You might have already heard of movements to divest from Spotify and other streaming services lately, but if not, here’s a recap on why:
– Spotify’s CEO Daniel Elk has invested over 600 million euros in AI war technology through a German company called Helsing.
– Spotify uses its platform to promote ICE recruitment advertisements
– They promote AI ‘bands’ and ‘artists’ without disclosing that they’re AI
You can read more about it in this ABC article:
And Apple isn’t safe! Their CEO, Tim Cook, donated 1 million dollars towards Trump’s inauguration! Apple also removed ‘ICEBlock’ from the App Store in 2025. ‘ICEBlock’ is a community app designed to share information about ICE agents to protect their neighbours and communities.
And if, like me, you’re not too keen on the idea of your streaming service contributions going to Israel, this doesn’t leave that many options for a music streaming service. We’re basically left with Qobuz, a French music streaming and purchasing service that costs $16.65aud per month, or Bandcamp, which allows users to purchase digital downloads of songs as well as physical copies and merchandise online.
Qobuz pays around $0.018 per stream (one of the highest royalty rates available to artists on music platforms) and a 30% cut of download purchases. Bandcamp takes a 15% cut of digital sales and 10% on physical merchandise, so it’s the most ethical option if the goal is to pay your favourite artists.
But allow us to escape from the online world for a moment, and enter a new realm:
Physical Media
If there’s one hill I’ll die on, it’s that physical media reigns supreme. Remember how Netflix used to brag about having no ads? yeah….I do too. Apple’s devices come with a laughable amount of iCloud storage to make a sleazy upsell, and a PlayStation 5 can hold about 10 games before you need to drop $200 on an SSD to store anything more. Pathetic.
The companies that create the digital media we buy don’t have our best interests at heart, or even the interests of the artists we listen to. It’s all about the money.
And this is why I wanted to find a way to listen to, discover and share music in a way that genuinely supports artists, creates connection, and enhances the sub-culture and community.
LISTEN TO CD’S, VINYL, TAPE!
Let’s start off with a guide on how to explore CD’s. It’s probably a good time to remind you that you need something to play CD’s on. This could be a car player, a computer or a laptop, and most DVD players will be compatible too. It’s also important to remember- one of the coolest things about CD collecting is that you can transfer audio files from disc to laptop and then to your phone, and vice versa.
If you don’t have one already, you’ll need an external DVD/CD drive or ‘burner’. These are about $30-60 from an electronics or department store, but I encourage you to check your local CEX, op shops, or online marketplaces for a secondhand one to save a little cash. A CD/DVD writer allows you to transfer audio files from a laptop and ‘burn’ them onto a disc. Similarly, it allows you to ‘rip’ the audio from a disc and download it as files on your laptop. Note that all DVD writers can write CDs (just the audio), but a CD burner will not write video. Once we have our burner, we have a few options for our listening experience:
1. Buy albums online ✮ burn CDs ✮ make playlists ✮ share with friends ✮ copy, re-download + re-burn unlimited times
2. Buy physical albums ✮ rip audio onto laptop ✮ download to phone files ✮ use downloads to create playlists on your phone
3. Download MP3 files FREE with a YouTube>MP3 converter ✮ burn onto disc or download to phone
As you might have noticed, there’s a circular nature to this activity wherein owning the music in one form means you automatically own it in the other. Got the physical copy? Now you’ve got the digital too, and any downloadable audio file can be burned onto a disc. You get it.
What I like about this is that it breeds connection between friends, family, and fans. I’ve been gifted (and given as gifts myself) many a CD, and it is genuinely one of my favourite experiences!
When my friend Lauren has a b-sides album to show me of a band we both love, its a nice opportunity to lay in my bed, pop the disc into the player and appreciate the album in its intended form. And all the while, I get to think of my dear friend who shares this passion, and which songs they must have liked the most, and which songs this band might play when we see them this April, and “ohh, I love this riff, I bet that’s the one they were explaining yesterday”.
I’ve also received Paramore demos and unreleased demos of friends’ music, all of which were equally enjoyable listening experiences.
I know it might sound a bit corny, but this hobby makes me feel closer to my friends, to the artists, the community and the music itself. It feels like this is how music should be shared, explored. Between friends, between humans.
And honestly, I’m just fucking tired of everything suggested to me in life coming from an algorithm, or an advertisement, or an AI-generated playlist. *barf*
I’ll come back and link a guide on how to do the burning and attach it here in the days to come 🙂
Are you still in love with your oppressor?
take care x
violet