Fun update: I made an app over the holiday break!
It’s called Unstream: Find your favorite music on alternative platforms, directly support the artists you love, and move off streaming.
It was directly borne out of my desire to get off Apple Music myself, and instead build a library of music I own through directly supporting artists by buying their music.
You can check it out here, at a URL I still find amusing: https://unstream.stream
@kidlightbulbs Sounds like a good idea, I like the aim.
Is Unstream freedom-respecting software? I couldn’t find any link to the source code nor licensing information…
@contrapunctus@fe.disroot
> Is Unstream freedom-respecting software? I couldn’t find any link to the source code nor licensing information
Also a question I'm interested in the answer to.
You can use it in 3 ways:
- You can search artists and see alternative platforms those artists are on, where you can better support them
- You can share a Spotify or Apple Music URL to Unstream to quickly get that same info using an Apple Shortcut (great for supporting an artist you’re listening to on your phone!)
- The Mac app serves up those alternative platforms for the artist you’re currently listening to in Spotify or Apple Music, with a (paid, $2.99) feature to save artists for later
I’ve already found it really fun as a way to see just how many artists have pages on Bandcamp and other sites, and a few fellow musicians I’ve shared early versions of the app learned about new platforms they could be on (or were already on without realizing). I hope this is helpful for folks wanting to support artists they love in ways the streaming apps don’t allow, perhaps even move off streaming, or just have fun with it.
I already have a nice list of features to potentially add to Unstream; I even set up a public Feedback board for you to submit ideas to make the app better.
Check it out, and I hope it helps you consider your streaming subscriptions and the art you want to support!
@kidlightbulbs
> I already have a nice list of features to potentially add to Unstream
Here's another one for the list, it would be great if Unstream pulled in the intro text of an artist's Wikipedia page, if they have one.
@strypey good idea, let me add it to my list
