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Ask HN: How is the Spotify app so bad?

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Re: Ask HN: How is the Spotify app so bad?

#31

Post by leokennis »

aramndrt wrote: post #11

Can anyone suggest a minimalist music streaming platform? I'm looking for a digital substitute for collecting CDs, something similar to the old iTunes. Maybe Apple Music is the right choice, or are there other options available?

I find Apple Music excellent for the "I had 800 CD's; now I want those same CD's, but instead in a digital streaming library on my phone".

You can add albums from the Apple Music catalog to your library. In iTunes on Mac you can change the tags if you want ("Making Movies (2020 remaster)" → "Making Movies" or something). You can easily star music, download for offline use, listen in lossless, create playlists, on Mac create smart playlists ("All albums where artis is "AC/DC" and year is between 1980 and 1990") etc.

Re: Ask HN: How is the Spotify app so bad?

#32

Post by GiveOver »

al_borland wrote: post #6

I recently moved from Apple Music to Spotify to see what all the fuss is about, thinking it might get me listening to more music, or different stuff than Apple keeps playing. Using it feels like work and I don’t really get the how they expect users to use the app. I’m tempted to go see if there is a video from the designers explaining their vision so I can use it right. As of now it seems like a mess. Also, their AI…

I too hate the DJ. Not sure why they're trying to push it, the existing system of "daily mix" and "discover weekly" playlists work well in my opinion.

Re: Ask HN: How is the Spotify app so bad?

#33

Post by leokennis »

boxed wrote: post #27
al_borland wrote: post #6

I recently moved from Apple Music to Spotify to see what all the fuss is about, thinking it might get me listening to more music, or different stuff than Apple keeps playing. Using it feels like work and I don’t really get the how they expect users to use the app. I’m tempted to go see if there is a video from the designers explaining their vision so I can use it right. As of now it seems like a mess. Also, their AI…

Spotify plays the music when you tell it to though. I've heard Apple Music streaming can be a bit laggy to start.

This is true. Apple Music is excellent, but slower than the competition when searching and browsing.

Re: Ask HN: How is the Spotify app so bad?

#34

Post by adrianh »

threeseed wrote: post #25
aramndrt wrote: post #11

Can anyone suggest a minimalist music streaming platform? I'm looking for a digital substitute for collecting CDs, something similar to the old iTunes. Maybe Apple Music is the right choice, or are there other options available?

Apple Music and Tidal are the only two with high-res audio. And since they often encode from the 24-bit studio masters you will get better audio quality than ripping from CDs yourself and likely from most “pay as you go” sites.

I'll add another to that list: Qobuz. High-res music, good selection. I've been a paying subscriber for a few years now and can recommend it.

Re: Ask HN: How is the Spotify app so bad?

#35

Post by leokennis »

al_borland wrote: post #6

I recently moved from Apple Music to Spotify to see what all the fuss is about, thinking it might get me listening to more music, or different stuff than Apple keeps playing. Using it feels like work and I don’t really get the how they expect users to use the app. I’m tempted to go see if there is a video from the designers explaining their vision so I can use it right. As of now it seems like a mess. Also, their AI…

Apple Music has nice "radio" channels. One based on your preferences, many based on genres or periods ("downtempo", "90's" etc.) and you can also start one from any song and it will play similar ones.

Re: Ask HN: How is the Spotify app so bad?

#37

Post by marcus_holmes »

I'm semi-convinced it's the bad feedback loop of analytics => product team.

"I'm totally lost in this shitty UI, I have no idea how it's supposed to work" looks very much like "I love this interface, I could spend hours just looking at it" if all you have is analytics data.

Re: Ask HN: How is the Spotify app so bad?

#38

Post by lukan »

raziel2p wrote: post #36

you/we are not the target audience. most people love the auto play features and just want a selection of playlists or radios to put on. this is the majority audience that Spotify makes the most of its money from.

That is probably the answer, even though I do not see why it cannot support both.

For example why is there no "stop after song" feature, sometimes I do not want to be "engaged" but really just listen to one song/podcast and then no more, without having to stop some random shit afterwards.

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