I ditched Spotify and set up my own music stack

Original Article ↗ Hacker News Discussion ↗

Motivations for Leaving Spotify / Streaming

  • Desire for control over offline behavior, UI, and avoiding reliance on flaky apps or internet.
  • Concern over artists earning “fractions of pennies” per stream and dislike of opaque platforms and AI-generated “slop.”
  • Fear of content disappearance, edits to tracks, and region/pricing changes in terms of service.

Practicality and Complexity of Self‑Hosting

  • Some see the author’s 10+ component stack as over-engineered; they prefer simple setups: NAS + folder hierarchy + VLC/MPD, or Plex/Jellyfin/Navidrome with a single client.
  • Others enjoy the hobby aspect and report stable setups with Navidrome, Jellyfin, Plex(+Plexamp), Lyrion/Logitech Media Server, Roon, or lightweight Subsonic servers.
  • Backup and infra aren’t free: cloud backups, NAS hardware, and maintenance can exceed a streaming subscription for non‑technical users.

Artist Compensation, Labels, and Streaming Economics

  • Long thread debating what’s “fair”: comparisons to CD-era royalties, radio, and live performance economics.
  • Some argue streaming is a net benefit and distribution is cheaper than ever; others say total real-terms revenue and per‑artist share are down, with labels and platforms capturing most value.
  • Alternative payment models proposed: per-user proportional payouts (your $10 split only among what you listen to), minutes‑based splits, or pay‑per‑play—each with tradeoffs.

Piracy and Legal Ambiguity

  • Strong skepticism about using Lidarr + sabnzbd “for content I’ve purchased”; many assume widespread piracy.
  • Long subthread on whether piracy is “theft” or strictly copyright infringement; moral vs legal framing heavily contested.
  • Some argue pirates often still spend more on music (merch, shows, Bandcamp); others insist unauthorized copying robs artists of income.

Discovery and Curation

  • Key missing piece versus Spotify: frictionless discovery and auto‑playlists. Tools like ListenBrainz/Lidify exist but are clunkier and purchase‑gated.
  • Several users have abandoned recommendation algorithms for human curation: public/online radio, critics, playlists, or scrobbling to last.fm.

Ownership, Cost, and Physical Media

  • Split views: heavy explorers say it’d cost far more than $10–$15/month to buy everything they stream; others mostly replay existing favorites and find buying albums (Bandcamp, CDs, vinyl) cheaper and more durable.
  • Many praise Bandcamp’s revenue split and DRM‑free files; others rebuild libraries from cheap used CDs, vinyl, or long‑held MP3/FLAC collections.