Why I'm ditching Spotify for physical music formats in 2025 - and going back to the basics

The idea of having millions of tracks at my fingertips became a reality when Spotify first launched in 2008.

No longer did I have to contend with how much space I would need on my Zune (ask your parents), as the catalogue the Swedish-based streaming service offered meant that I could retain hard drive space for… well… did I need hard drive space from there on in?

But 17 years later, Spotify has grown from that weird app on your phone that not too many people were familiar with, to part of everyday language. 'Did you listen to that new Chappell Roan song?' 'No, it’s on Spotify - I’ll Spotify.'

But a lot has changed over those years; the company has been hit with numerous complaints, from hosting Joe Rogan’s podcast to how much artists actually earn from royalties through the service.

That’s not mentioning the most recent problem; Daniel Ek investing money into Helsing, a European defence technology company focused on developing AI systems for military applications, including those for drones and battlefield targeting.

That’s led to artists, such as Deerhoof, to decide that the money they help Spotify make is something they cannot do in good conscience. I’ve also had a few bands, from back in the days I used to release music, ask if I can remove their stuff from Spotify - despite the ubiquity of the service.

But the reason I am forgoing Spotify is far simpler. Although I am also not a fan of paying for a subscription that may help fund a war machine (for lack of a better term), it isn’t merely that.

For the life of me, I don’t think I need that amount of music at my disposal - and therein lies two operative words here: disposal and disposable.

Choice overload and the problem with Spotify

You might be familiar with the concept of choice overload, as we’ve written about it before. For me, it is a real problem. It’s why when at the end of the working day I put on Netflix or Prime Video, I’m met with numerous options, and I instead spend most of my time thinking about what I want to watch, rather than going in committed to what I do want to watch.

It’s very much the same when it comes to music; maybe I’m getting old and my patience with technology is changing, but I find myself more often than not sitting in silence during the day rather than putting Spotify on.

It never used to be that way, and as someone who has previously belittled the importance of radio for artists owing to the way we all access music this century, I actually am a hypocrite – I have been enjoying the radio again.

Why? Because the choice has been taken away from me and instead ‘curated’ by music programmers. It still all boils down to what artists are considered ‘du jour’ this week, but to have hours of music with conversations between moments is the respite I think I require these days.

I don’t get that same feeling from Spotify, and before people sound out ‘that sounds like a you problem,’ I am happy to admit it is. My patience for some reason is getting thinner the greyer I get. I’ve been called a boomer for my attitude sometimes. Great.

But for all the recommended, customised, curated playlists created for me based on what I have been listening to, my Spotify Wrapped will demonstrate there’s only a handful of acts I still use Spotify for. Is it worth £16.99 per month when that money could be used towards a CD or a vinyl from a local act?

There is a reason I’ve been extolling the virtues of compact discs since the beginning of the year: unlike Spotify, an album on CD, vinyl, or cassette tape has a definitive start and a definitive end.

The wall of noise that is Spotify’s algorithm

To put it into some perspective, let’s say I end up listening to Nirvana’s Nevermind; I’ll enjoy the album, but then, when the album is finished and it segues into the ‘recommendations’ based on Spotify’s algorithm, it all just becomes a wall of noise.

It’s akin to just having non-descript sound on at times, and hence why the operative word is ‘disposable.’ Am I enjoying the fact that I can listen to whatever I want free from commercial interruptions or discussion about upcoming releases, or is it just a disposable form of entertainment that is just put on for the sake of ‘having something on in the background’?

It used to be, and still is in many respects, an event when an album finally dropped, and those of us of a certain age can remember lining up outside of HMV or Fopp to pick up the latest album we’ve coveted since reading about it in magazines and following their music videos on television. It was a full package.

Now? I can pre-save an album to Spotify, and it’ll just appear in my library; there is no pomp and pageantry anymore. Instead, it just feels like I’ve ordered my meal on a flight and, low and behold, there it is… not quite nourishing but just doing the job to keep me sustained.

That’s why I think people are turning back to having tangible items with music on them, be it vinyl, cassette, CD, or Minidisc. Whatever takes your fancy. Maybe part of that is the realisation that royalty rates for physical items still command more than streaming services, or maybe this post-internet movement of removing ourselves more from the digital world has led us back to a halcyon era where we could hold the album we’ve been waiting for.

For me, it’s that combination of still enjoying the ‘ritual’ of pulling a CD sleeve out, reading the inlay, and allowing myself the time to digest an album once it has finished. Rather, as it were, not allowing myself that moment and instead gorging myself, without reason, on more music.

Okay, there might be a reason – that Spotify Wrapped can’t have Bush as a top-rated artist for another year in a row.

Interestingly, when I posited the notion on Facebook of cancelling Spotify in favour of buying CDs, an overwhelming number of people agreed with it. Some asking why that opinion was so popular, others offering advice such as supporting artists directly using Bandcamp might be more of a viable way to support people.

But for me, as I pop on Charli XCX’s remix version of ‘brat’, on CD, it’s that content moment after an album has finished that has led me to eschew Spotify for now. It might sound like I have a lack of self-control regarding the use of the streaming service, but as it stands, I’ve been enjoying music way more this way in recent months than the ‘onslaught’ of options Spotify has.

As my father used to say – you can only listen to one thing once. He’s right – so maybe it’s time to give up the subscription permanently and instead go back to basics, discovering music through word of mouth instead of what an algorithm is pushing, and adorning my shelves with CDs once again.

Something you can’t do with streaming tracks.

Are you still a fan of Spotify or are you too finding yourself looking at other services and other ways to listen to music? Share your thoughts by leaving a comment below.