I’ve had YouTube Music since it was Google Music, but the price has recently doubled and at the same time I’ve started noticing my “Radio” keeps playing the same dozen songs over and over again. Started to feel like I was listening to Triple M.
Yesterday was the final straw as every song played on repeat until you manually skipped which is just… wtf? How does that even happen?
I have jumped on to Spotify for the minute, but find it is too heavily focused on “pop” music - it seems to choose songs that are broadly more popular, but aren’t really the same as what I’m choosing to play. I somehow always end up back with top 50 chart artists in the queue, even if I started on like bluegrass or hillbilly or something. Also if I select a song or artist and choose “Radio”, it always the same 50 songs and then just stops which doesn’t seem like what “Radio” should be at all.
What other options are there that are accessible from Australia, and preferably have a decent amount of Australian local content? I have zero interests in podcasts being jammed in, I just want music. And preferably music that I can just say “play stuff that sounds like this” and it’ll go on a deep dive to focus on things I haven’t heard before.
Critical:
- No ads
- Able to actually choose the music and skip and what not, so not Sirius or similar
- Good catalogue of Australian artists
- Android and Desktop clients
- “Family” plan or similar for 2 people
Budget not really an issue.
You won’t find what you are looking for using streaming business models. Just go back to buying your music instead of renting it. They can’t change the price, they can’t remove your favourite stuff, you can listen anywhere, and you arent locked into an algorithm feeding you stuff the highest bidder wants pushed.
Try bandcamp
Buying music directly (or through something like Bandcamp) also better supports the artists who created it. I would rather put my money into a new album every month or two than spend it on a streaming subscription.
The problem is that I wouldn’t have discovered most of the artists I like without streaming services. I go to concerts and buy merch instead.
Reading OP, i thought the same. The problem seems to be a sorting issue they have with the algorithm. Quit the reliance on that, rely instead on curated song lists and OP might have a happier time whatever new service they end up with.
I like this scene from the film ‘Vengeance’ about music streaming algorithms, especially the line “you’re not hearing other peoples voices - you’re just hearing your voice get played back at you”.
Yeah, wow. Exactly. I hadn’t heard about this movie before. But yeah, hits the same point i’s making! With better looking delivery!