays artist live on there live concerts in a way that was not possible during physical medias hay days. So being streamed a lot is promoting sales of concert tickets as a bonus.

[@bassandtrebleclef]

Sanka = Spotify? Ha, funny and interesting comparison.

[@bobk3840]

I love the sponsor, Sanka. My guess is if a viewer is under 40 they might not get it. Great video.

[@toddcovington1172]

Love this rant!

[@BostonMike68]

I was going to ask google a question, I got 2 words out and had a brain fart and it answered me. So I asked google if it can read minds, it answered me " yes". And explained that it can read brain waves and gather algorithms and can read sentences at this point and is getting better. Solidify is trash, tidal is the best sound quality out of all streaming services. I also listen to SACD and cds . I find cds cheap at the thrift store and have a ton of good ones. They have better dynamics than vinyl. But yeah solidify is people listening to music on their phones on cheap headphones.

[@veitkoss2603]

In my opinion consuming to much time digitally is making the people lazier, less interested and finally less interesting. Critical reflection was and is making us human.

[@nkenchington6575]

Because it's the work of Beelzebub?

[@pizzaearthpancakesandother2549]

You mean the former Mayor of Chicago, Larry Leadfoot? Oh sorry, that's _Beetle Juice_

[@peterlundskow4061]

Nakamichi, yes! I have owned two & still use my current one. I don't think this video was a rant. Neil Young created Pono as a service to benefit both artists & users & look where that ended up!

[@GiancarloBenzina]

And see where it got us - overpaying for a delayed sheity player with him dropping out again and again. Anyone knowing Neil Young for longer knows he‘s a drop out of his own ideas, uncomitted on the long run looking for his gain, like any other. And why not, not blaming him for that, but for trying to sell people he‘s not in that game.

[@GiancarloBenzina]

The best in the world is analog (human socialisation, sensoricals, audio, taste, smell, touch, vision). Digital is great for information management, only.

[@hartyewh1]

Some leave the default settings of volume balancing etc on and it sounds like shit is one reason🤔

[@DeAudiofilosyLocos]

You can't even play Bach, Beethoven or Mozart. This is music that is in the public domain. But in some deep dark cave, some millionaire owns the rights to it. They're taking humanism away from us.

[@richh650]

👆

[@Canadian_Eh_I]

Yes, we are normalizing lower quality in return for access and ubiquity by the billions. Normal trajectory IMO. Its not bad or good, it just is...

[@BC-fy1wn]

Like you J D but welcome to the period of history followinf the Lat Denovian

[@thomasandersen6014]

This is 100% true. When my girlfriend search for new shoes on her phone, I get werid shoe-ads om my computer. Absolutly fucking anoying!!! And great video as always :D

[@GiancarloBenzina]

Very sad that people have to listen to streaming in a Music playback company. First thing I‘d do is bringing a dedicated music system into the place (cassette, radio, file-server).

[@hificonspiracy]

Somebody send John a Tactical Hoodie. 😂

[@ChrisWhittenMusic]

Spotify sucks the life out of creative music.

[@GiancarloBenzina]

Found an artist? Go to his show, buy from him, his album, a t-shirt, or more. If you can‘t go to his! website, use his reference to buy the music. The artist may offer streaming, sure, but there‘s for sure music to buy as physical medium, take that. You don‘t know if you like it? buy it, you‘ll like it later, otherwise you wouldn‘t have gotten the attention to this artist if there wasn‘t anything good.

[@O.G.LIL-MAN]

John...for me,44.1 is low quality . And in my use case, i agree with you mostly...but to use streaming well in a system you need to have certain boxes in the chain to make the streaming 'pop'...most dont go thru those lenghts to do that.

[@jonathanthomas4722]

Not upset about the ‘fact checking’ being gone, lol.

[@TheDjcarlos67]

I was about to end the video and unsubscribe when I got to the Sanka part, then saw you throw it away and realised what was going on!😅 Let’s see where this is going 🤔

[@mitchparker7652]

Music pimping. I'll have a tech break for 1460 days and see how that goes. "Narkiness" is creeping into even my preferred reviewers, present company excluded.

[@benjaminhenry5284]

Spotify sounds like it will soon become the “Muzak” of the 21st century. Yuck!

[@auggysimcity]

they keep raising the prices.. horrible UI and UX ... lossy..they pay the least to the artist.. ROTIFY... apple has more independent artist and a much much better algo..and redbook...

[@Tuberhead1000]

Early days of spotify software would break every other streamer and screw up the computer so I stayed away. Tidal and Qobuz are "ok" but streaming to me makes no sense. One can spend $$$ over time and have nothing to play if the payments stop. Capitalism at its finest...

[@trevorbartram5473]

Hi John, we live in an essentially free society. You are free not to use a service or find an alternate service. There are much more evil aspects to our society than social media & streamed music, that are certainly worth a rant because no one appears to comprehend or care. So teach your children well, so that they don't become victims, then you've done your part & enjoy your life. Cheers!

[@ChrisWhittenMusic]

Whatever happened to skilled musicians? It’s ok that they are Spotify’s victims?

[@pearsenapier6740]

Old man yells at cloud

[@guus007]

Everybody loves Spotify. It’s just this 0,0001 % of all people who call themselves audiophiles that are the problem.

[@I.am.KubKab]

What‘s the issue, if you like Spotify noone has a problem with that

[@commane21]

There’s always this one guy …..

[@kodithebear]

Much bigger issues dude 😂 Some privilege having time to rant about this BS

[@Gilligansrevenge]

Much bigger issues dude💩Some privilege having time to watch and comment about this BS

[@bryantaylor2946]

We choose to pay attention to things that we can change, like cancelling Spotify. We can't fix pollution, or starvation all around the world nor get the MAGA people to look outside their simplistic world view, but as this is a music channel, we talk about issues in this area.