Processing/CPU issue

[chronologicque]

I stopped using Spotify a few years ago, but just recently I re-upped my subscription so I could have something to listen to on longer car drives. Back when I used to be a regular user, I started deliberately downgrading the software, mainly because of objections I had to UI design choices (which, I will say, are largely still agonizingly present).

However, downgrading now on desktop (to 0.9.10.14, for the record) effectively means throwing out all of the functionality that makes Spotify worth using at all (the library doesn't update, and the Discovery and Friends tabs simply don't load). And yet, the newest version of the desktop software is a pretty big resource hog on my set-up. Admittedly, at 2.93GHz, my CPU isn't exactly cutting edge, but I'm not convinced that the Spotify software alone should be eating up a full half of that processor speed on average. Simply having Spotify open causes noticeable slowdown on my computer. I can run graphic design and audio workstation softwares that don't use as much processor speed, so something about the whole thing strikes me as odd.

I also have the mobile app, but it similarly runs very slowly on my phone, which is more understandable, since my phone runs very slowly in general (it's not a very good or up-to-date phone). So piloting the desktop software from my phone isn't the most efficient solution to the issue. That being said, I also can't currently afford to upgrade my desktop hardware, so that isn't exactly a solution at my disposal either.

So is there anything I can do? Some workaround or something to tell the Spotify software not to passively eat up so much processing speed? Or am I basically just being punished for being poor at this point?