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big_dinghy

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Spotify bricks $90 Car Thing device without customer recourse

techcrunch.com
58 points·by big_dinghy·قبل سنتين·3 comments

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big_dinghy
·قبل سنتين·discuss
I find Spotify's library system deeply lacking. The only update I have seen is they changed like/dislike songs to 'hearting' songs - and they removed the default view from 'Custom Order' playlists to 'Recently Listened.'

I want control over how my library is organized and made accessible to me. Any basic library system would allow me to tag music and create ways of organizing music in a way that works for me.

For example, I can't view a catalogue of my downloaded songs - only albums and playlists.

What if I could explore music by entering a mode to listen to music as if I were at the time I was in college, considering what I was listening to then?

What if I want to listen to the music I've listened to the most- view the stats of what I listen to, like last.fm's scrobbling?

Why hasn't there been a music video made available in Spotify?

Why isn't there a way for Artists to interact with fans in a meaningful way beyond promotions? Why is there still a barrier to entry for Artists to make their music accessible to an audience- they still have to go through an costly, label-esque intermediary. Why haven't they attracted the DIY scene of bandcamp and built better goodwill?

Further, Spotify's playlist/song centric model promotes only listening to a small number of songs from a large number of artists. I wish they invested in allowing for listeners to discover music in different modalities- like enabling someone who wants to seek out and listen to a whole new album.

A common take, but their recommendations are tired and often just songs I already listen to. Why must their recommendation also be kept behind small sample sizes like the 'Discover Weekly?' Why can't I query/paginate through recommendations- such as viewing artists I might like if I like these sets of artists?

My really only options for discovery are finding music on a lucky chance on a radio- or actively clicking through "Related Artists." - or more likely, not on Spotify.

Further, I cannot get Spotify to understand that I have multiple listening profiles. I sometimes want to listen to jazz or post-rock for background music. In terms of music discovery- I want to find more in my preferred genres, and not have lofi-hip-hop interrupt my listening session. This has never been possible.

They used to support native app integrations- the only way you could use a music visualizer- not anymore.

New features I can think of- there's been the recent DJ- which is a worse version than an app that predated it, Radiant- which is more creative and does a better job at blending AI by taking the form of a robotic person who can provide weather updates.

To then hear that they are investing on building B2B software with commercializing Backstage is concerning. It further hurts their ethos to learn that they are pushing 'Ghost' artists to avoid paying royalties to deserving artists.
big_dinghy
·قبل سنتين·discuss
Spotify only offers chat support via its website. Attempts to receive a refund have been met with request for customer location and receipt. Support mentions the backend team will reach out by email, "after a few hours." No followup has been sent after 24 hours and requests for update.

As a decade-long Spotify premium user, I am disappointed by this poor experience and wastefulness. Over the course of using their product, there have been few new, impactful features. I do not believe the company can offer a compelling service at their pricepoint and will seek alternatives.