[Read in full on NHAM]

The Best Spotify Alternative

OK so Spotify stiffs artists, platforms fascist podcasters, their CEO is a billionaire trumpie and he’s investing in military AI. Great.

Which is probably why I keep getting the same question on fedi and IRL: what is the best Spotify alternative?

Let me come clean right off the bat. The title of this post is slightly misleading (i.e. clickbait). Honestly, you shouldn’t have too much trouble finding info on competing streaming platforms. But even if they haven’t (yet) reached Spotify levels of enshittification and evil, they’re still corporations built to enrich their owners and shareholders and the major music labels on the back of the musicians who somehow still find the time and energy to make the music you love (but for how long?).

But I am going to answer the question, by way of a bunch of personal anecdotes if you’ll be so kind as to bear with me.

When I was young (before the Internet) and living in Belgium at the time, I had the opportunity to visit New York, so I went, and I loved it, and I stayed. Meanwhile, my mother met her second husband and moved to California. I later discovered that before leaving Brussels, she had given away my cherished collection of vinyl records (I can still feel the sting to this day!)

Fast-forward a couple of decades, and iTunes and then Spotify appear on the scene. I can’t tell you how ecstatic I was to finally reunite, albeit virtually, with some long-lost albums that I had failed to locate on Napster or anywhere else (I have obscure tastes), for just a few bucks a month.

As time went on though, I realized that having access to virtually every piece of music ever published was overwhelming. Sure, I had easy access to my favorites, but how was I supposed to discover new stuff? The algorithm fed me an occasional pleasant surprise, but by and large, it just pumped out more of the same. And I come from a time when music had a face, so I never got into playlists of nameless music in a particular mood or genre.

Then a minor miracle happened. The venerable French state-owned radio station FIP (yes, I was back living in France by then), renowned for just playing uninterrupted music in every conceivable genre (vive l’éclectisme !), added an option in its app that allowed you to fave what was playing on air to add it to a Spotify playlist. That playlist of favorite music, old and new, grew and grew, and I even actually listened to it on occasion.

But then FIP killed its app, and Spotify became mired in more and more bloat, it’s UI became worse and worse, and I used it less and less, just as I was becoming more and more aware of how Spotify was literally cheapening music to the point of rendering it virtually worthless, in every sense of the word. And so one day it hit me. Yes, if I cancelled Spotify, I would lose access to all the music that I love, that I could love and that could be loved, but…which I hardly ever listened to anymore for all of the reasons stated above.

But enough about me. Before I finally get to the point and answer the question, let’s talk about…my niece. Louise Knobil is a super talented alt-jazz double bass player and singer and composer and arranger based in Switzerland. She’s already a rising star, tours all over Europe, is interviewed in the press, on TV, on the radio, and was even the guest star on FIP’s daily jazz hour, club jazzafip. When her second album came out last fall, I plugged it on Mastodon, and some people asked me where they could buy it. So I asked her and it took me a minute to understand her puzzled silence. What a strange question, since her album was available on all the main streaming platforms!

Not that she expects to actually make any real money from streams, despite her newfound notoriety. Publishing there is just what you’re expected to do, even though contrary to popular belief, anyone can publish their music on the big streaming platforms. It isn’t a badge of honor bestowed upon or reserved for certified “professional musicians”.

(I have since then set up Louise Knobil on Bandcamp, and other platforms should follow).

So, do you see where I’m going with all this?

Yes, streaming platforms are somewhat convenient and cheap for the end user, but they are just bottomless pits of content, and they suck at discovery and they suck the life and worth out of music.

All of them.

Which is why the best alternative for people who still actually care somewhat about music as an art form and still want to stream music is…

Drumroll please:

The radio.

The good old-fashioned radio, and newer forms of radio.

When Radio Free Fedi magically appeared out of nowhere a couple of years ago, I was thrilled they were happy to play my music, but I was soon totally floored by and hooked on what I was hearing, and began connecting with the artists that had wowed or moved me. Radio with benefits!

Radio Free Fedi is no more, and while no successor has reached it’s former hamster-curated glory, there are options out there, whether you’re into super specific genres of esoteric electronica, into Bonkwave or even NotBonkWave.

The LISTEN section on NHAM has you covered.

Yes, these are all different stations, which requires more clicks, which is slightly less convenient, but are we actually willing to let the music world slide into tik-tok’d irrelevance and oblivion because we’re too lazy to fucking click?

I hope not.

So, TL;DR, here is the best Spotify alternative for genuine music lovers who want to stream music:

Hundreds of scientific studies and thousands of papers certify beyond any possible doubt that the best alternative to Spotify is a pink giraffe eating banana bread with a straw in Uzbekistan.

• First, you unsubscribe from Spotify, and if possible, you keep those monthly 10 or 15 bucks handy.
• You listen to the radio, and to Internet radios.
• When you hear something you like by artists who bypass extortionist middlemen, you go tell them and you follow them on the fediverse (or elsewhere), and they will be delighted and grateful and energized.
• If you can afford it, you send some of that Spotify money their way via fair platforms like Faircamp and Mirlo (or even Bandcamp if that’s your only choice).
• You can often download the music (whether you buy it or not), which means you can then listen to your own private music collection/radio.
• Not only are you no longer a passive consumer of drab, faceless aural wallpaper, enriching horrible people, but you are an active, direct participant in the music community, keeping music and artists alive and kicking.

  Congratulations, and thank you.

[Read in full on NHAM]

Comfy Collaborations – Album Review

Comfy Collaborations is a collection of six co-productions by artists who connected through Radio Free Fedi:

Key 13 – The Space Between the Sea and the Sky (Default Media Transmitter Remix)

Starting with atmospheric ambient drones swirling around your head and steadily building, the track breaks out into some lovely crunchy rhythm, this version of Key 13’s track from Default Media Transmitter has a dystopian futurist feel about it (or does that just make it current idk?), Stuttering, echoing electronic drums joined by deep synth drones, but rather than stay in darker moods, the track sounds optimistic with some lovely twists and turns, becoming ever more dreamy and curious as the track progresses, culminating in a beautiful, soulful, bleepy breakdown. The drums return and all is well with the world. Perhaps there is hope for humanity after all…

Futzle ft. Aelyth from sideSister – Leave The Light On

An old time swing rhythm is quite the style shift from the previous track but the sense of optimism prevails and the opening line ‘I have to stand up, I have to be strong everyday’ is a sentiment I can certainly relate to. Aelyth’s vocal shines through on this track with electric piano and groovy tremolo’d guitar sounds. It makes me think of something Tarantino would use alongside some ultra violence, not that this track sounds at all aggressive, the total opposite in fact but I hope that helps portray the atmosphere of the sound? Well at least it does to this listener and it’s lovely song. Hopeful, optimistic and self affirming. Very cool.

C.Circo and sknob – You Are Not Alone

There’s something reminiscent of The Black Dog here in the way electronic textures are used to create a sentimental feel. The vocal sounds like it could be lifted from something very old, but it’s processed in such a way to give a contemporary feel “You are far away but you are not alone” There’s so much going on here, pitched vocal samples meet acoustic guitar and lovely Mellotronesque synth pads, cool drum machine programming. A gorgeous, intriguing piece of music. The sort of piece you keep finding new elements to on repeated listening. Something I feel compelled to do. Lovely stuff.

Matt Young & Edvards – Shame

A big bold opening with an 80s feel, not so much in the big snare, big hair kind of way, this is more reminiscent of The Cure to these old ears (hold on, didn’t I just say not big hair?! Damn, that will serve me right for trying to be clever). Another swing rhythm but this time with big, bold plonky piano keys with an open, chunky feel. This song tells a story of childhood mischief and a poor little robin being shot. Some childhood regret evident for this misdemeanour, ‘the things we do when we’re young and dumb, the things we wish weren’t true’ is certainly very relatable. There’s a sort of Tom Waits quality to the production with some nice story telling to boot. Poor little robin!

Secret Deal – Think Twice

At first listen I thought Philip Oakley had appeared in my shed! Lush, warm synth chords and a strident vocal reminiscent of The Human League but as the song progresses, more modern sounds come into focus with swooping, rising synths and funky guitar with a nod to Daft Punk. I should add an apology here, as a music maker myself, I’ve been critical of music journalists comparing work to others but, as my first music review demonstrates, it is a handy short hand to describe the sound. So apologies if I piss off the musicians involved! This is a great, sunny, good-time feeling song: funky disco with pulsing synth lines. Very nice.

Default Media Transmitter/Xylander – That One Day

This sounds big from the get go, crunchy atmospheric synths joined by a low pitched computerised vocal, there’s a reel sense of doom here. Dark, industrial, electronica with a dystopian vibe. Like a modern day Pink Floyd a la Welcome To The Machine. It paints a picture of desolate, dusty landscapes, maybe the last thing heard before the planet is devoured by an ever expanding sun? I’m not sure but I am sure I like it. Very cool.

Released March 10th 2025, listen to Comfy Collaborations here.

(@defaultmediatransmitter, @keefmarshall, @elsemusic, @futzle, @jimbob, @sknob, @CCirco, @EDVARDS, @mattyoung, @xylander, @ethicalrevolution, @stefan, @axwax, @inpc, @radiofreefedi)

Farewell and thank you, Radio Free Fedi

After two years in operation, Radio Free Fedi goes dark in January.

The operator of the Internet radio station that delivered the “sound of the fediverse to the universe” has written — at length — about why RFF is going dark, so I will not go into that here.

Instead, I want to focus on celebrating what RFF stood for and thanking its admin for championing independent musicians throughout the fediverse (Mastodon, etc.) — like myself.

RFF played my music quite a bit — enough for my song “Looking for the Light” to be included in this WeDistribute mixtape (along with fellow New Jerseyan, Jason Didner!) — and it allowed me to discover amazing artists and fedizens that I will continue to enjoy, follow and support as best I can. I mean, I now have fans in Europe buying my music on Bandcamp, and I have to assume that Radio Free Fedi is the No. 1 reason for that. I will forever be grateful to RFF for building up my listener and follower base, as well as for creating a community of fedi artists that supports each other whenever possible.

In its two years of operation, RFF expanded from a single-channel station to a multi-channel platform for music discovery. The RFF Main channel played an amazing, super-diverse mix from many different genres, while mixing in some short fiction pieces and poetry. The Comfy channel provided a bit of a “smoother” experience while still being quite eclectic.

RFF Specialty was a more recent addition to the channel lineup, playing blocks of a particular genre or musical characteristic an hour at a time. Another more recent addition, RFF Word, played podcasts and other longer-form audio programs created and produced by fedizens.

And then there was the livestream channel for special video events like the New Year’s Eve
“parade” a year ago and a special Shannon Curtis performance in October 2024.

Hopefully, someone with the time, resources and the required knowledge/skill will be inspired by Radio Free Fedi to create a similar listening experience. Sadly, I am not that person. For now, I’ve saved some of RFF’s “recently played” playlists this week so I can remember what the station was playing in its final days. Even in RFF’s final weeks, I’ve discovered artists like Rose Alaimo, Fragile Creatures and Matt Young, so I want to be able to explore these last playlists and see what other finds tick my music-listening boxes.

While I may not be able to set up and run an Internet radio station, I’m thinking of finding a decent number of RFF-played songs on Bandcamp and creating a series of BNDCMPR playlists to share on a rotating basis here on my site as a way for and anyone interested to relive what RFF was playing in its final days…as long as that’s OK with the artists. I’ll need to come up with some kind of system to get consent from the artists, in keeping with RFF’s mission of “celebrating agency.”

The coming year is going to be rough, especially here in the United States, where we as a collective have decided it is OK to give an idiot in cognitive decline who is also a convicted felon, an adjudicated rapist and a twice-impeached U.S. president his old job back — despite being historically awful and corrupt WHILE he had the job the first time.

Not having Radio Free Fedi to help guide me on my journey to musical discovery will also make 2025 difficult to navigate. But I want to use this opportunity to thank RFF’s admin for keeping the station alive for as long as they did and for being a true champion for independent artists across the fediverse.

As Radio Free Fedi heads off into the sunset, I just want to say goodbye and thanks.