I wanted to try reverting back to a version of Spotify that still had the ability to integrate local files directly into the streaming library, but I downloaded 0.8.5 and it automatically installed 0.9.15. Which is still better than the new update, but... all the updates have been getting progressively crappier for the last couple of years.

What's in the new update? Haven't done it yet.

When I updated it it started playing a lot less ads for me and nothing else changed whatsoever besides the appearance. I'm pretty angry about it

Spotify has an incredibly limited music library. Licensing rights and hosting expenses make commercial streaming services a failure from the start if you're looking for anything outside of the general sphere of popular song.

Every year or so I connect to Spotify and feed it a number of the artists from my personal music library - artists with 50-300 albums to their name. Each time Spotify has returned only a handful of results.

And given the widely-reported user discontent with the service's crippling of their interface, it is unlikely that they will ever win me as a customer.

I generally ignore updates. If it ain't broke....
I don't think streaming costs money, unless as you say you're on mobile internet, but I do all my Spotifying from home and I have unlimited download with my ISP so no problem.
My taste isn't exactly what you'd call eclectic, but I have seldom come across an album I couldn't get there. The odd one, yes, but very seldom. And then of course there's Grooveshark and if you're really stuck YouTube. It's great for those of us who just want to listen to an album to review it, without having to buy the thing, even if it can be got for less than a dollar...

Does anybody know how to stop Spotify from automatically updating. Every time I downgrade and then close my Spotify, it installs the new update and I have to go downgrade it again. It's fecking annoying. Their new update is a load of balls. The music stutters for me, but the old version doesn't.

Stopping Spotify Updates
 

Not a Spotify user myself, but a quick search produced this solution to stop their updates. Old versions are available for download if you look around.

According to a community discussion on Spotify's user forum -

Go to C:/Users/<Name>/Appdata/Roaming/Spotify

1. Make a new empy text file
2. Name it Spotify_new.exe
3. Right click the file and make the file read only

1. Make a new empty text file
2. Name it Spotify_new.exe.sig
3. Right click the file and make the file read only

Spotify will not be able to update because it can't delete the files, because they are read only, all future upgrades will fail.

Let me know if this works for you.

Dredging this thread up out of the archives to ask: once I've added my own (local) music to Spotify, how can I access it as in search? I can see all the tracks in a list (is it possible to rearrange them by album/artiste etc?) but if I search I just get what Spotify has on its own servers. Some of my albums have specific formats I want to listen to (collectors' editions etc) so how do I access them?

Thanks
TH

They used to have a dedicated search bar for your local music, but they removed it for some weird reason.