I’ve had YouTube Music since it was Google Music, but the price has recently doubled and at the same time I’ve started noticing my “Radio” keeps playing the same dozen songs over and over again. Started to feel like I was listening to Triple M.
Yesterday was the final straw as every song played on repeat until you manually skipped which is just… wtf? How does that even happen?
I have jumped on to Spotify for the minute, but find it is too heavily focused on “pop” music - it seems to choose songs that are broadly more popular, but aren’t really the same as what I’m choosing to play. I somehow always end up back with top 50 chart artists in the queue, even if I started on like bluegrass or hillbilly or something. Also if I select a song or artist and choose “Radio”, it always the same 50 songs and then just stops which doesn’t seem like what “Radio” should be at all.
What other options are there that are accessible from Australia, and preferably have a decent amount of Australian local content? I have zero interests in podcasts being jammed in, I just want music. And preferably music that I can just say “play stuff that sounds like this” and it’ll go on a deep dive to focus on things I haven’t heard before.
Critical:
- No ads
- Able to actually choose the music and skip and what not, so not Sirius or similar
- Good catalogue of Australian artists
- Android and Desktop clients
- “Family” plan or similar for 2 people
Budget not really an issue.
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What’s your home internet like? Got an old PC you can use as a server?
Like you, I’m refusing to cop that massive price increase and I’ve decided to ditch yet another monthly sub.
I’ve dropped my old MP3 collection into Jellyfin and started streaming myself. Using my “liked” song list to slowly update my collection.
Actually, just fired up Subsonic again for fun. Man it hasnt changed in years, but the server software still works perfectly on my test box here at work that has ~5k tracks. The OG Android app hasnt been updated since 2018 yet works flawlessly. Maybe I will just end up hosting the damn tunes myself again.
I ran Subsonic for years, and now run Plex for other stuff which is fed by - among other things - Lidarr, but honestly having to chase down my own stuff sucks. I’ll never match the millions of songs they have on offer.
I took the view that I don’t need to match the millions of songs offered by streaming services, I had a liked list of about 800 songs and rarely play anything else.
If I wasn’t moving between devices and locations; I could probably go back to just filling my phone with music.
I’m still in the experimental stage and I’m not 100% sold on the way Jellyfin handles music. Using Symfonium as the front end and it seems to get around the weirdness of Jellyfin, especially on the car, since Android Auto is a must.
You won’t find what you are looking for using streaming business models. Just go back to buying your music instead of renting it. They can’t change the price, they can’t remove your favourite stuff, you can listen anywhere, and you arent locked into an algorithm feeding you stuff the highest bidder wants pushed.
Try bandcamp
Buying music directly (or through something like Bandcamp) also better supports the artists who created it. I would rather put my money into a new album every month or two than spend it on a streaming subscription.
The problem is that I wouldn’t have discovered most of the artists I like without streaming services. I go to concerts and buy merch instead.
Reading OP, i thought the same. The problem seems to be a sorting issue they have with the algorithm. Quit the reliance on that, rely instead on curated song lists and OP might have a happier time whatever new service they end up with.
I like this scene from the film ‘Vengeance’ about music streaming algorithms, especially the line “you’re not hearing other peoples voices - you’re just hearing your voice get played back at you”.
Yeah, wow. Exactly. I hadn’t heard about this movie before. But yeah, hits the same point i’s making! With better looking delivery!
Personally I use Qobuz. The library isnt the biggest, but everything is CD quality FLAC or better (Hi-Res ftw!) They also have yearly pricing plans, and Duo plans for two people.
You can also buy the music directly, if you don’t want the subscription, and then self-host it on Plex or Jellyfin, etc.
Best of both worlds! I was already running Plex for bancamp purchases and library gaps etc anyway. Plus Qobuz connects directly to Volumio (my Raspberry Pi Hi-Fi streamer) for at-home listening.
To be honest, I still rate Youtube Premium - the bundle that includes Music and ad-free Youtube is just too good a deal, even with the price hike. Some of the alternatives may be a bit cheaper, but you end up paying more if you still want to hang onto ad-free YT.
Given you said budget isn’t an issue, I’d personally still stick with YTM, but I haven’t personally had any issues with its radio function, and while I don’t listen to much Aussie stuff, I do have pretty esoteric tastes and it’s generally pretty decent.
Going from $17 to $34 a month isn’t remotely acceptable or a good deal.
Google, and all the other billion dollar companies, can eat shit! Constantly increasing the price without adding value. You pay and you pay and don’t own anything.
Blocking ads on YouTube is really simple and free. Netflix, Disney, F1, all of them, are easy to find for free. I’ve gone back to piracy for everything this year. I’ve had enough.
I’ve really been liking Tidal. It has a fair shake of Aussie artists and has a radio feature that feels very exploratory. I can go to John Williamson and tap radio and it doesn’t feel like it’s trying to cram Billboard Top 100 down my throat.
Apple Music is very good (and you don’t need an iPhone). For me at least it recommends good songs, but even better you don’t need to use those. There are extensive playlists that are manually curated by experts - for example Aussie Pub Rock is a hundred song playlist that is regularly updated by their team of editors.
Audio quality also tends to be better on Apple Music. They encourage recording studios to produce a “Mastered for iTunes” mix and have strict quality controls as well as training for the recording studio to make sure they do a good job. You won’t find anything amateur with that label but even for professional massive artists I think they sound better there too - because Mastered for iTunes tracks are intended to be listened to with relatively neutral speakers/headphones (the only kind Apple sells) while a lot of other services have professionally mixed sound tracks designed for bass heavy speakers that so many people have nowadays out side of Apple’s walled garden. I find I often need to boost the base to get good sound from Spotify/YouTube Music/etc because they assume your speakers will do that for you.
The difference isn’t subtle - I’m not talking about a 256 vs 320 Kbps encoding difference. The same song from a major artist (e.g. Taylor Swift) will often sound totally different on Apple Music. Wether it sounds “better” depends on your speakers, but with my speakers (which are not from Apple), they do sound better. A lot better.
But personally I’ve gone back to just buying music. The idea that I’ll pay who knows what ever month for the rest of my life… no thanks.
I’ll jump on YouTube occasionally to discover new music, but i’m not paying for it (Apple Music, sadly, has no free tier… but it does have a free trial).
Dezeer, Good selection of non mainstream music, support lossless streaming.
Not a streaming service but JJ has a fair amount of variety and no ads. I also use Spotify, but it took a while for the algorythims to become decent.
Your problem is that you’re relying on their algorithms, which are imperfect, and haven’t given them much training data.
Personally I never use the radio function. I listen to artists I like, I listen to and create playlists I like, and I sometimes listen to recommended songs and add them to my lists if I like them. I would say that I have a pretty broad taste in music - but it’s certainly not traditionally popular music. The last week or two I’ve been purely listening to my “liked” list because there are multiple thousand songs in it.
Bandcamp. Pay the fucking artists you listen to.
I ain’t sending myself broke trying to match the libraries of a Spotify and YouTube Music, that’s just silly
Pirate bay
