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

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351–360 of 963 posts

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

#351
post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

You can still buy and download MP3s of pretty much anything through Amazon Prime Music.

You can do that with iTunes as well.

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

#353
post #327
post #255

Good. Spotify has a pretty cheap paid option that removes all of that. To those who justify wanting the paid service for nothing by saying Spotify won't "take responsibility" or "assume liability" for their ads or those ads "might deliver malware" or are "intrusive" as a weak rationalization, you present a false dichotomy. There are at least three options: 1. Pay for the service 2. Suffer through the ads 3. Don't use…

Contrary to popular belief, ads can be delivered without arbitrary code execution. The Spotify app already has the ability to deliver audio and video, that's all they need. The mistake here is letting third-parties onto users devices. It's a disgusting industry-wide practice that needs to stop. Using the existing audio/video delivery system would render "ad blockers" useless. "thrid-party blockers" would still work a…

You don't even have to go that far. You could let ads still be html iframes with text/image/video/audio content. Just no javascript or cookies. (enforcable via csp sandbox)

And "acceptable ads" policies of blockers could require those properties. They wouldn't even need a fixed whitelist or cooperate with specific companies for that, all they have to do is allow iframes with appropriate CSP rules. I.e. it's a vendor-agnostic approach.

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

#354
post #255

Good. Spotify has a pretty cheap paid option that removes all of that. To those who justify wanting the paid service for nothing by saying Spotify won't "take responsibility" or "assume liability" for their ads or those ads "might deliver malware" or are "intrusive" as a weak rationalization, you present a false dichotomy. There are at least three options: 1. Pay for the service 2. Suffer through the ads 3. Don't use…

> 1-2 coffees a month Where do you buy coffee that one coffee costs $10?! (or even $5?) I still don't think it's a lot of money, but not quite so trivial.

I typically buy at least 1 coffee a day for $7 at starbucks. Without this, I cannot function. I still cannot justify paying for any media. Certainly not $10+/month for Spotify or Netflix. Sorry. I don't care this seems inconsistent, its consistent to my own beliefs.

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

#355

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

GP would need to remember to generate codes in advance and write them down and bring them to work, on a regular basis. And keep track of which codes were used. Can't speak for others, but this would be way too much effort for me to even entertain. This is why I really dislike forced two factor authentication. It might make sense in a lot of circumstances, but not for everyone . --- Edit: Although, if we're talking ab…

That's not a great scenario for me, either. I'm currently paying $7.99/mo for GPM because I've been a subscriber since the beta. If I switch to another google account just for GPM, I will end up paying $2/mo more.

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

#356
post #346

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A non-paying customer who doesn't listen to ads has absolutely zero value to Spotify. Why shouldn't they block them?

A non-paying customer who doesn't listen to ads has absolutely zero value to Spotify. I'd challenge this because they can convert to paid users or advertise the service via word of mouth, or probably provide other value as well (user data, listening habits, etc.). However, even if these users have zero value to Spotify, then why terminate them? Spotify is getting some negative press over it, so it seems like a net lo…

> However, even if these users have zero value to Spotify, then why terminate them?

When I go to a restaurant and eat without paying, why do they kick me out?

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

#357

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…

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.

The technical challenge of getting something for free, without restriction, without digital restrictions management, able to be shared, in an archival form that will last decades is worth 100x the cost for whatever trash Big Media will sell you.

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

#358
post #335

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well sure, then don't use Spotify, what's the problem? If a business is offering a product at terms you don't like, how exactly is that bad? Just don't use the product.

You mean they're not allowed to complain about it on the internet?

They're "allowed" to do whatever they want, and I'm allowed to think their complaining reeks of entitlement and selfishness.

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

#359
post #170

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So the reason for that has more to do with my corporate firewall than anything. I do pay for subscription services that I enjoy more than Spotify (currently, Google Play Music and Tidal). However, I cannot have a phone at work, so I can't log into GPM (2FA requires the phone), and Tidal is blocked for other reasons. So that basically just leaves Spotify. I don't want to pay for a third subscription service that I onl…

Google's 2FA doesn't require a phone. Use a USB token, use a secondary email, or use a single recovery code and leave the account logged in in a separate browser used only for GPM.

Only one of those is sort of an option for me. USB tokens = disallowed. Accessing personal email at work = disallowed. Using a single recovery code is a possibility, but I would have to rotate through them constantly (see other comments in this thread).

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

#360
post #142
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…

Bandcamp is definitely my favourite platform for buying music. No DRM, flac format available if that's your thing. Artists can put up both digital and physical merch. Wish they had a more fully-featured experience for streaming music on PC. Downloading to play in foobar is a bit of a faff sometimes!

Yep buying a lot of my music via Bandcamp. 7digital is good for more mainstream stuff and world music.
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