Spotify Alternatives That Pay Artists So Your Money Doesn't Go to AI Drone Warfare

Music, not drones

If you haven’t heard, in June 2025 Spotify CEO Daniel Ek gave $693 million in funding to Helsing, a German-based military contractor, and serves as Chairman of the Board there. Ek originally invested $450 million in Helsing in 2021, and has since increased his investment through his venture capital fund.

Helsing makes AI drone weapons and uses AI for battlefield intelligence and analysis. While originally they said they would only sell to democratic countries, when WIRED interviewed them and asked if they would sell to countries that have stripped judges of their independence and cracked down on LGBTQIA+ rights, they declined to answer. Not great!

Musicians were already frustrated with Spotify’s low payouts, on top of Spotify’s lack of labeling and promotion of AI-generated music, but knowing that their content was funding war technology was the last straw. Users are frustrated with Spotify’s low payments to musicians and poor algorithm-based recommendations and playlists, on top of not knowing what music is real and not AI-generated. Including me! I used to love Spotify’s discovery features but now I can’t listen to any playlist beyond ones created by users because it ends up being the same 30-50 songs repeated ad nauseam.

If you’re looking to switch, look no further! I’ve done a deep dive on Spotify streaming alternatives. I’ll also follow up with a separate article on MP3 and CD players if you’re looking to go back to more physical media or owned music.

And if you’re concerned about having to start from scratch with a new music platform, you can use Soundiiz to transfer your playlists and favorites.

UPDATE Oct 2025: Spotify is also running ICE ads for their free version - and recommitted to them despite user backlash.

Sources here, here, and here.

The Good Guys:

Qobuz: Music streaming service with over 100 million tracks, no free option. You can also purchase high-quality digital tracks and albums within Qobuz.

• The Details: Owned by Xandrie SA, a French company, which in turn is owned by the Thebaud Group, whose holding company is Nabuboto. None of these companies have an OpenSecrets profile. Qobuz supports Inclusion and Diversity.

• Are they good for artists? Yes! Based on Qobuz’s blog post, they have the highest pay-per-stream rate out of the companies I looked into at $0.01873.

• Pricing: Individual plans start at $10.83/mo, with a student discount for $4.99/mo.

• Comparison to Spotify: They have over 100 million tracks similar to Spotify and higher sound quality, but no audiobooks or podcasts. For new music discovery, they have “My Weekly Q” personalized playlists, the Discover tab and different pages like Label and Award to find new music. Qobuz is compatible with Apple Carplay and Android Auto.

Resonate: A community-owned streaming service! Resonate is a co-op owned by musicians, listeners, and Resonate workers. Instead of a subscription model, you pay as you play songs. Once you’ve played a track 9 times, you own the track for about $1.40. UPDATE OCT 2025: Resonate does not seem to be accepting new members, but I will be sharing more co-op platforms in a future article. If you are looking for other co-op alternatives, check out my article here.

• The Details: You can check out their manifesto for their full list of values, but the jist of it is that music and culture are not entities to be commodified for profit, but enjoyed in a way where everyone benefits (like a co-op!). Resonate supports inclusion and diversity and does not have a profile on OpenSecrets.

• Is it good for artists? Yes - artists have a direct stake in the company and their pay-per-stream rates are high at least $0.01 per stream.

• Pricing: Pay as you go, no monthly subscription

• Comparison to Spotify: Selection is way more limited and they don’t seem to have app versions for your phone, but if you’re intrigued by the model worth a try.

The Better-Known Alternatives - but proceed with caution

Tidal: Founded by Jay-Z but now owned by Block, the holding company of Square, Cash App, Afterpay, Bitkey and Proto. Block was started by Jack Dorsey, a Twitter co-founder.

• The Details: Block spent $2.1M on lobbying in 2024 alone, and $1.76M in 2023 for a total of $3.88M the last two years. Block lobbied on two bills specifically - Tax Relief for American Families and Workers Act of 2024 and American Privacy Rights Act of 2024. They were lobbying on issues related to consumer privacy and data (doubtful they were arguing for more privacy protections, but who knows), AI, bitcoin, financial services, tax issues, and third party settlement reporting requirements. Block does not have any mention of diversity on their corporate website.

• Is it good for artists? Tidal has one of the highest pay-per-stream rates at $0.01284.

• Pricing: $10.99/month for individual plans, student discount for $5.49/month.

• Comparison to Spotify: Tidal doesn’t have audiobooks and podcasts the way Spotify does, though there are plenty of other apps for that. The sound quality is reportedly better on Tidal, and it connects to Apple Carplay and Android Auto easily. In terms of discoverability and sharing, Tidal provides personalized playlists like “My Daily Discovery” and “My Mix” but there’s less social/sharing features than Spotify.

Apple Music: Owned by Apple, which is publicly traded with institutional investors as their largest shareholders. UPDATE Oct 2025: Apple helped fund Trump’s new White House ballroom, after CEO Tim Cook personally gave $1 million to Trump’s 2025 inauguration fund. Do not recommend Apple Music.

• The Details: Apple has spent tons of money in lobbying - $17.68 million in the last two years. They lobbied around a number of bills, mostly relating to online safety for kids, privacy, app store accountability, intellectual property, and how tech companies work with law enforcement. Apple shareholders rejected a proposal to remove DEI programs in February 2025, but CEO Tim Cook did say they may have to change their programs as executive orders or new laws are passed. As of Aug 2025, Apple supports inclusion and diversity clearly on their website.

• Is it good for artists? Apple music’s pay-per-stream rate is lower than Tidal, but higher than most other companies at $0.008.

• Pricing: $10.99/mo for individual plans, student discount for $5.99/mo.

• Comparison to Spotify: Sound quality is better than Spotify similar to Tidal, but recommendations can be hit or miss. Apple Music doesn’t have podcasts or audiobooks, but there’s the Apple Podcast app and Apple Books app that cover off on those.

Soundcloud: Stream music and podcasts for free online with ads, with plans for ad-free and offline listening.

• The Details: Majority-owned by Raine Group and Temasek Holdings. Raine Group is a investment firm and Temasek Holdings is the state-owned investment firm of Singapore. Raine Group did not spend any money on lobbying the last two years and of the $113K in political contributions by employees or affiliates, 72% went to Democrats. Temasek did spend $240K on lobbying the last two years and $60K as of August 2025, seemingly for their subsidiary Olam Spices which is a Singaporean food and agri-business. Soundcloud does support diversity with employee resource groups.

• Is Soundcloud good for artists? Yes and no. Artists can directly upload and distribute their music, without having to go through a label or distributor, which is great for emerging artists. Artists can distribute their music through SoundCloud on other platforms like Spotify, but artists only see 80% of earnings from streams on those platforms, 20% goes to SoundCloud. Artists can also get paid per stream for streams on SoundCloud, but their pay-per-stream rate is on the lower end starting at $0.0025. There was controversy in May 2025 when SoundCloud updated their terms in a way that made it seem like they were scraping artists’ work for AI, but SoundCloud said they have never used artists’ content for AI and do not plan to do so. But…do we trust them?

• Pricing: Free with ads, individual plans start at $10.99 for SoundCloud Go+, which offers ad-free and offline listening.

• Comparison to Spotify: They seem to have all the major artists on SoundCloud, though SoundCloud likely has more emerging artists than Spotify. The sound quality is high for established artists, but may be lower for newer or up & coming musicians as they’re uploading tracks themselves. SoundCloud has a number of music discovery features, including Related Tracks and Charts by genre. SoundCloud is available on Android and Apple app stores.

Pandora: Free personalized radio with ads, but limited customization. You need to subscribe to Pandora Premium to be able to make and edit playlists, otherwise you can get the Pandora Plus version which removes ads but does not let you make playlists. UPDATE Oct 2025: Pandora is running ads for ICE - definitely do not recommend them.

• The Details: Owned by SiriusXM, who supports DEI. SiriusXM spent $1.58M in lobbying the last two years but did not report on any specific bills they were lobbying for.

• Are they good for artists? Pandora has one of the lowest pay-per-stream rate starting at $0.00133.

• Pricing: Free with ads, Pandora Plus starts at $4.99/month but you can’t make or share playlists. Pandora Premium (with playlist editing capabilities) starts at $10.99/mo, and for students it’s $5.99/mo. Active military and veterans also get a discount at $8.99/month.

• Comparison to Spotify: If you get the Pandora Premium version, its likely pretty similar but without audiobooks and podcasts. Pandora is available on both Android and Apple and works with Apple Carplay and Android Auto.

Not quite music streaming but related:

Bandcamp: Online music platform where you can purchase music directly from artists. There is limited previews/streaming but this wouldn’t be a replacement for a music streaming service. If you’re looking to build out your physical media library though, you can search by vinyl, CD, and cassette formats.

• The details: Owned by Songtradr, which has several subsidiaries beyond Bandcamp, focused on providing music for technology and business related needs. Songtradr is privately held and funded through venture capital. Neither Bandcamp nor Songtradr has a profile on OpenSecrets. I could not find any diversity policy for Songtradr.

• Is it good for artists?: Music purchased on the site is split on average 82% to artists and 18% to Bandcamp.

Funkwhale: Funkwhale is a decentralized, federated network that allows users to host their own music or podcasts and share and discover across their network.

• The Details: Funkwhale is maintained by The Funkwhale Collective, a non-profit organization. They are committed to diversity and do not have a profile on OpenSecrets.

• Good for: Music lovers that have a large library that they’d like to be able to listen to anywhere, including their phone or browser without having to store it there. Note: it does seem pretty complicated to set up, so this isn’t a great option for those who are less tech savvy. But definitely try it if you’re interested!

Vault: Vault is a platform built for artists that enables them to have a direct connection with fans, instead of relying on social media algorithms and label or ticket company owned email lists. Artists can share demos, behind the scenes moments into the creative process and directly sell pre-sale tickets, merch and exclusive merch. Artists typically charge a subscription fee of $5/month for access to exclusive tracks not available on any other platforms, and can sell albums directly.

• The Details: Vault is privately owned and backed by venture capital. I can’t find anything on their commitment to DEI.

• Good for: If you are a passionate fan and want to connect more directly with your favorite musicians, check out Vault.

Do Not Recommend:

YouTube Music

• The Details: Owned by Google or Alphabet, Google’s holding company. Google rolled back their DEI programs in February 2025 to secure more government contracts. Not only that, but Google stopped funding groups with mission statements including any of the words - diversity, equity, inclusion, race, activism, and women. Women!? Half the population is women! They stopped funding to the National Network to End Domestic Violence, for f*ck’s sake. Alphabet was ranked 15th out of 9,200 organizations on OpenSecrets for lobbying dollars spent in 2024 - $14.79 million. In total they have spent $29.24 million dollars on lobbying in the last two years.

• My thoughts: I hate Google for a number of reasons, but I sincerely hope they get broken up through their ongoing anti-trust trial. Google is also facing an anti-trust case for their advertising business. In the future, I’m planning on covering alternatives to Google.

• Update Sept 2025: Google got a slap on the wrist for their search anti-trust trial.

• Update Oct 2025: Google is running ICE ads on YouTube, and they gave $22 million to Trump’s new White House ballroom, on top of $1 million to his 2025 inauguration committee.

Napster: Still exists! Although completely differently from how I remember in the early 2000s.

• The Details: Owned by Infinite Reality since March 2025. Once Infinite Reality purchased Napster, they are now re-branding their company as Napster. Napster did not spend any money on lobbying the last two years, and Infinite Reality does not have a profile on OpenSecrets.

• My thoughts: The company who bought Napster seems shady since they’re a “metaverse” company, and I would hold off on using them as things may change over the next 6-12 months.

Deezer

• The Details: Publicly traded on the Euronext Paris stock exchange, with Access Industries holding the majority of shares between two companies. They are committed to Diversity and Inclusion. Access Industries is an investment firm founded by Len Blavatnik. Access Industries did not spend any money on lobbying, but individuals and groups associated with them spent $2.2 million dollars in political contributions, including $500K to Nikki Haley’s PAC (SFA Fund). Len Blavatnik donated $1 million to Trump’s inauguration committee in 2017 and suspended donations to Harvard in 2023 based on former Harvard President Claudine Gay’s testimony to Congress. Blavatnik was also part of a private WhatsApp group in spring 2024 with other billionaires where they discussed how to sway public opinion towards Israel and against Gaza. Members of this group met with NYC Mayor Eric Adams to discuss how to get NYPD back on Columbia’s campus to go after pro-Palestinian encampments. A week later NYPD was back on campus making more arrests.

• My thoughts: If you donated to Trump, you’re not getting a dime of my money.

Closing thoughts

I’m going to try Qobuz after going through all these companies, they seem to offer a similar selection to Spotify without all the BS. I’ve used Apple Music the past few months and it’s meh, but I also never transfered my Spotify playlists and favorites over there. I think if you don’t want to try Qobuz for whatever reason, Tidal is maybe the next best option since it pays artists well, though they’re still not great. In general, good options with no lobbying spending and clear DEI support are limited for this category. It’s a bit more like picking the lesser evil. But, I hope you find an alternative that works for you!