The End Game: Why Artists Believe Spotify Wants to Eliminate Conscious Choice

According to a growing number of artists, the ultimate goal of Spotify is not just to stream music, but to fundamentally change how we listen—by eliminating conscious choice. This chilling perspective, articulated by musicians like Hotline TNT’s Will Anderson, posits that “Spotify’s end game is for you not to think about what’s playing,” a strategy that serves the platform’s interests but is seen as detrimental to art itself.
This theory is rooted in the platform’s design, which heavily favors playlists, radio-style features, and algorithmic recommendations. The user experience is optimized for a “lean-back” approach, where music flows continuously with minimal input from the listener. While convenient, critics argue this system actively discourages intentional listening, such as choosing to play a specific album from start to finish.
The economic incentive for this model is clear. By keeping users passively engaged for longer periods, Spotify can maximize ad revenue (for free users) and demonstrate value to its paying subscribers, reducing churn. The platform becomes a utility, like a tap providing a constant stream of background sound, rather than a library to be actively explored.
For artists, this is a deeply troubling prospect. It devalues their work by treating it as interchangeable content, mere fodder for the algorithmic machine. It severs the connection between the listener and the artist’s intent, reducing a carefully constructed album into a collection of decontextualized tracks. This is why movements like “Death to Spotify” are so focused on reclaiming the act of deliberate, active listening.
This “end game” theory paints a dystopian picture of the future of music consumption: one where human taste is entirely outsourced to a corporate algorithm. The rebellion against Spotify is, in this light, a fight to preserve human agency in our cultural lives—a defense of our right to choose, to think, and to engage deeply with the art that moves us.