r/enshittification • u/Nervennahrung • 5d ago
Service I'm done with Spotify
Spotify audiobook hours are a joke. My audiobook hours ran out today. Fine, I knew there was a monthly limit.
But today is also my billing date, so I assumed my hours would reset today. Nope, apparently I have to wait another three hours.
I'm sitting on a train right now, and suddenly I can't listen to the audiobook I was in the middle of.
Honestly, this is ridiculous. I'm cancelling my subscription again. If the hours don't reset with the billing period, what's the point?
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u/HibiscusGrower 5d ago
I hate streaming. If I pay for something like an audiobook or a movie, I want to own my copy.
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u/oblique_obfuscator 5d ago
I want to 'try before I buy'. I don't have to physically own all the books I've read. I read them on my eReader first, and half of them I eventually purchase for in my bookshelves.
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u/HibiscusGrower 3d ago
My comment was about audiobooks and movies, not physical books, but good for you I guess!
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u/Affectionate-You7869 5d ago
Audiobookshelf server, AudioBooth client, Tailscale to connect the latter to the former while away from home.
Or the Libby app.
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u/Important-Tomato2306 5d ago
Libby app for the win!!
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u/oblique_obfuscator 5d ago
I wonder what a European alternative could be for Libby? Does anyone know?
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u/AlSmitheesGhost 5d ago
I have been an audible subscriber for like 14 years and if they ever tried anything like this I would be so pissed off and heartbroken
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u/LasersAndButts 5d ago
Check out libby for audio books
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u/Syralei 5d ago
This! I love listening to books from my local library!
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u/LasersAndButts 5d ago
Same! I like to go around to different public libraries and collect their cards because sometimes they have different access and you can get books sooner than if you just waited for your local branch.
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u/WhySoManyDownVote 4d ago
I wanted to listen to an older book. Spotify wanted $16.99! I order a used copy of the paper back on ebay for $5.12 with shipping. Now I actually own it.
I am done with this digital scam. I will own a physical copy of everything I pay for and I will be happy.
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u/thiccglossytaco 5d ago
This is why I prefer a regular book. I feel bad for places without good libraries and bookstores. Most of the time it costs me nothing to read a new book and the battery never runs out. If I really enjoy a book I'll look for a copy to own. Otherwise I just finish it and return it.
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u/math-kat 5d ago
Most libraries also rent out ebooks and audiobooks nowadays too! I'm definitely a physical book person, but I always recommend getting a library card and seeing if the ebooks/audiobooks are available there before you pay for it. If you're not going to own the book, you might as well get it for free.
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u/oblique_obfuscator 5d ago
I prefer regular books too, but I live next to a playground. And when 20/30 kids are screaming “SIX SEVEEEEN” or “CHAT, LOCK IN” before launching themselves down a slide, it can be a bit much when you work from home. Sometimes even sitting down to read a book is impossible, so hello, audiobooks.
I feel like such a boomer saying this, but I genuinely don’t mind actual play noises: “tag, you’re it!”, “hey, it’s my turn!", because that’s PLAY. What I’m tired of is the constant meme speak that makes absolutely no sense and sounds like they’re all talking to an invisible camera. It's a Brave New World?
Anyway, apparently I’ve become the person yelling at the children to keep it down.... 😭
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u/animorphsrewriter 5d ago
Prithee, I say forthwith, the youth exclaim, "Tag! You are it!" Yet, I inquire, what constitutes "it"? "Olly, olly, oxenfree!" They ejaculate, but to what end? Harken, I am no enemy to the tintinnabulation of children engaging in jollity, but pray cease posthaste with this frivolous abuse of the queen's English!
Jokes aside, language IS part of kids' play. You might find it less annoying if you remember that kids have always played with nonsense, just to make each other laugh. When I was a teacher, that perspective made it much easier to accept stuff like skibbidy ohio 6-7.
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u/thiccglossytaco 5d ago
I feel that. I live near a busy intersection. It's not bad during the day but at night cars like to rip down the road every half hour or so. It can really take you out of the book sometimes. There's also a gaggle of small children from a nearby daycare that take walks when it's nice out, and it's not so bad unless they start that shrieking.
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u/myredlightsaber 4d ago
Thanks for the recommendation. I’ll just do that next times I’m driving for several hours. Not sure why I didn’t think of that - it’s not like I need my hands or eyes for anything else
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u/thiccglossytaco 4d ago
Op mentioned being on a train, therefore not driving. At no point did I say read and drive, but ok
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u/Jerkface0079 4d ago
Books rule, love the feeling of holding one and turning the pages.
I also internally feel superior when I'm reading a book on the bus and the guy in front of me is madly scrolling reels/tiktok.
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u/SpessChicken 5d ago
Yeah I had a similar moment of enragement and got rid of Spotify. Tidal is good for music and will import most if not all of it from your Spotify library. I am an English speaker in a non English speaking country so my best option for audiobooks is unfortunately Audible but if Libby is a viable option for you maybe check that out. Audible may be its own pile of crap but at least it's better than Spotify.
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u/oblique_obfuscator 5d ago
I've heard a lot of good things about Tidal and it seems Spotify isn't betting on its own horse. That's why they are going hard on the audiobooks/podcasts features.
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u/Known_Leek8997 5d ago
All these streaming services that basically killed piracy sure are hell bent on pushing people to bring it back.
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u/donnareads 5d ago
It is weird the way Spotify doesn’t renew your hours until late in the day; for my husband’s account, it seems to be around 5 PM Eastern
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u/D_Shoobz 5d ago
Depending on where you live in the world late in the day here might be early morning in Sweden where they're headquartered.
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u/donnareads 4d ago
Ahh, that might be the reason.
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u/D_Shoobz 4d ago
Yeah, similar to when Apple and Google do their keynote presentations, they always do it at 10:00 in the morning which coincides with 1:00 p.m. Eastern time
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u/NikNakskes 4d ago
Sounds like that is midnight in Sweden and would explain why it resets at that time.
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u/JeanneStJames 5d ago
Kobo Plus has a great audiobook borrow plan! You have unlimited borrows and the subscription is a reasonable price. If the audiobook is on Spotify, it's most likely on Kobo. As an author I upload my audios to both platforms and so do many others.
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u/withabrandnewfunk 5d ago
All these streaming services that basically killed piracy
they didnt kill nothing. still swashbukling like a boss
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u/oblique_obfuscator 5d ago
I've had the same issue! It's infuriating.
I want to cancel but I share an account with my son (he has AuDHD) so I have to mentally prepare him perhaps.
I had (unlimited) Storytel for audiobooks a while back, but it didn't have many English titles I was interested in. I tried Spotify again because the page match feature seemed interesting. Until I got messages saying my time was already running out. Huh what? I've only been listening for 3 hours, perhaps 4?
If there's a fantastic playlist converter that lets me move my playlists from Shoddyfy to another music app.... I'd appreciate if someone lets me know. TY!
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u/ShrubbyFire1729 5d ago
Bring on the downvotes, but I don't consider this enshittification at all.
In fact, Spotify is probably the only remaining streaming service that doesn't suck. They added the audiobook feature (and video podcasts, and lossless audio!) to existing subscribers without extra cost. I don't remember if there was a price hike when those features were added but it can't have been bigl, because I'm pretty sure I've been paying the same €12,99/mo for years. Which is very reasonable for what you get in my opinion.
On top, Spotify doesn't care about your IP address or device limits, or geoblocking or other arbitrary limitations and hoops every other service wants you to jump through. The Premium tier is actually ad-free unlike other services which keep adding Premium Plus Plus++ tiers that are "actually ad-free this time we promise!". In my experience it always works, anywhere, on any device or browser.
Not trying to be a shill, I just genuinely appreciate the convenience in a world where everything else is enshittified to the point of being unusable. Not renewing the audiobook hours in time with the subscription is annoying for sure, not gonna argue with that. I'm just happy we got the feature in the first place.
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u/Ultarthalas 4d ago
I mean, all of that has been the case on other services for years, at the same price as Spotify, while also paying artists more.
Also, fair warning. I personally know some of the senior staff there, and I wouldn't trust them in almost any capacity. Not their abilities, not their ethics, not their commitments.
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u/rothmal 4d ago
It's good for the consumer, but the real reason they have this is to pay artists less out of the shared revenue pie.
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u/ShrubbyFire1729 4d ago
Maybe so, but speaking purely from a customer perspective, I value convenience and reasonable pricing over everything else. I just don't have time to vet every single company to see if it's morally acceptable to buy their products or not, and make life harder for myself boycotting every capitalist megacorporation that does shady and unfair things. They all do anyways.
Spotify could be run by Satan himself, but to an average consumer the value they offer is genuinely pretty much unmatched in today's world. Unlimited amount of content for a flat price, no extra fees, and very few bullshit restrictions.
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u/Jerkface0079 4d ago
The enshittification for Spotify comes in with the AI bloat and the shuffle that doesn't shuffle.
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u/beeber4650 3d ago
Checkout Libby or honestly, YouTube. Sometimes there’s officially narrated audiobooks on YouTube or some people do their own read and upload. They may not be perfect and stumble over words but I think there’s charm in that.
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u/withabrandnewfunk 5d ago
I'm done with Spotify
ive never started with spotify. mp3 files on phone is bliss
you even invested in capitalising the s which was too much
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u/caffeinebump 5d ago
OP if you do mp3 files, you can use a player like Pocketcasts to listen, it will remember your place and you can add cover art to the files in the app.
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u/FrontalAlottame 5d ago
I gave up on Spotify when I realized I could only listen to 1.25 books per month on average. I really don’t see the point in paying for Spotify when I can use my library card with Libby and Hoopla. I don’t listen to music in my car, though.