Spotify is Defective by Design
Saturday, October 12th, 2019I never used Spotify, since it contains DRM. Instead I still buy DRM-free CDs.
Most of my audio collection is stored in free formats such as FLAC and Ogg Vorbis,
or Red Book in the case of CDs, everything can be played by free players such as
VLC or mpd.
Spotify, which uses a central server, also spies on the listener. Everytime you
listen a song, Spotify knows which song you have listened and when and where.
By contrast free embedded operating systems such as Rockbox do not phone home.
CDs can be baught anonymously and ripped using free software, there is no need
for an internet commection.
Defective by Design recommends the book “Spotify Teardown” which I haven’t read
yet. The book is an innovative investigation of the inner workings of Spotify that
traces the transformation of audio files into streamed experience.