5 reasons why people abandon Spotify

Spotify is an eternal powerhouse in music. After overtaking traditional means of delivering music with streaming, Spotify has seen considerable growth, making over $19.81 billion in revenue in 2025 alone. And as the company continues to grow, it appears that a growing segment of its user base is slowly abandoning the service. While some users have turned to other services, others have abandoned streaming altogether.

There is no single reason for these defections. Instead, there are a multitude of reasons why users say no to Spotify. We dug deep online to uncover some of the biggest driving factors, and low artist pay and the rise of AI music were among the top concerns. Additionally, paying a monthly subscription and not owning any music is another complaint many users have. Maybe you’re hesitant to leave the platform yourself, or you’re an avid user who doesn’t know why users are unhappy – here are some factors why users abandon Spotify.

Making a living in the music industry has been a difficult prospect in any era, let alone in today’s streaming era. With long hours of practicing and creating, months on the road, and a constant struggle for the next big hit, being a musician is anything but easy. And even before the modern era of streaming, the situation was pretty dire due to rampant music piracy.

Physical music sales were declining and new streaming platforms like Spotify were playing a key role. In its early days, Spotify was known for poorly paying artists, with many even revolting and removing their music from the platform. The biggest name to have her music removed came in 2014 when Taylor Swift removed her catalog for compensation reasons.

Even though Spotify changed its royalty payment system in 2024 to better support artists, some believe it didn’t go far enough. Many artists report receiving only $0.003-$0.004 per piece, less than most competing streaming platforms. Because of this, many users have started to realize that using Spotify is not a good way to support the music they love, leaving the platform and finding better ways to support the artists they care about.

Spotify is no stranger to AI slop. There has been a notable increase in the number of AI “artists” on the platform, with some even receiving major record deals in the process. An AI “artist” recently landed a multi-million dollar recording contract at a time when real artists often struggle to break into the industry and make a living creating art.

And while AI-generated content is hated by most people, Spotify is moving full steam ahead, with the company’s boss even defending AI on the platform. Many users believe that the exponential rise of AI music on the platform may be another way that Spotify can continue to underpay real artists.. At the very least, Spotify now provides badges to allow users to distinguish real artists from AI.

Reddit, Facebook, and other social media platforms are full of users who don’t like the rise of AI, especially in their Discover playlists. Furious followers have voiced their concerns on numerous forums, explaining how AI is killing the music industry. And because of all this, users are leaving the platform in search of actual music created by human artists.

As platforms like Spotify continue to dominate, many are turning away from the idea of ​​streaming in general. Offline music is making a comeback as Generation Z embraces physical media. In fact, the CD format, which many thought was long dead, has managed to outsell digital albums three times over by 2025. In our ever-digital world, many users are driven to actually own physical content.

From games and movies to CDs and vinyl records, people may just be looking for something tangible and their own in an age where streaming has taken over. Owning something is a powerful draw for many, especially in a world where millennials and Gen Z are being told that the American dream will be out of their reach.

Being able to own a physical medium can also bring you closer. To enjoy content on your own terms, ad-free and algorithm-driven. There are dozens of posts online in which users have abandoned streaming music in order to start a physical collection again, citing the intimacy of listening to an album cover to cover without interruption.

Do you remember the feeling you had when you found a new song that you totally fell in love with? Maybe it was a song on the radio as you walked home at 2 a.m., or a friend from around town who put you in an up-and-coming new band. There’s probably a very human element to the music you actually like, a person sharing something they love with you.

The people who care most about music enjoy sharing it with others – something many believe is missing when an algorithm makes all the choices. I often feel like the music I find on streaming platforms is the same music that is played to those around me. But when I look at my physical media library, I see a very wild, mismatched and almost eclectic collection.

Experimental albums, bands I only know from one album, instrumental albums, greatest hits compilations, and CD music from artists who played at a bar in town for a single night. These experiences are lost with Spotify. Instead, you’re just fed what a machine thinks you might like, with no heart or passion behind it.

You’ll find posts online from people considering leaving or having abandoned Spotify in favor of the software itself. Many like what Spotify offers, but dislike the interface which they say continues to look bloated. People also cite poor updates that don’t improve the experience and a distinct lack of high-quality music streams compared to other platforms.

Users complained that the app was buggy and unresponsive, while others noted that their Discover Weekly recommendations for music and genres got worse. Other users say Spotify is turning into TikTok, pulling users into endlessly scrolling, auto-playing video content. You can now even turn off video content on Spotify, signaling that the company knows it can be annoying for some users.

Many are starting to feel like music has become secondary on a platform designed primarily for music. And then there are occasional outages in the service that tell Spotify users they’re offline and prevent them from searching their libraries. It’s never good to see Reddit threads from twelve-year-plus Spotify users who are now considering leaving, or even pirating music due to ongoing issues with the app.

We went straight to the source by highlighting some of the main reasons why users choose to leave Spotify. The reasons included were ones that kept coming up online and on social media platforms like Reddit, Facebook, and even YouTube and TikTok. While there are a number of reasons why someone would make the decision to abandon Spotify, the five presented here kept popping up in search after search. Not only that, but we turned to the writer who is a former Spotify, Apple Music and Amazon Music user who has left the world of music streaming behind.