Why hackers moved from Spotify to a self-built music player

1 hacker described this switch in public comments. Their words, with links to the originals.

Spotify 3 hackers criticize it
→
a self-built music player 1 hacker recommends it

What hackers said about the move

“I've stopped using PlexAmp and Spotify entirely”
patchorang, 2026-02-17original comment ↗

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Tell us the tools in your stack. When hackers start criticizing one of them, or moving to an alternative, you will hear about it first.

Spotify vs a self-built music player

Spotifya self-built music player
Hackers who recommend31
Hackers who criticize30
Moved away from it60
Moved to it21

Counts are distinct hackers in the sampled comments, not market share.

Criticism of Spotify

“the Spotify algorithm is either bad in finding new stuff I like or always pushing the same 20 songs that I've listened too much.”
whynotmaybe, 2026-10-31original comment ↗
“I switched from Spotify to buying MP3s and using my own audio client, because I'm fed up of a company telling me which music I should listen to every single time I open…”read full quote
“I switched from Spotify to buying MP3s and using my own audio client, because I'm fed up of a company telling me which music I should listen to every single time I open the app.”
sjw987, 2026-01-22original comment ↗

Praise for a self-built music player

No further praise for a self-built music player captured yet.

Other moves from Spotify

Other moves to a self-built music player