Four alternatives to Spotify: swapping is easier than you think | Music streaming

How do you switch over from Spotify to another music service? What are the options?

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The music industry has long held mixed feelings about Spotify’s extensive influence over artists – and these feelings have intensified amid ongoing controversy over Spotify’s chief executive, Daniel Ek, leading a €600m (A$1.07bn) investment in Helsing, a German defence technology company specialising in AI-driven autonomous weapon systems.

Ek is also chair of Helsing, having joined the board in 2021 when his investment fund Prima Materia put €100m into the then-startup.

In response to Ek’s investment, artists and listeners have been seeking alternatives.

“Fuck Spotify,” the prolific Australian psychedelic rock group King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard said in a social media post on Saturday, announcing they would be removing their catalogue from the streaming service. They followed US bands Xiu Xiu and Deerhoof, who made the same decision in recent weeks.

Whether you’re motivated by joining artists in leaving Spotify, or you’re just interested in seeing the alternatives, it can seem daunting to make the switch after years of being with the service.

But it is really easy. Streaming services tend to not have lock-in contracts, so if you’re looking to switch, the first step would be cancelling your existing subscription through the account settings. Depending on when you subscribed, you’ll be able to keep the premium features until the next payment is due.

So what are the options?

1. Apple Music

When Apple Music launched, it felt clunky and limited. But it has come a long way in the past few years, with vast improvements to its functionality, music selection (over 100m songs), radio, playlists and other features such as music videos which Spotify doesn’t have.

The user experience now seems much closer to Spotify. Apple also has launched lossless and spatial audio for a better listening quality. Lossless audio is something Spotify promised in 2021 but has not launched.

If you’re already in the Apple ecosystem this is definitely the best option, but there is also an Android app.

Apple offers one month for free to new users but after that subscriptions are A$12.99 (US$10.99 and £10.99) a month, with family plans at A$19.99 (US$16.99 and £16.99) a month. There are also bundled subscription deals with Apple’s other services, such as iCloud storage and Apple TV+.

2. YouTube Music

If you pay for a YouTube premium subscription – A$16.99 (US$13.99 and £12.99) a month – you get YouTube Music for free. It has over 100m songs and you get access to ad-free YouTube videos along with it. It also has playlists and radio stations and other features you would see elsewhere.

As with Apple Music and its ecosystem, if you’re already an Android user, this is an easier option for you.

‘If you’re already an Android user, this is an easier option for you’: YouTube Music. Photograph: Thiago Prudencio/Dax/ZumaWire/Rex/Shutterstock

3. Amazon Music

Amazon Music is included in Amazon Prime for A$9.99 (US$10.99 and £8.99) a month. This tier comes with over 100m songs, podcasts and playlists, but users who want a more deluxe experience may opt for the pricier category, Amazon Music Unlimited, for A$12.99 (US$11.99 and £11.99), separate from Prime membership. Unlimited comes with lossless and spatial audio tracks.

If you want to avoid giving three of the largest tech companies your money, though, there are a growing number of other options.

4. Tidal

Tidal has always been pitched as the service that compensates artists the best and offers the highest audio quality. Like the other services, it has a catalogue of over 100m tracks. Pricing is A$12.99 (US$10.99 and £10.99) a month, with an optional add-on for DJs offering stem separation for tracks.

In addition to high-quality audio and all the expected features, Tidal has more than 650,000 videos and concert live streams.

Other non-major companies offering music listening alternatives include Bandcamp, Napster (yes, the former peer-to-peer filesharing service has gone legal), Qobuz and Pandora.

Third-party services can help with transferring playlists between different streaming apps. Photograph: Ted Hsu/Alamy

Transferring playlists

The biggest issue for people looking to switch is transferring your long-curated playlists. This is made easier through third-party services. If you want it to be fast you’ll have to pay but if you don’t have many to transfer or have the time, you can usually convert one playlist at a time for free.

Popular options include the app SongShift (although it is only available on iOS) and Soundiiz (which runs in a web browser). You’ll need to give whichever app you choose access to the accounts you are switching over but you can remove access once you are done.

The services will usually flag if a song on the playlist can’t be found. Sometimes it’s as simple as a mismatch with the exact name of the song and it can be found as a different mix or title.

How well do the services pay artists?

The companies tend to keep the information about how much they pay artists for each stream a closely guarded secret but a report from industry blog Trichordist in 2020 gives us a picture of the rough payments artists can expect.

According to the report, Spotify pays US$0.00348 a stream, Apple Music pays US$0.00675 a stream, Amazon pays US$0.00426, Google pays US$0.00554 and Tidal pays US$0.00876. Surprisingly, the fitness company Peloton comes out on top of the list, paying US$0.03107 a stream. Napster also rates higher than others at US$0.00916.

But if you want to support artists more directly, you can buy vinyl, or digital copies of the music through iTunes or similar services, or pay directly through Bandcamp or SoundCloud.