Digital Migrations | My Journey in Ditching Spotify (and all music streaming) for Android
This blog post is part of a series called Digital Migrations, a space for exploring alternatives options when engaging with the digital realm. My research and special interests in the past few years have involved interrogating what it takes to move from one digital ecosystem to another. In that process, I’ve experimented with new platforms: email providers, streaming sites, online storage, app marketplaces, mp3 players and more! This series is an attempt to distill that information to others interested in finding more intentional digital spaces to land!
This post is for educational purposes only.
In my first blog post on Comradery, I wrote about starting my journey in returning to old tech as a means of intentionally engaging with the media I love:
"Last year I made a decision. I was going to make an intentional effort to move away from as many subscription media sources as I could. Partly because fuck useless AI features, partly because I wanted to have more control over the media I'm exposed to and partly because I wanted to tangibly support the creators I actually do like. And we all know, they're making pennies at Spotify and companies like it"
I talked about my experimentation with mp3 players (I used a Zune), making old software usable and the like. I had a great time with my Zune! It was a challenge to get the software working on my computer (s/o to the homie Kai for helping troubleshoot) and tinkering with the hardware. I even ended up buying another Zune for my partner and learned how to replace the battery when it kept dying rapidly.
Then my mini pc died :( and all I had left was my macbook. While I was already familiar with the barriers to working with old hardware and software, this made it way more personal. Because the Zune only works on Windows operating systems, I'm stuck without a way to update my music catalog until I research whether dual booting on a mac is even possible, or I get my hands on another PC and go through the whole process of installing the software and making it work with the current version of Windows, which was already a headache.
To be honest this conundrum was a blessing in disguise, because truthfully.. I hadn't fully divested from Spotify yet, even thought I was really craving a change in the ways that I engage with all kinds of media. I've been on streaming/subscription services since at least 2010, and while I can't deny the convenience of having most music I wanted to hear at my fingertips, it's also often an incredibly overwhelming experience. Have you ever been on a streaming service and had decision paralysis? There's too much to choose from! When I think about how I historically spent my time in Spotify, it's mostly listening to my own curated playlists over and over again, sometimes adding music, but often just enjoying what's already there. So if that's my use case, why not just... own those songs directly?
Now, I was absolutely using my Zune, which was a a really fun experience! I really enjoyed showing it to others to spark conversaton around my interests, but it also wasn't the most convenient. It died faster than my phone (limitations on battery life even with a fresh one) and it needed extra equipment to make it compatible with my car, bluetooth headphones, etc. I'm not giving up on it, but I did want a way to listen to my music on phone, even if it wasn't streaming simply because it's more compatible with today's tech.
So I got into my research bag, experimented a bit and feel really happy with my new setup! All it took was a microSD card, the right open-source application and some tenacity. But I'm going to give you more than that ;) I'll lay out the process of archiving my Spotify, new (really retro) ways of acquiring music and loading them onto your Android phone (sorry iPhone users, I'll get back to yall later with some options).
My Guide to Ditching Spotify for Android
- Organized & archive my playlists and miscellaneous music
I created a spreadsheet file cataloguing each of my playlists. It wasn't likely that I'd go about acquiring each and every song, or even replicating each playlist. I just wanted to document what I listened to while I was there. It's an archive of what I engaged with at a specific time in my life. To simplify the process, I used Chosic Spotify Analayzer which turns my playlists into a .csv which can be read by my open-source Office Suite, LibreOffice.
- Started acquiring my music collection
There are numerous was to build a music collection that you own. Apart from investing in my vinyl collection, my favorite ways are to invest in CD drives, borrow CD's from your community/library or purchase from record stores and rip them onto my computer. You can purchase digital downloads directly from artist sites or bandcamp which generates more revenue from them than streaming. What ended up on my phone was the result of a collection of these methods.
But it was also a reminder that outside of streaming, music acquisition is a slow and steady process. I have about 300 digital songs which sounds like a lot, but trust me, when you listen to music as much as I do, you start to hear the cycle quick. But that's okay! I've ventured into the world of street dance, and studying the music is such a big part of it. When I'm practicing, I get a really intimate understanding of the tracks I perform to. Then I get to wondering about the histories and lineages of tracks and artists. This process can really slow you down and re-build the love of music culture within you.
How you acquire music is up to you, just be sure to enjoy the process! - Organize and backup your files!
As you acquire music, it's key to have some organization system. I try my best to keep a record of my music catalog in case I ever lose it all. You never know what can happen, and since we're leaving the convenience of streaming catalogs, it's up to us to be the record keepers. You may want to organize by genre, playlist or just have it all mushed together, whatever works for your brain! I personally organize by genre and curated playlists I've enjoyed over the years.
This is why I like to create redundancy in my process; if one storage system fails, I always have a backup. My current storage looks like keeping my files on a harddrive, a microSD that I load onto my phone and a music folder in my cloud storage, 3 spaces for my collection to exist. When I get my Zune back up and running, that'll make 4!
Now there are many Android phones that come with a micro-sd slot. Theoretically, you could plug your phone into your computer and add the music to an existing folder on your phone (this should work, but some Android models may block you, definitely read up on your phone and experiment). I just didn't want to eat up my phone storage space and opted to put it on external storage. Be aware that many computers don't come with a microsd slot. Luckily I already had a computer hub that came with the slot. Some hubs only have SD card slots, but you can buy an adaptor like this one
- Choose a music player app
Sorry iPhone users, Im not aware of the options for music players outside of Apple music, though I do believe you can upload your own library on there? I personally wanted to use a player that is open-source, further away from the harms of big tech and so I went with Fossify Music Player! Key features I enjoy:
* Ad-free listening
* Offline access
* Open-source transparency
Most open-source applications won't be found on the google play store. You should check out F-Droid, an app store that focuses on open-source, privacy and security forward applications! I have downloaded quite a few apps from there. Using these apps take some getting used to, grace and patience. They are often run by small, volunteer-run developer teams who do it for the love of the game. But a little slowness and confusion is a small sacrfice for engaging in values-aligned technology.
And that's it! I hope this guide inspires you to take the first step to leaving at least Spotify, and maybe... all music streaming apps! It's been really fun to share my collection with the homies and know that I'm not contributing to an exploitative industry. A smol step, but an important one
LMK if you give this a try! You don't have to do it all at once, it definitely took me over a year from deciding that I wanted to leave Spotify, to it actually happening. One foot in front of the other (҂◡_◡) ᕤ