Now, a new app called Crates is attempting to rethink what a modern music library looks like — and what ethical listening might mean in an era dominated by streaming giants.
What is Crates?
At its core, Crates is less like a traditional streaming app and more like a personal music workstation. It's a next-generation music workstation built for selectors, collectors, and music obsessives — designed to run locally on a user’s device.
The platform aims to unify files, playlists, bookmarks, and streaming links into one customizable environment, consolidating users’ local files and online libraries into a single in-app experience with deep customization, true data ownership and community-powered discovery.
The idea is simple, but also kind of revolutionary?
Instead of juggling Bandcamp downloads, YouTube bookmarks, Spotify playlists, and local audio files across multiple apps, Crates offers a single “home” for an entire music collection. This includes deep tagging systems, curated discovery tools, and even DJ-focused features like exporting playlists to Rekordbox.
Crates is not trying to replace streaming; it’s offering a way to blend the personal joy of physical record collecting (and selecting) with the optimization of our digital media aquisition in one well-organized and offline playback system.
Is Crates For You?
Honestly, probably! This is a music player that's meant for listeners who either need a means of organization to combine music from a variety of sources they frequent (Bandcamp, YouTube, Spotify, Discogs), or tastemakers who listen to music with an active, engaged sensibility; whether playlist-curating, DJing, radio selecting, you name it.
These users might be a niche audience, but they often shape broader music culture. As the Crates team describes it, they’re building for “the top 1% who shape discovery for the other 99%.”
That positioning reflects a growing divide in music tech: casual listeners gravitate toward passive streaming, while a smaller but influential segment is seeking deeper control and intentionality.
In other words, it's for people who care about the music they listen to enough to prioritize the way the engage with it. That's why Crates is obsessed with what they call "ethical listening."
What Is “Ethical Listening?”
Perhaps the most interesting aspect of Crates isn’t the feature set — it’s the ideology behind it. The app promotes a “stream what you’re curious about, purchase what you love” mindset.
By encouraging users to own music they deeply connect with — especially through platforms like Bandcamp — Crates positions itself as part of a wider push toward fairer artist compensation and listener accountability. This idea of ethical listening taps into several larger trends:
- Subscription fatigue: Fans increasingly question paying multiple monthly fees without owning anything.
- Platform skepticism: Concerns about data ownership and algorithmic influence are rising across digital culture.
- Community-led discovery: Many listeners are turning back toward tastemakers, curators, and niche scenes instead of algorithmic feeds.
All this raises a bigger question for those watching what happens across th industry: as algorithms optimize for passive listening, will a new generation of tools emerge that prioritize intentional listening instead?
Crates seems to believe the answer is yes — and that the future of music culture might look less like a feed, and more like a library you truly own, and customize yourself.
