Allow me to spread the word about ListenBrainz. ListenBrainz is a FOSS project that aims to crowdsource listening data from digital music and release it under an open license. Basically it's Last.fm but better. Whatever you use to listen to music, you can probably link it up with ListenBrainz. All ListenBrainz listening data is available for all to use, commercially or not. Why should we give our listening data only to proprietary companies like Spotify and depend on them, when we can share it. If you've kept track of your what music you've listened to up to this point, don't worry, there are several ways to import them into ListenBrainz so you can keep an overview of all your music listening.
I am not working for ListenBrainz in any way, I just really like this project, and I had not seen much on Lemmy about them, so I'm happy to spread the word.
But why?
Recording of listens and then sharing it publicly allows to discoverability of more music.
It allows for data analysis. This helps you to discover new music, keep track of new releases coming out. It also allows you to easily share your musical interests with others. And it doesn't have blind spots. Spotify would never recommend you something that's not on Spotify. Because people submit listens to ListenBrainz from Spotify but also from other platforms and from local files there are no inherent blind spots. My listening behavior is no secret, anyone can have a look at it, I choose for it to not be private. But I wouldn't want to just gift it to any one particular company that can use it to make money. By submitting listens to ListenBrainz you basically gift it to everyone.
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No, all data in ListenBrainz is available for everyone.
I already use MusicBrainz data to properly name a file away my digital music collection. I contribute release info and revisions whenever I can to further that same goal. Plex uses MusicBrainz data to help me search, filter, and play through a music library that is honestly bigger than I could ever fully listen to. It just makes sense that I be able to integrate and leverage my listening data so that I can better find the tracks and releases I've "lost" in my own collection and find new music. It's even more of a bonus that all that data is open, so I feel more like I'm actually contributing something to society (even if it's as trivial as music data and listening habits) instead of just giving it away to a private company to sell or keep secret as they see fit.