Better title: Convert sharing links between music services
I understand it probably comes from the original motivation, but the name seems unfortunate since you can totally use it to convert to Spotify from e.g. iTunes if you do have Spotify but just not one of the dozen competitor subscription services
sodapopcan · 2h ago
Ehn, "I don't have Spotify" is catchy, and probably the most common scenario for many people as Spotify seems to be the general default that is shared. What I don't like about it is that it keeps Spotify's name front and centre. Like I've been making a very concerted effort in the past year to say "internet search" instead of "google it."
Barbing · 1h ago
I like “web search”
sodapopcan · 7m ago
Ya that’s easier, lol
tomrod · 44m ago
Vivaldi comes with Start Page by default, and I've been liking Kagi a lot recently.
sodapopcan · 12m ago
I’ve been a Kagi customer for about a year now I think!
tempodox · 36m ago
I would never have guessed it’s a tool by the title, I thought it’s a blog post.
ipsum2 · 2h ago
No, I don't have Spotify is more memorable.
amarant · 2h ago
And less descriptive.
The title "I am cthulhu" is even more memorable, and illustrates why memorability shouldn't be the sole criteria.
GP has a good point imo
al_borland · 12m ago
It’s on a subdomain. They could very easily make memorizable names for all the different things. “I don’t have Spotify”, “I don’t have Apple Music”, etc. All of those could point to the same tool.
That keeps it catchy and accurate to what the user is actually doing.
gchamonlive · 22m ago
Does everything need to be as descriptive as possible? Something should be left for imagination or curiosity.
paulcole · 1h ago
Yes, I’ll admit that before clicking the link I thought this was going to be yet another navel-gazing tech-bro humble-brag blog post.
Flimm · 3h ago
I use https://song.link (or Odesli). It finds the link to the song on Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube, YouTube Music, Pandora, Deezer, SoundCloud, Tidal, Amazon Music, AudioMack, Anghami, Napster, Yandex and BoomPlay, maybe more.
egypturnash · 42m ago
That seems to work a lot better. I tested with the last thing I bought off of Bandcamp, The Life of Clutchy Hopkins by Clutchy Hopkins:
odesli.co: https://album.link/s/1eDOxiSqqxS8jSgDCsaC38 - no less than eleven different links to stream, though about half of them didn't have anything when I clicked on them. And three links to buy it, too.
I got similar results with my previous two purchases, clipping.'s Dead Channel Sky and Captain Ahab's The End of Irony. IDHS said "not available on other platforms" while odesli.co turned up close to a dozen links to stream each, and three places to buy them. Maybe IDHS works better if you're not a fiftysomething lady with hilariously obscure taste, I dunno?
egypturnash · 28m ago
Let's try the least obscure thing I can think of: Taylor Swift's last album, The Tortured Poets Department.
odesli: https://album.link/i/1736268193 - 14 streaming links, 3 purchase. Including working links to Deezer and Soundcloud that IDHS didn't turn up despite saying those are the places you can start from.
butz · 34m ago
Took me a while to figure out that "example" link is just a placeholder, and not an actual link to test the service with. Clicking "Search" without any link results in "Something went wrong, please try again later." error message, although more precise error message is returned "Invalid link, please try with Spotify or Youtube links." - it should be displayed instead.
Overall, why not add a sentence or two about what this website actually does?
crtasm · 3h ago
Nice. Please add Bandcamp (might have to be a link to a search, I know)
I created an app a while ago that would allow converting a link right through the sharing dialog on iOS and Android.
Unfortunately, the app wouldn't show up in the play stores search results even if you searched for its exact name and on iOS the app didn't make it through the review process because it has no UI. So I took it down after a while although I still feel like it's a handy tool if people send you music.
Is there a way to create an always up to date mirror of a curated Spotify Playlist to Apple Music (such as Top Hits of X country?). Apple doesn't have a large selection of dynamically generated playlists
gingersnap · 3h ago
I want to start buying music (and film/series), to eventually be less dependent on services.
Where can I buy DRM free music (and film/series)?
+1 for Qobuz -- it's been where I buy my mainstream music for years now
(They used to have a really nice tarball option for downloading albums, but they axed that so now you have to download songs individually. Massive downgrade in QoL)
tombert · 2h ago
Not sure about movies or TV shows, but I buy songs on Bandcamp fairly often, though that's more less limited to indie bands (not strictly true but true enough).
Honestly though? I just buy CDs on eBay and rip them to FLAC, and stream them to myself with Jellyfin. CDs are DRM-free (meaning no potential legal issues stemming from breaking DRM), and are already digital so a conversion to FLAC incurs no quality loss. I use a Blu-ray drive, but USB DVD drive can do the job just fine and can be found for less than $20 on Amazon. Also, CDs can be had for fairly cheap because no one wants them anymore, especially if you buy a bunch at once.
This setup works fairly well up until around ~2016 music, when it becomes harder and harder to find CDs for albums released after that.
I've become kind of a grumpy old man who doesn't like much new music, so this works well for me. I still use YouTube music for music that I haven't bought CDs for yet, but I'd say that around ~80% of my music streaming is coming from my Jellyfin server now.
nine_k · 2h ago
Much new good music can be bought DRM-free on Bandcamp.
If I wanted to most honestly buy a latest hit, I'd buy it in any DRM-ed form to fuel the sales, and then download it from torrents for convenient listening.
Barbing · 1h ago
Good support
Morally identical probably but is it slightly more legal in the US to run software to crack the DRM? (Hopefully it’d never be tested of course)
chupasaurus · 30m ago
You can brag about a successful crack of the DRM but refuse to prove it if you leave no traces downloading the rip.
savef · 2h ago
Folks are saying Bandcamp, but surely that's only for the few indie artists that are on there (in comparison to the wider music ecosystem covered by Spotify). Please explain if I'm missing something here.
So I think a better answer is Qobuz[1], which I recently tried. I had a pleasant experience, where I downloaded DRM free FLAC files. I will use it again, but sparingly, as the cost adds up on top of the Spotify subscription and in comparison to piracy.
Bandcamp has a wider selection than you'd think. I've been pleasantly surprised at how often I will find an artist who sells music there. Qobuz is good too, I use them both.
runako · 1h ago
I feel like I'm missing something, too. I just went there and searched for some very large artists (pulling from a Wikipedia article on best-selling artists of all time). Every single one was a fake profile, with no actual music by the artist.
Is there a normie search mode, or is this to be expected?
bigstrat2003 · 2h ago
For music, Bandcamp and Qobuz both offer FLAC. iTunes store and Amazon both sell DRM-free downloads as well (though with lossy compression).
For video, there's never been a DRM-free store, unfortunately. Your only option there (besides hoisting the black flag) is to buy DVD/Blu-Ray releases and rip them yourself.
Someone please correct me if I am wrong, but I think iTunes doesn't put any DRM on the albums you buy from there.
musictubes · 25m ago
iTunes Store has been DRM free for music for a very long time. Still have it for video though.
Kapura · 2h ago
i buy cds and blu rays. there's a program called "makemkv" that allows you to make digital backups, including things like commentary tracks.
extra bonus: blu rays work in a ps5, so i can just do that instead of trying to figure out the stream setup.
m_a_g · 2h ago
Buying is a lot harder than pirating these days. Just join RED.
Spivak · 2h ago
For tv and movies you're basically hoping they had a DVD release. All the options options to "buy" are essentially one time fees to stream it on various services or when you get a download it will have HDCP drm on it. I can understand why they don't offer drm free versions because I would give them away like candy to my friends but it's mostly all available pirating anyway so I doubt it really matters.
trenchpilgrim · 1h ago
I don't know why you're downvoted? If you want to stay legal, you gotta buy DVDs and Blu Rays, mostly used or in bargain bins to keep it relatively affordable.
badgersnake · 2h ago
iTunes Store.
alkh · 1h ago
If one is thinking about switching from Apple Music to Spotify, can someone recommend a website to automatically move the song collection? I think it was easier a while ago but then Apple cracked down on it, so I am not sure if there's an automated option now
I feel like if you're going to have an example that presumably works, it should be value instead of placeholder or at least default the request to whatever is in the placeholder input if you click submit.
zahlman · 4h ago
Before I enable JavaScript, exactly what is this supposed to do?
incone123 · 4h ago
From their GitHub: Effortlessly convert Spotify links to your preferred streaming service
nemomarx · 4h ago
Links to songs or can it get full play lists too?
incone123 · 4h ago
Sorry, I'm not the author. I don't have Spotify either.
mattigames · 4h ago
Songs, if you paste playlist it just searches for a playlist with similar words in their title.
OJFord · 3h ago
That seems correct really? I suppose the other thing it could do would be to fetch each song at that point in time and link them individually. But then if you want that, you can always do that from the original ones anyway.
Snacklive · 4h ago
Seems like you can provide the link of an Spotify hosted song and the site would give you links for alternatives such as Youtube Premium and Apple Music
mulhoon · 3h ago
How do you even browse the web? Is it common for people to disable JavaScript?
ruuda · 3h ago
Not the poster, but I also leave js disabled by default. Meltdown/Spectre made it very clear that automatically executing untrusted third-party code securely is basically impossible. I browse the web using Chromium. I don’t think it’s common for people to disable js, but it works way better than you might expect. It’s easy to add an exception for the handful of sites that really need it. (Just three clicks.) Half of the web becomes better (no ads, no cookie banners). The other half stops working entirely, but usually that’s just a reminder that the content was probably not worth reading in the first place.
zahlman · 2h ago
> How do you even browse the web?
With NoScript, and some basic expectations for web designers to try to honour that "graceful degradation" concept that we were all assured was definitely a thing many years ago.
> Is it common for people to disable JavaScript?
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/noscript/ claims about a quarter of a million users. Which I suppose is really not very much in the grand scheme of things. But there are also people getting similar effects using uBlock and other such tools.
But I don't care how popular this is or isn't. It's my computer and this is how I operate it. And I advocate strongly for others to follow suit, because there are numerous advantages.
bee_rider · 3h ago
I keep it disabled by default (noscript) it is a tossup, lots of sites just load the essentials with JavaScript disabled and are, as a result, much better. Others break entirely. The ones that totally break tend to be the silly over-designed ones though. Most useful info is available in plain text (see the phenomenon of an old research professor’s home page).
How common? Dunno. People here talk about it whenever it comes up. As a website for chit-chatting about tech stuff we have an unusually large population that cares about this kind of stuff, though.
zzo38computer · 2h ago
Many people do, including myself (but I don't know how common it is by percentage though, but it is probably low). Although some web pages do not work, some work better. Even if it does not work, sometimes I can find the data and can still use it due to that, or use the API.
temp0826 · 3h ago
I usually keep js disabled by default with uBO and enable it per-site when it fails. Not terribly inconvenient (worst is auth workflows that bounce you through a few domains, but just save your settings as you go through it and you would only need to do that once for that flow).
HelloUsername · 3h ago
How _do_ you browse the web with Js enabeld?
1bpp · 1h ago
Using an ad blocker. Noscript seems far more annoying than useful to me, resource usage is almost never an issue and everyone is tracking me through my phone regardless.
can16358p · 1h ago
Putting aside security/privacy implications,
Why not?
CamperBob2 · 2h ago
It's the modern "I don't even own a TV."
guelo · 3h ago
I do it as well. I'm sure it's a lot more common among HN's techie audience than the general population.
quectophoton · 3h ago
The first use case that comes to mind (if this had an API, which I don't think it does), is to easily convert a list of Spotify links into different links that can be downloaded from `yt-dlp`.
I have wanted something like this for a long time. My wife uses yt for music and I use Spotify
First problem I have using this in my iPhone is that the url bar is wider than the screen (maybe due to my font?) and I can’t even manage to paste a link into it unless I turn the phone sideways.
The other problem is that the links she sends are google search link which triggers some kind of weird “search” behavior from the browser
This could be awesome but the paste behavior on iPhone is just so terrible
RadiozRadioz · 1h ago
She sends you the Google redirect links from the search page rather than the underlying YouTube URL?
If she doesn't want to do the extra step of following the link through to find the real URL, there are web extensions that will resolve the Google tracking links for you.
I understand it probably comes from the original motivation, but the name seems unfortunate since you can totally use it to convert to Spotify from e.g. iTunes if you do have Spotify but just not one of the dozen competitor subscription services
The title "I am cthulhu" is even more memorable, and illustrates why memorability shouldn't be the sole criteria.
GP has a good point imo
That keeps it catchy and accurate to what the user is actually doing.
I Don't Have Spotify: https://idonthavespotify.sjdonado.com/?id=b3Blbi5zcG90aWZ5Lm... "Not available on other platforms."
odesli.co: https://album.link/s/1eDOxiSqqxS8jSgDCsaC38 - no less than eleven different links to stream, though about half of them didn't have anything when I clicked on them. And three links to buy it, too.
I got similar results with my previous two purchases, clipping.'s Dead Channel Sky and Captain Ahab's The End of Irony. IDHS said "not available on other platforms" while odesli.co turned up close to a dozen links to stream each, and three places to buy them. Maybe IDHS works better if you're not a fiftysomething lady with hilariously obscure taste, I dunno?
IDHS: https://idonthavespotify.sjdonado.com/?id=b3Blbi5zcG90aWZ5Lm... - on Apple Music and SoundCloud.
odesli: https://album.link/i/1736268193 - 14 streaming links, 3 purchase. Including working links to Deezer and Soundcloud that IDHS didn't turn up despite saying those are the places you can start from.
Issue: https://github.com/sjdonado/idonthavespotify/issues/32
Unfortunately, the app wouldn't show up in the play stores search results even if you searched for its exact name and on iOS the app didn't make it through the review process because it has no UI. So I took it down after a while although I still feel like it's a handy tool if people send you music.
https://github.com/vbackeberg/share-song-2
https://donohoe.dev/mixtape/
1. https://bandcamp.com/
2. https://us.7digital.com/ (https://ca.7digital.com/ for fellow Canadians)
3. https://www.hdtracks.com/
EDIT: Also discovered Quobuz has a shop where you can download albums as well https://www.qobuz.com/ca-en/shop
(They used to have a really nice tarball option for downloading albums, but they axed that so now you have to download songs individually. Massive downgrade in QoL)
Honestly though? I just buy CDs on eBay and rip them to FLAC, and stream them to myself with Jellyfin. CDs are DRM-free (meaning no potential legal issues stemming from breaking DRM), and are already digital so a conversion to FLAC incurs no quality loss. I use a Blu-ray drive, but USB DVD drive can do the job just fine and can be found for less than $20 on Amazon. Also, CDs can be had for fairly cheap because no one wants them anymore, especially if you buy a bunch at once.
This setup works fairly well up until around ~2016 music, when it becomes harder and harder to find CDs for albums released after that.
I've become kind of a grumpy old man who doesn't like much new music, so this works well for me. I still use YouTube music for music that I haven't bought CDs for yet, but I'd say that around ~80% of my music streaming is coming from my Jellyfin server now.
If I wanted to most honestly buy a latest hit, I'd buy it in any DRM-ed form to fuel the sales, and then download it from torrents for convenient listening.
Morally identical probably but is it slightly more legal in the US to run software to crack the DRM? (Hopefully it’d never be tested of course)
So I think a better answer is Qobuz[1], which I recently tried. I had a pleasant experience, where I downloaded DRM free FLAC files. I will use it again, but sparingly, as the cost adds up on top of the Spotify subscription and in comparison to piracy.
[1] https://www.qobuz.com/gb-en/shop
Is there a normie search mode, or is this to be expected?
For video, there's never been a DRM-free store, unfortunately. Your only option there (besides hoisting the black flag) is to buy DVD/Blu-Ray releases and rip them yourself.
No comments yet
extra bonus: blu rays work in a ps5, so i can just do that instead of trying to figure out the stream setup.
I Don't Have Spotify - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42110877 - Nov 2024 (371 comments)
With NoScript, and some basic expectations for web designers to try to honour that "graceful degradation" concept that we were all assured was definitely a thing many years ago.
> Is it common for people to disable JavaScript?
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/noscript/ claims about a quarter of a million users. Which I suppose is really not very much in the grand scheme of things. But there are also people getting similar effects using uBlock and other such tools.
But I don't care how popular this is or isn't. It's my computer and this is how I operate it. And I advocate strongly for others to follow suit, because there are numerous advantages.
How common? Dunno. People here talk about it whenever it comes up. As a website for chit-chatting about tech stuff we have an unusually large population that cares about this kind of stuff, though.
Why not?
First problem I have using this in my iPhone is that the url bar is wider than the screen (maybe due to my font?) and I can’t even manage to paste a link into it unless I turn the phone sideways. The other problem is that the links she sends are google search link which triggers some kind of weird “search” behavior from the browser
This could be awesome but the paste behavior on iPhone is just so terrible
If she doesn't want to do the extra step of following the link through to find the real URL, there are web extensions that will resolve the Google tracking links for you.