Over the past few months, I’ve taken a deep dive into several major music streaming platforms to find out which one stands out—not just from a listener’s point of view, but also as someone who publishes music there.

One of my main criteria, often overlooked in other reviews, was the quality of music recommendations. To make the test fair, I used each service with a clean slate (no listening history or personal data) and focused mainly on alternative and experimental music—especially by independent artists, not those signed to major labels.

I tested the platforms one after the other over about half a year, so it’s possible that some features may have changed during that time. But with that in mind, here’s what I found:

🏆 The Winner: Tidal

Tidal impressed me the most. While their algorithmic recommendations weren’t flawless, they were still better than those of any other platform I tested. What I particularly liked was their emphasis on user-created playlists, which are prominently featured on the home screen. Many of these playlists introduced me to music I hadn’t heard before but instantly appreciated—suggesting that the curators had a taste similar to mine.

Another plus: the Tidal app worked seamlessly with my Wi-Fi speakers without needing a third-party controller, which wasn’t the case with most other platforms. And yes, the sound quality was excellent too.

🥈 Second Place: Qobuz

Qobuz was a close contender. Their sound quality is arguably the best of the bunch, and instead of relying on algorithms, they offer editorial-style recommendations—like a digital music magazine. This can lead you to discover music far outside your usual listening habits, which I found refreshing.

However, I did notice some gaps in their catalogue, especially with older releases. For instance, none of our early mockART albums were available initially, though I’ve since uploaded them to complete our discography there. A downside: Qobuz’s app doesn’t connect directly with my Wi-Fi speakers, which was a bit inconvenient.

🥉 Third Place: Apple Music

Apple Music has its strengths—mainly its clean, minimalist interface and solid recommendations. But if you’re not part of the Apple ecosystem, you’ll quickly notice some limitations. Non-Mac users, in particular, don’t get the full experience, and integration with other hardware can be a bit clunky.

Also Worth Mentioning: Deezer

Deezer came across as the underdog, which made me root for them. I liked their vibe, and while their recommendation engine wasn’t quite up to par, it wasn’t bad either. A nice surprise: they have a partnership with my Wi-Fi speaker brand, which meant their service worked better than most within the speaker’s app. Still, I don’t understand why they haven’t fully integrated speaker support into their own app.

The Ones I Can’t Recommend

🚫 Spotify

Though Spotify is the most popular platform—and admittedly offers excellent usability and seamless tech integration—I was disappointed. Their much-praised recommendation engine didn’t suit my listening habits at all. I mainly received recommendations for polished major label productions, even though I focused on niche and experimental music.

Moreover, their emphasis on their own curated playlists means it’s harder to discover user-created ones. From an artist’s perspective, things get even more frustrating. Smaller, independent bands like mockART are rarely picked up by their algorithm, and visibility is low unless someone searches for you directly.

Spotify also requires artists to jump through unnecessary hoops—like uploading “canvases” (those short video loops). And the biggest issue: they don’t pay royalties for songs with under 1,000 plays. Recently, one of our older tracks crossed that threshold, only for the entire album to be removed shortly after—apparently due to suspicious playlist activity, not initiated by us. We’ve since uploaded a remastered version to all major streaming services.

🔊 Men Who Lost Their Heads (Again)

🚫 Amazon Music

This one was underwhelming. The recommendation system was poor, and the search functionality was frustrating. I often couldn’t find artists—even though they were there. Navigation felt tailored for Alexa users, and the integration with my speaker system was awkward at best. Even more concerning: older releases by prolific artists simply didn’t show up in the app interface.

🚫 YouTube Music

Given that it’s run by Google, you’d expect YouTube Music to have top-tier search capabilities. Unfortunately, this wasn’t the case. Despite listening to artists like Swans or Throbbing Gristle, I was being recommended Taylor Swift and The Weeknd. Nothing wrong with those artists—but that’s a totally different universe.

When I searched for “mockART,” the first result was “Mozart.” Helpful autocorrects are nice, but if the name you’re searching for does exist, that should take priority. Sound quality was also the worst I encountered—not just “not lossless,” but genuinely unpleasant to listen to at times.

⭐ Bonus Tip for MP3 Lovers

If you’re not sold on streaming but have a collection of MP3s and other music files, check out iBroadcast. It lets you upload your own music and access it from your phone or car. They offer a free tier (with slightly reduced quality for high-end files), but you can upload as much as you want. The interface isn’t perfect yet, but it’s improving steadily—and worth supporting.

Final Thoughts

Choosing a streaming service really depends on your needs. If you value thoughtful recommendations and high-fidelity sound, Tidal and Qobuz stand out. If you’re deeply embedded in the Apple ecosystem, Apple Music might feel like home. But for independent artists hoping to be discovered, Spotify’s dominance doesn’t always work in their favor.

What about you? Which services have you used—and what’s been your experience?

Whatever your choice—happy listening.

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Above you see another variation of my picture Parklife. The Puppets Remix version you probably already know. For this new version I didn’t re-edit the montage, but changed the finish to adopt it to my current style. The new version was on display at my latest exposition and I wanted to show you this version as well.

Before I move to the forthcoming exhibitions, I wanted to let you know that you can currently download the latest mockART albums for free from Bandcamp. views | interrupted is the soundtrack to the exhibition mentioned above. The album is instrumental and more ambient. Men Who Lost Their Heads was released last year and features various guest vocalists. If you want to download them for free you have to do it till the coming weekend. Next week we will charge the regular price again.

If you use Spotify, I can also recommend the mockART radio. You will hear some “hits” by mockART and other tracks by similar artists.

You can also listen to the full albums on Spotify as well. They are also available on other streaming services like iTunes, Deezer, YouTube Music, Tidal, etc. too, if you use those.

Now moving back to visual arts: I will present pictures in two more exhibitions this year. Both of them in Frankfurt.

For the most recent one I will return to the Nebbiensches Gartenhaus with one of the pictures that I had already shown there in September.

Departure is another variation of a picture I had already published called The Confrontation. This version was recreated exclusively for the exposition and now you have a chance to see it again at the same place.

The opening is next Thursday, November 3. The exhibition will run till November 20. There will be pictures as well by Sonja Ackermann and Christian Rocas and a lot of other artists as well.

I will also take part in the SPC Photo Awards. Normally I don’t like to compete with other artists. I made an exception here because the pictures are displayed in a renown gallery in Frankfurt. As you can only vote in the gallery, I think the artists win you can mobilise the most people. So if you can come I would be happy if you would vote for my picture.

The opening is December 9. The exhibition is open till December 17. That day the winners will be announced as well.

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I am still working with my partner on the new mockART album. We have now recorded everything, though we’re still working on the final mixes for some of the tracks. Then we have to finalize the track order and master everything. Men Who Lost Their Heads will feature 18 tracks and nearly 80 minutes or music, so it was – and is – a lot of work. You have probably already heard the first two singles – now we have decided to release another track from the album. Samesjwaering Onger Idiote features vocals by Mark Daelmans-Sikkel and is sung in Limburgs, a Dutch dialect from the South.

You will also find the track on Spotify, iTunes and other streaming platforms. There will also be a remix that I will publish on Bandcamp, where you can also find the mockART back catalogue. But more about that later.

Everything is connected.

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Today’s post is all about video. Well, mostly. I wanted to share with you the latest videos I produced for my music project mockART and another video for which I filmed some footage. Last but not least I will share a playlist with some exotic tunes to dream yourself away while you are sitting at home due corona.

Lets start with Russian Folk Song (Русская народная песня), the new sigle taken from my latest album Country Songs.

The single will be available on Spotify soon, as well as other streaming platforms like iTunes, Deezer, Tidal, Amazon and Google Music. As promised, the video you can already watch.

The next video is for another track taken from Country Songs. The track is called My Life In Japan (日本での私の人生).

The next video is by Ahl Sina. The band with members from Egypt, Germany and the USA play an interesting crossover where Metal meets Oriental Music. For their latest single No Boundaries/The Fall of Utopia I filmed some footage and therefore I would like to share the video with you as well.

In this day and age where you are not supposed to go out much, due to corona, I thought it would be nice to have something to help me travel in my mind. I thought about creating a playlist with some Exotica sound to dream myself to the jungle, the sea and other far away places. Later I decided to add some Space Age Batchelor Pad Music and extended the journey to outer space. Spiced with some Pop, Electronica, Ambient and other things it became a great means to travel in my mind. As you might spend most of your time at home at the moment as well, I wanted to share the playlist with you and hope you will imagine the most wonderful trip around the world and high above through outer space.

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I started working on Country Songs more than 10 years ago. I asked people of different countries to send vocal samples I could use for some new tracks. While working on the album I moved to another city, my computer broke, the new one couldn’t handle Photoshop and music software at the same time and so I prioritized photography. Therefore my project mockART took a long break. As you probably know, I already remastered the old mockART albums last year and republished them and I also recorded Living with Human Machines to get back into sonic experimentation. This year I finally found the time to remaster the tracks that were already recorded and to compose and record the missing tracks. So prepare for a journey into experimental sounds, structures and words.

You can download the full album from Bandcamp or stream it via Spotify, iTunes, Deezer and others.

To get into the mood, here are the to latest tracks I recorded. The vocals for Русская народная песня (Russian Folk Song) were provided by Sergei Khukhrov and Shirtless’ Mom was build around vocals by Zan Hoffman.

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