Leaving Spotify? 16 Ethical Alternatives and Tips to Transition

Paltry payouts, royalty theft, AI-generated music, and to top it all off, a $693.6 million investment by Spotify’s CEO, Daniel Ek, in a European defense technology startup, Helsing. These events have put Spotify on the receiving end of public backlash.

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Along with other streaming services, the music subscription giant has also been running ads for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), and people are canceling their subscriptions over these ads.

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There’s no doubt that Spotify is an extremely convenient service, and boycotting it requires some work. Also, if you're boycotting Spotify, you probably aren't going to switch to another big service like Apple, Amazon, or YouTube (which also has been running ICE ads, btw).

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As consumers, we may feel powerless in front of these giant organizations, but we can still use our voice (or our ears) to choose how we consume music, podcasts, and audiobooks. It’s not going to topple these companies overnight, but every bit helps.

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By the way, the best way to directly support your favorite artists, especially the independent ones, is to buy their music and merch directly from them. 

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Best Music Streaming Alternatives to Spotify

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• Qobuz: A high-resolution audio service favored by passionate music fans, offering editorial content and some of the highest royalty payouts in the streaming industry.
• Bandcamp: A direct-to-artist platform where users purchase digital albums or songs, with artists receiving 80–90% of revenue—far more than traditional streaming services.
• Subvert: A cooperative alternative to Bandcamp, owned collectively by its membership base of artists, labels, supporters, and workers for fairer revenue distribution.
• Deezer: A feature-rich service with a library comparable to Spotify, offering personalized, mood-based listening through its unique "Flow" feature.
• SoundCloud: A discovery-focused platform popular for finding underground and emerging artists, particularly in electronic and rap music genres.
• Nina: An open-source streaming platform committed to giving artists 100% of royalties, prioritizing fair compensation over corporate profits.

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Also read: 5 Free Streaming Alternatives to Hulu, Netflix, and Prime

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Best Audiobook Alternatives to Spotify

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• Libro.fm: A subscription service that shares profits with your chosen local independent bookstore, supporting small businesses while you listen.
• Libby: A free app offering unlimited audiobook access through your local public library card, with no subscription fees required.
• Chirp: A pay-per-book platform with no monthly fees, offering deeply discounted audiobooks that you purchase and own forever.
• LibriVox: A completely free service featuring volunteer-narrated audiobooks of public domain classics, supported entirely by community contributions.
• Fable: A social reading platform offering audiobooks and ebooks with built-in book clubs, allowing readers to share highlights and discuss stories together.
• Everand: An unlimited subscription service providing access to audiobooks, ebooks, magazines, and podcasts for one monthly fee.

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Best Podcast Alternatives to Spotify

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• AntennaPod: A privacy-focused, open-source podcast player built by volunteers, with no ads, tracking, or data collection whatsoever.
• Pocket Casts: A cross-platform podcast app popular for its seamless syncing and advanced playback features like silence trimming for faster listening.
• Overcast: An iOS-exclusive podcast player beloved for its "Smart Speed" feature and independent, user-focused development approach.
• Fountain: A next-generation "Podcasting 2.0" app enabling listeners to send Bitcoin micropayments (Sats) directly to creators in real-time.

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How to Quit Spotify Smoothly

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To leave Spotify smoothly, you need to export your music playlists and your podcast subscriptions. Since Spotify does not have a "one-click" export button for external apps, you'll need to use these workarounds.

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1. Exporting Your Music Playlists

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Since you can't manually export an OPML (a universal subscription backup file) or CSV file directly from Spotify's interface for music, most boycotters use third-party transfer tools.

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• Soundiiz: Connect your Spotify account, select your playlists, and export them as a CSV, Text, or JSON file. You can also use it to sync them directly to a new service like Qobuz.
• TuneMyMusic: Similar to Soundiiz, this tool allows you to move your entire library to another platform or export it to a file for safekeeping.

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2. Exporting Your Podcast Subscriptions

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This one is a little technical! Spotify does not currently offer a native OPML export for podcasts. You have two main options:

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• Option A: Manual Export
  
  • Go to the Spotify Privacy Settings on a web browser.
  • Scroll to "Download your data".
  • Select "Account Data" and request the download.
  • Wait: It can take up to 30 days for Spotify to email you a ZIP file containing your data in JSON format. You can then use a JSON-to-OPML converter (like various tools found on GitHub) to turn this into a file your new podcast app can read.

• Option B: Third-Party Script (Faster)
  
  • Technical users often use the Spotify-to-Pocket Casts script or similar GitHub projects to grab their podcast list immediately.

3. Moving Audiobooks

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Audiobooks purchased or saved on Spotify cannot be exported because they are tied to your account's Digital Rights Management (DRM).

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If you have an active "15 hours per month" credit, finish your current book before canceling, as you will lose access to the remaining time immediately upon account closure.

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