Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Spotify will now suspend or terminate accounts it finds are using ad blockers

techcrunch.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

101–110 of 963 posts

Re: Spotify will now suspend or terminate accounts it finds are using ad blockers

#101

Post by jasonjayr »

redsky17 wrote: post #81
tomschlick wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> so I can't log into GPM (2FA requires the phone) Use one of your backup codes?

I could be mistaken, but it was my understanding that those backup codes are one-time-use only, and that using one basically burns it forever. My cookies get cleared every single time I close my browser, so I would have to continually log back in and keep burning more codes. If I'm wrong about this... that would be excellent.

You can keep a sheet of about 5-10 of them, and generate more when needed.

It's inconvenient, but if your in an environment that disallows phones or other portable electronics (like 2FA Fobs/USB sticks), it may be the only reasonable way.

Re: Spotify will now suspend or terminate accounts it finds are using ad blockers

#102

Post by npongratz »

scarface74 wrote: post #62
nixpulvis wrote: post #20

Considering how services like Spotify and Apple Music incourage extra data usage, and randomally delete music as they see fit, I'm finding myself thinking more and more of these services as discovery tools (akin to radio) and less like media players (they aren't). One day very soon I'll be playing all my music in something else entirely again. While it's impossible to brush off the value of streaming services like Sp…

You can. You can freely mix purchased DRM free music, music from other sources and streaming music on Apple Music.

I believe GP addressed that:

> services like Spotify and Apple Music incourage extra data usage, and randomally delete music as they see fit

I certainly wouldn't use a service that deletes my music.

Re: Spotify will now suspend or terminate accounts it finds are using ad blockers

#103

Post by BoiledCabbage »

minikites wrote: post #70
bad_user wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What’s fascinating to me is the length people go to in order to justify freeloading. If you don’t like the ads, Spotify has a subscription plan. In my country that’s €5 / month. Surely that’s less money spent than the effort it takes to pirate music for usage with foobar2000.

So you're rewarding them for bad behavior with your money. Think about what this does to their incentives.

Then don't use their service. Why is this made out to be difficult. If you want to take/consume their service then pay, for it via ads or subscription.

If you don't like that they have an ad based model, and personally want to boycott their subscription service because of it then do so and buy your own music.

It's not complicated. 'Not rewarding their behavior' is simple - don't use Spotify. Anything else is very transparent, after-the-fact justification of your desire for theft.

"Hey I really like this bike share service, but I don't think it's safe, so I'm gonna steal the bike, improve the safety and then ride it whenever I want. I don't want to reward their behavior of renting bikes I feel aren't safe."

Re: Spotify will now suspend or terminate accounts it finds are using ad blockers

#104

Post by rebane2001 »

stronglikedan wrote: post #54
antoineMoPa wrote: post #35

I dont get why people use spotify instead of listening to free online radios from anywhere in the world. As a bonus, its like travelling. There are ads, but they target other people than you so its not even annoying (you will not be influenced to buy a car at a dealership in another country). Note that if you are the kind who likes targeted ads, this does not apply to you.

I use Spotify because I like their discovery service, large library, and the fact that they are simply the best client I've found for multi-device listening (going from office to car to headphone to home stereo seamlessly). I pay for Spotify because their service offers great value and ad ad-free, skip-free experience.

I hate the Spotify client overall, but the multi-device integration stuff is done so well If I'm listening to music, I don't have to think what device I am doing it from, I can just grab my phone, laptop or tablet to navigate/change songs and it works just like magic

Re: Spotify will now suspend or terminate accounts it finds are using ad blockers

#105

Post by bubblethink »

Wowfunhappy wrote: post #85
bicubic wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Between the dwindling Netflix catalog and increasingly hostile subscription service experience on Spotify, I have found myself flying the black flag again. I still have subscriptions to both, but I will be cancelling them this year. I don't want their shitty analytics payloads, I don't want their shitty anti-adblocker tech. I don't want their shitty tactics of deleting random songs off my playlists. I just want the c…

> It's not because I don't want to pay for the content, I'd happily pay 2-3x under the right circumstances. It's because no one wants to take my money and provide the content I want without bundling it with drm, ads, dark patterns, insane region segmentation. Can't help you with movies/Netflix, but in the case of Spotify, you could go back to buying mp3's. Google Play, Amazon, iTunes (aac format), etc will all sell y…

mp3s are compressed and lossy. Makes them unsuitable for buying. There are a few sites like bandcamp that sell flacs. Not sure why the big players don't let you buy flacs. It's not like there's an engineering issue. Maybe they get the rights only for lossy files.

Edit: Since some will invariably point out that you can't hear flacs, here's a better argument. Even if you prefer lossy music, there are and will be better codecs than mp3. So the choice of encoding should be up to you so that you can choose a better codec in the future if you wish. And mp3 wasn't even free until last year. So until 2018, it was illegal to play mp3s on a free system.

Re: Spotify will now suspend or terminate accounts it finds are using ad blockers

#106

Post by snegu »

furicane wrote: post #36

It's fascinating how we, humans, are lazy. We're lazy to the point where we'd gladly allow services like Spotify to control our computers just so they can make sure their ad was delivered. We'll even justify it by "well, I really listen to a lot of music". All I want is to push a button and get some bearable-noise during my 8 hours at work. I don't know about the rest, but I really hate when someone makes a fool out…

Are people lazy, or do they have much more important things to concern themselves with? I'd rather get work done and spend time with my family than spend time looking for the "ideal" way to listen to music.

Re: Spotify will now suspend or terminate accounts it finds are using ad blockers

#107

Post by martimarkov »

bad_user wrote: post #39
redsky17 wrote: post #29

The only reason I use an ad-blocker with Spotify in the first place is that they have an abundance of NSFW ads that play. I'm not really comfortable with Trojan advertisements while I'm sitting in the office plugging away. It's definitely their right to deny service if people are freeloading... but there could be other people like me who wouldn't use an ad blocker in the first place (on Spotify, at least) if the ads…

Then why don’t you pay for a subscription? If you keep listening to Spotify, surely it brings you value. I know I’m getting value from it. I listen to music all day at work and personally I don’t have many services that I use so often.

Because you already pay with your time and attention when they play ads. Why should you pay for a subscription?

Re: Spotify will now suspend or terminate accounts it finds are using ad blockers

#108

Post by justtopost »

pluc wrote: post #31
nixpulvis wrote: post #20

Considering how services like Spotify and Apple Music incourage extra data usage, and randomally delete music as they see fit, I'm finding myself thinking more and more of these services as discovery tools (akin to radio) and less like media players (they aren't). One day very soon I'll be playing all my music in something else entirely again. While it's impossible to brush off the value of streaming services like Sp…

We had better in MP3s but the industry didn't like it. Personally, if you don't own the content I don't think you can whine when it goes away.

The point here is we thought we owned access. That occasionally was revoked without notice, or recourse.

Re: Spotify will now suspend or terminate accounts it finds are using ad blockers

#109

Post by schrijver »

bicubic wrote: post #58
dessant wrote: post #13

They allow advertisers to run JS on your device, and ads are a trendy way to deliver malware. People are using ad blockers not just to hide annoyances and to improve performance, but to protect themselves from bad actors. https://spotifyforbrands.com/en-US/ad-experiences/ > JavaScript or iFrame Tags: All third-party tags and tracking URLs need to be in https format. I was on the fence about this because there is a le…

Between the dwindling Netflix catalog and increasingly hostile subscription service experience on Spotify, I have found myself flying the black flag again. I still have subscriptions to both, but I will be cancelling them this year. I don't want their shitty analytics payloads, I don't want their shitty anti-adblocker tech. I don't want their shitty tactics of deleting random songs off my playlists. I just want the c…

Spotify is a great way to discover and browse music; but it kind of goes with the nature of streaming services that your access to their content is neither as reliable or as anonymous as playing files you’ve downloaded. Then again, major labels now provide lossless DRM free files through Qobuz, Juno Download, Beatport etc (although some region localisation still exists, but once you’ve bought the file that no longer affects you). Smaller labels operate through these platforms as well, and through Bandcamp (which is my favourite platform for buying music). So I do think the situation when it comes to legal access to digital music is much better than it ever was.

Re: Spotify will now suspend or terminate accounts it finds are using ad blockers

#110

Post by scarface74 »

npongratz wrote: post #102
scarface74 wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can. You can freely mix purchased DRM free music, music from other sources and streaming music on Apple Music.

I believe GP addressed that: > services like Spotify and Apple Music incourage extra data usage, and randomally delete music as they see fit I certainly wouldn't use a service that deletes my music.

Apple Music doesn’t delete music you own. Even if they lost the license, you could still have a copy on your own computer and your own backups.
Post reply on HN