There are plenty of ways to convince people to take privacy and security more seriously, but this isn’t it. This is more likely to make people not take it seriously. Spotify Wrapped is a fun little gimmick that a lot of folks appreciate. Heck even I did, and I only rarely use Spotify.
The music streaming service, that I stream music from, knows which music I streamed. I’m shocked.
The problem is when that streaming service also tells all its company friends what music you streamed, which helps them profile you even more accurately.
If the article had been about that, that would have been an interesting article.
I listed to marina and the diamonds and tool. Maybe they could pitch me better headphones? I am actually in the market for new headphones.
Genuinely looking for new headphones?
Wired or wireless?
I kind of love headphones.
I’m also in the market for new headphones! Wireless. I currently have a pair for gaming and a pair for music/travelling. It’s critical the travelling pair have outrageously good sound cancelling. Both must have a mic. Unlimited budget.
Have at thee!
Okay so this provides an interesting set of restraints as they are traveling headphones. I have yet to find what I consider the perfect traveling headphones but there are a couple I have found that come close.
The Sony WH-1000XM5 and the Bose Quiet Comfort Ultra’s
Bose has some remarkable ANC, after all that is one of the things that really established their name in the market. My main two complaints with the Bose is the sound signature isn’t always the best (IMO) and that the app can be finicky at best bordering on terribly annoying.
The Bose Quiet Comfort Ultra’s are really amazing for the ANC and their sound is improved with their new processor but if you are on an apple device you will miss out on this feature. Only devices with a snap dragon 888 or newer can take advantage.
One of the caveats is that the microphone quality is not the best I had some complaints about call quality when using the Bose.
One pro is that they collapse into a smaller form factor with a slightly better carrying case.
For the Sony XM5 I really preferred the sound signature and styling is just Chefs Kiss. They fold flat enough which makes packing them easy enough even if they aren’t as small as the Bose. I also prefer that the XM5 has a 3.5mm audio jack instead of a 2.5mm on the Bose. It feels more likely to last longer. Also because they are slightly older you can probably find a better deal.
The Sony does a remarkably good job at rejecting background noise when making phone calls and has a much wider band of frequencies captured. The Bose sounds very tiny and scratchy.
The Sony also has a longer battery life which is nice.
I know you said that outrageous good noise cancelling is key but if you are willing to compromise a little on the ANC quality the Focal Bathys have far superior sound.
The frequency curve on the mids to low end is practically flat, it does fall off the tiniest bit on the upper mids and lower highs but for me this means you get a really accurate sound reproduction that isn’t tiring and can be listened to all day long. The soundstage is really wide especially given that they are closed back.
The looks are a bit odd and they are a bit on the larger side. They still fold flat and they have a superior amount of cushion and I think the build quality is better.
Oh if you are a bass head that just wants super punchy powerful bass go for the Sony’s over the Focals. The Focals are more accurate but less present.
Lastly is my currently traveling setup. Its… non-traditional. I am using a pair of Samsung Galaxy Pro 2 buds which really fit my ear well and already have some pretty remarkable ANC. Not nearly Headphone level but still very good. Here is the non-traditional part: if I REALLY need to block out outside noise IE on a construction site or in the shop I wear the buds underneath a pair of passive cancelling earmuffs. Specifically the Peltor X5 Earmuffs.
It’s not stylish but the Earmuffs + Buds + Comply Foam tips feels like you are in a void. Barely have to touch the volume to hear your music as clear as day.
Awesome thanks for the write up! The headphones I’m replacing are XM3 but I’ve had them over 5 years now I think and they’re showing their age (just aesthetically as the cushions are starting to crack, and flaking isn’t far away imo) so I suspect I’ll go for the XM5 as I’ve been really happy with these.
For gaming I think I’ll stick with steelseries (assuming they still have a model that does replaceable batteries) as I always forget to charge stuff so the base station charging the spare has been awesome.
Thanks again!
Anytime!
If you want to extend the life of your XM3’s you can get some high quality upgraded cushions from “Wicked Cushions” for $30. They have a couple of different styles other than just straight black.
What are they going to do, black mail me by telling my friends I listen to Taylor Swift occasionally?
No, but the more they know about you, the surer they can be that different groups of data belong to the same person. Since music taste is quite personal, it helps quite a lot in constructing a profile. And I sure hope you do understand that it isn’t ideal that tech giants know everything about you.
They have my payment information. They don’t need to guess.
Yes, but you also won’t give them your payment information every time you use the internet, or on every device, so often it might just as well be someone else on your IP address.
I don’t really understand what the author is complaining about. Spotify Wrapped is just a fun thing that shows you your music listening stats. The data is all very obvious and not invasive at all. Is the author arguing that it should be discontinued? Or is he saying it should change in some way?
I like spotify wrapped. I could easily pirate music, but I have premium for music discovery and it’s cool to see what I’ve been listening to this year and compare with previous years.
Statements like this make people take privacy less seriously. I don’t see how a music streaming site could possibly function without at least indirectly collecting the information displayed in the wrap up.
GTFO, wrapped is the best. I get to learn I’m like top 0.5% listeners of my favourite bands. I’m the biggest fan! I win!
Yeah… Takes note of everything you listen to, and when… But only when you’re using spotify lol
I stopped using Spotify because it doesn’t integrate well with home automation platforms (only with sonos) and because they wasted 100 mil on Joe Rogan (which made it clear I’m not their target market). I hate apple, but even they pay their artists
I want a service which is a bit more targeted, and its not really worth much. Its not exactly valuable information what I listened to lol (except to other music services)
This year I noticed that it didn’t really reflect my tastes. A couple of the most played songs were songs I don’t actually like, that Spotify keeps playing me in the car. I can’t tell it I don’t like the song while I’m driving, and even if I skip it, the song just reappears the next day.
So my New Year’s music resolution is to rely on generated streaming playlists less and be more deliberate about what I listen to. Evidently I’m spending a lot of time tolerating music I don’t particularly enjoy.
On the one hand, better you know what they collect about you than not. And as long as you use a streaming service they’re collecting data on you.
On the other hand, streaming services are inherently wasteful and lead to pointless and excessive power usage which contributes to climate change, not to mention the privacy concerns, all of which could have been avoided by reasonably priced buy-once-own-forever media.
My friends and I enjoy sharing our results with each other every year. IMO the problem arises when results are shared with advertisers or without my knowledge.
Yeah, on its own this is a good feature and I don’t have to write my own version based on the GDPR data request.
