Update; I went with Tidal. I’m a bit disappointed that no competitor has functionality like Spotify Connect without licensed hardware. I got Tidal running under Mopidy on my media box but I have to use a web browser and the Mopidy front end that works so so instead of the mobile app or desktop client. I don’t feel like shelling out for another third party service or change my amp when I’ve got a decent setup for everything else. I already miss the ability to seamlessly go from mobile to speakers to a computer in a different room. Weird because it really doesn’t sound very complicated to me when every Tidal client is already online and disconnects when playback starts on another device.

I’m getting fed up with Spotify because all the usual reasons and now the CEO calling music “content” with “nearly no production costs”. Fuck that, time to vote with my wallet after being a user after an early beta invite.

What I want is a service that

  1. pays music creators decently,

  2. that has a comparable catalogue outside the charts

  3. and that works well with a good UI on Windows, Linux, Android

  4. and either headless on a RPi or has a integration with Kodi with high bitrates or even lossless.

Searching for comparisons drowns me in click baits and auto-generated content. I’d appreciate some real world experiences.

Edit; Thank you kindly for advice on self hosting etc. I am well aware of that option, a hardy sailor from the olden days as I am. Nowadays though I can and want to pay for the hassle free immediate availability music catalogue as a streaming service that in turn pays the artists for their delicious sounds in my ear holes.

  • @[email protected]
    11•6 months ago

    I get this by self-hosting. You can try Plex, Jellyfin, some complex tunneled MPD setup. I’m sure there are other ways.

    1. I pay artists as directly as possible.

    2. Anything in any format that I can find and record is available.

    3. & 4. I can choose the appropriate hosting method based on context. Playing on my phone or through a smart speaker? PlexAmp app is very polished and makes navigating a large library mostly painless. Plex mobile app can work in offline mode too if you download before loosing Internet. Playing on another Linux machine, maybe a headless one connected to the stereo? I setup an NFS share and/or use MPD. There are android apps to remote control an MPD server that’s directly connected to a sound system too.

    I don’t think a service will ever be able to match what I can do with self-hosting. I’m not even very good at it or put that much effort into it anymore. Other people have done so much more and there are some crazy home brew setups out there.

    • @Anamnesis
      3•6 months ago

      Are there Arrs for music? How does that work?

      • @[email protected]
        5•6 months ago

        Lidarr. Mostly works just like the others. Seems best equipped to grab full album or discography collections. It can grab search queries from a number of other sources, so that you could (as an example) add a song to a certain Spotify playlist and Lidarr would check that list and add the song/album/artist per your settings.