Spotify

The most used music streaming service, paid for by ads and subscriptions.

Benchmark review. Giants are reviewed rarely, to show what the tools in the directory are measured against. This one is not listed in the directory, and it is an example, not a recommendation. Scores are our opinion on the six questions, based on public sources and dated October 2026.

www.spotify.com

Image from www.spotify.com, taken 2026-10-23, shown to help you recognise the tool. It belongs to its maker. Ask us to remove it.

Spotify gives you almost any song instantly, with excellent recommendations, so Delivery is a 5. You do not own what you play, and the songs, playlists and listening history sit in the service, so Lock-in is a 1.

Recommendations and autoplay decide much of what many people hear next, and ads pay for the free tier. We have not checked how much of your data you can export. As of October 2026 this is our opinion, based on public sources, and if you spot an error, write to hello@toolsforconviviality.org and we will check it and correct it. Compare it with the tools in Music.

What stands out

• Almost any song instantly, with good recommendations
• You rent the music and the playlists live in the service
• The free tier is paid for by ads

Side by side. Navidrome vs Spotify