Why I Left Spotify in 2025

Why I Left Spotify

I made my first Spotify payment on Friday, September 9th, 2011, and remained a loyal customer for fourteen years. During that time, I've watched the platform evolve from a focused music streaming service into something broader and more complex. While Spotify continues to serve millions of users effectively, it just doesn't work for me anymore. I prefer choosing my own music and podcast content rather than having algorithms suggest what I should listen to.

My Spotify Era (2011 → 2025)

Before Spotify, managing my music library had become a chore. I spent countless hours with MP3tag software, updating ID3 tags, trying different organizational systems, never quite happy with the navigation. I'd been through several iterations over the years, and the whole process was exhausting.

When Spotify Premium launched in the UK, it solved these headaches instantly. Streaming felt revolutionary - freedom from endless MP3-tag tinkering, the content delivered directly via their network, everything just worked. Eventually, I moved to a Premium Duo plan with my partner, which we maintained for the last two years. We talked it through before hitting "Cancel" - both of us felt the same way about the platform's direction.

Why I Left

Over time, continuous UI overhauls replaced the once-clean layout with increasing complexity. Features I never asked for began dominating the experience - the AI DJ, aggressive podcast tiles crowding my music, "Recommended Shows" I'd never asked for burying my own playlists. The home screen kept defaulting to podcasts, pushing my carefully curated music aside. The app's performance degraded too, with slower load times and clunky navigation.

The core issue was how recommendations kept getting in the way. Spotify would default to recommended content rather than my own saved music and playlists, and crucially, I couldn't switch this behavior off.

The breaking point came while trying to visit my mom in hospital. I was already running late, fighting with the recommendation-centric home screen and slow mobile data latency just to find the podcasts I wanted to listen to. The app felt user-hostile when all I needed was the content it knew I liked cached and ready. The interface that once helped me now actively hindered me when I needed it most.

I discovered AntennaPod - a free, minimalist podcast app that immediately met my needs. The contrast was stark: AntennaPod is ~9 MB, focused on doing one thing well, while I was paying for a bloated service fighting against my preferences. Decision made: subscription cancelled.

Rediscovering my black 2005 iPod Classic reinforced my decision. It still held reggae mixtapes and Lee "Scratch" Perry dub tracks totally absent from Spotify's catalogue. The platform's millions of tracks meant nothing if it lacked the specific music I wanted.

Beyond missing music, I wanted tight control over my podcast feeds. In an age of disinformation, podcast feeds are how I dodge misinformation - no algorithmic inserts. With AntennaPod, I choose my sources directly and can listen to podcasts I am actually interested in like Ones and Tooze or The Rachman Review on my terms.

Life After Spotify

The shift has been revealing. When I play Talking Heads' Stop Making Sense on CD, it stops at the end - no autoplay dragging me into something the algorithm thinks is similar. Each album feels like a complete artifact rather than what Huxley called soma - that constant drip of content designed to keep you passive.

Finding that compilation of all UB40's 1980s singles in a record store brought genuine discovery back into my life. My friend's DJ set from Sheffield uni in 2003, preserved as an MP3, represents the kind of personal musical history no streaming service can replicate.

I'd been streaming Spotify through my PS5, where every track gets up-scaled into Dolby Atmos. On paper that sounds like an upgrade, but the result felt thin—extra reverb, smeared bass, no real punch. The moment I switched to Stereo Direct and played the same album from my plain old CD player, the mix snapped back to life: crisp cymbals, tight low-end, space between instruments. Drop the needle on a vinyl copy and the improvement is even more obvious—warmth, depth, and a sense of being in the room with the music. That A/B test told me convenience was costing me something real.

I've moved to foobar2000 on my phone syncing with my NAS library. The £16.99 I used to hand over to Spotify now travels a different route. A couple of weeks ago, over a pint with my old colleague James Green, I was grumbling about subscription bloat when he said, "Why not give that money to artists directly on Bandcamp Friday?" The idea stuck. Every first Friday of the month I pick up two new releases—records I actually own—paid for by the cash that once vanished into a Premium Duo fee.

What I've Gained

The pros are clear: better sound through my hi-fi, actual ownership of music, and intentional discovery through Malvern's second-hand shops¹. Yes, I hear adverts when accessing some content now, and maintaining my own library requires effort. But these are acceptable trade-offs for regaining control.

This isn't a call for everyone to abandon Spotify - it's simply a reminder to evaluate whether services still earn their fees. If you're experiencing algorithm fatigue, simpler tools or physical formats might rekindle your connection with music.

Stepping off the mainstream platform reminded me that music listening doesn't have to be passive consumption. Whether it's curated playlists or algorithmic discovery, physical media or streaming, what matters is that your approach actually serves you.