Cherry's Audio Farm
DIY Studio. Ethical listening. Independent Music.
Practice What you Preach
A DIY experiment in ethical listening.I left Spotify to explore platforms that feel fairer to artists and more meaningful to me.
Not because I’m perfect, not because I’m boycotting listeners but because something about the way I listened to music stopped feeling like music.This campaign is me learning in public.
Between naps, late nights, Uni deadlines, and real life happening around me.
It’s not a manifesto. It’s not purity. It’s a work-in-progress.
Just a human trying to build something different, even if it’s messy.If you want the longer version, you can read my notes here:
Why I quit Spotify
I didn’t leave Spotify because I hate convenience.
I left because convenience started costing me something I didn’t notice at first.It wasn’t a dramatic moment, just a slow realisation that the way I listened to music had changed. I was skipping more than I was listening. I wasn’t finishing albums. I wasn’t discovering things on my own terms anymore; I was being handed whatever the algorithm decided I “should” like.At some point, it stopped feeling like music and started feeling like fast food.I care about artists actually getting paid. I care about music, feeling like a relationship, not an automated vending machine. I care about the places I listen, shaping the way I listen. So I stepped away. Not forever, not angrily; just consciously.I’m not boycotting listeners.
I’m not telling anyone what they should do.
I’m simply making a different choice and building a space around it.This website is part of that.
So is Cherry’s Audio Farm.
So is what comes next.If you’re curious, keep reading. I’ll show you where I listen now.
Where I listen Now
I didn’t replace Spotify with one perfect platform.
I replaced it with a mix of places that feel better for my brain and better for the artists I care about.Right now, that looks like:• Bandcamp - to buy music, support artists directly, and actually own what I love.• Qobuz - for high-quality streaming without the algorithm shouting at me.• SoundCloud - for weird corners, experiments, demos, and people sharing before they “brand” themselves.• NTS Radio - discovering music like someone is handing you a record in a shop, not an algorithm feeding you content.• CDs, Records & Cassettes - record shops, second-hand finds, charity shops, car boot sales. Slow listening. Personal listening. Real objects.I’m not saying these are the “right” choices.
They’re just the ones that feel human to me.
Read The Notes
These aren’t commandments or a grand manifesto, just notes from trying to rebuild how I listen.
Why I stepped away from Spotify. Where I’ve gone instead. What I’m figuring out as I go.
It will change over time. Music does. People do. The point is to stay awake while it happens.• I quit Spotify because convenience was costing more than it was giving.
• I listen again now. Properly. Records, CDs, Bandcamp, Qobuz, online radio.
• This isn’t about purity. It’s about attention.
• You don’t have to agree. You don’t have to quit anything.
• I’m just learning in public; one record, one post, one day at a time.This is where I’m keeping a living document of what I’m building, why I quit Spotify, and where I’m listening now.
It will grow over time, this is just the start.
