Music Apps

[R-V]

Anyone here use Spotify premium? Does it work as well as advertised? Seems like the catalog is pretty complete, is there any reason to buy songs anymore if you have it?

Dammit, beaten to it.  What Slak said.  There are a few gaps here and there, but nonethless I fucking LOVE Spotify Premium and can't imagine living without it.

If you download tracks for offline use, do they expire or something? I'm assuming there are limitations around this.

Not as long as you remain subscribed. I was listening to my starred songs on the plane yesterday. It was perfect and amazing.

I'm just a simple caveman, so could someone explain Spotify to me? If I download 4 or 5 albums a month for $2/each, is Spotify a better deal for me? I'm not much of a streamer at this point.

[Slaky]

Anyone here use Spotify premium? Does it work as well as advertised? Seems like the catalog is pretty complete, is there any reason to buy songs anymore if you have it?

Dammit, beaten to it.  What Slak said.  There are a few gaps here and there, but nonethless I fucking LOVE Spotify Premium and can't imagine living without it.

If you download tracks for offline use, do they expire or something? I'm assuming there are limitations around this.

Not as long as you remain subscribed. I was listening to my starred songs on the plane yesterday. It was perfect and amazing.

I'm just a simple caveman, so could someone explain Spotify to me? If I download 4 or 5 albums a month for $2/each, is Spotify a better deal for me? I'm not much of a streamer at this point.

Sounds like you'd be paying the same amount to have almost infinity albums on stream instead of the 4-5 albums you typically buy. However, I can see how musical ADD would come into play and you'd have a hard time really digesting those 4-5 albums you might otherwise spend a solid chunk of time digesting in full and really getting to know. With Spotify, I think the urge to skip around and listen to a song here and a song there becomes an issue. When the world of music is at your beck and call, you don't necessarily stop and listen to a full album like you would if you had spent actual dollars on it. Granted, you're spending a lot less than full retail price on the albums you buy, but you specifically chose to buy those albums and therefore probably want to give them your full attention for a least a few listens through before making a judgment whereas with streaming albums you can stop after one song and move on to something else because hey it's free.

[BH]

Anyone here use Spotify premium? Does it work as well as advertised? Seems like the catalog is pretty complete, is there any reason to buy songs anymore if you have it?

Dammit, beaten to it.  What Slak said.  There are a few gaps here and there, but nonethless I fucking LOVE Spotify Premium and can't imagine living without it.

If you download tracks for offline use, do they expire or something? I'm assuming there are limitations around this.

Not as long as you remain subscribed. I was listening to my starred songs on the plane yesterday. It was perfect and amazing.

I'm just a simple caveman, so could someone explain Spotify to me? If I download 4 or 5 albums a month for $2/each, is Spotify a better deal for me? I'm not much of a streamer at this point.

Look here. Seems to be a slicker version of itunes, where you can browse and listen to any full album you want. Probably not more cost effective than what you do if you only get a few albums a month, but if you like to listen to new stuff all the time, probably more cost effective. Plus I think you can recommend stuff to friends, create playlists for other people, etc, through the spotify app and/or facebook.. you can sign up and try it out using the PC app for free, which is what I did last night..
it's pretty cool.

[Tonker]

Anyone here use Spotify premium? Does it work as well as advertised? Seems like the catalog is pretty complete, is there any reason to buy songs anymore if you have it?

Dammit, beaten to it.  What Slak said.  There are a few gaps here and there, but nonethless I fucking LOVE Spotify Premium and can't imagine living without it.

If you download tracks for offline use, do they expire or something? I'm assuming there are limitations around this.

Not as long as you remain subscribed. I was listening to my starred songs on the plane yesterday. It was perfect and amazing.

I'm just a simple caveman, so could someone explain Spotify to me? If I download 4 or 5 albums a month for $2/each, is Spotify a better deal for me? I'm not much of a streamer at this point.

Beaten to it again.  Anyway, Spotify is basically radio-on-demand.  You put together playlists (or just grab whole albums) from the eleventy bajillion-odd songs that they have available, and it remembers them for you.  It has the added advantage that you can synchronise it to whichever box you happen to be using it on (no limit to the number of boxes, as far as I can see, although you can only use one at a time) and then listen to all your music when you're offline, too.

[BH]

Anyone here use Spotify premium? Does it work as well as advertised? Seems like the catalog is pretty complete, is there any reason to buy songs anymore if you have it?

Dammit, beaten to it.  What Slak said.  There are a few gaps here and there, but nonethless I fucking LOVE Spotify Premium and can't imagine living without it.

If you download tracks for offline use, do they expire or something? I'm assuming there are limitations around this.

Not as long as you remain subscribed. I was listening to my starred songs on the plane yesterday. It was perfect and amazing.

I'm just a simple caveman, so could someone explain Spotify to me? If I download 4 or 5 albums a month for $2/each, is Spotify a better deal for me? I'm not much of a streamer at this point.

Beaten to it again.  Anyway, Spotify is basically radio-on-demand.  You put together playlists (or just grab whole albums) from the eleventy bajillion-odd songs that they have available, and it remembers them for you.  It has the added advantage that you can synchronise it to whichever box you happen to be using it on (no limit to the number of boxes, as far as I can see, although you can only use one at a time) and then listen to all your music when you're offline, too.

So only one person can use it a time? So if the wife and I had 1 account, she had it on at home, I couldn't use it at work?

[Slaky]

I wonder if Spotify would ever think about adding some kind of a radio station feature or would that cost extra money in licensing that would hinder what they have going on now? My guess is it's cost prohibitive. They depend on the individual user as their method of sharing/discovery - you like a song, you send it to your friends to hear. There's not an "I like Black Angels so I want to listen to a Black Angels radio station".

[Tonker]

Anyone here use Spotify premium? Does it work as well as advertised? Seems like the catalog is pretty complete, is there any reason to buy songs anymore if you have it?

Dammit, beaten to it.  What Slak said.  There are a few gaps here and there, but nonethless I fucking LOVE Spotify Premium and can't imagine living without it.

If you download tracks for offline use, do they expire or something? I'm assuming there are limitations around this.

Not as long as you remain subscribed. I was listening to my starred songs on the plane yesterday. It was perfect and amazing.

I'm just a simple caveman, so could someone explain Spotify to me? If I download 4 or 5 albums a month for $2/each, is Spotify a better deal for me? I'm not much of a streamer at this point.

Beaten to it again.  Anyway, Spotify is basically radio-on-demand.  You put together playlists (or just grab whole albums) from the eleventy bajillion-odd songs that they have available, and it remembers them for you.  It has the added advantage that you can synchronise it to whichever box you happen to be using it on (no limit to the number of boxes, as far as I can see, although you can only use one at a time) and then listen to all your music when you're offline, too.

So only one person can use it a time? So if the wife and I had 1 account, she had it on at home, I couldn't use it at work?

Yep.  When the second person logs in, the first gets logged out.  Nothing to stop one of you using it offline while the other is online, though.

[BH]

I wonder if Spotify would ever think about adding some kind of a radio station feature or would that cost extra money in licensing that would hinder what they have going on now? My guess is it's cost prohibitive. They depend on the individual user as their method of sharing/discovery - you like a song, you send it to your friends to hear. There's not an "I like Black Angels so I want to listen to a Black Angels radio station".

According to this, you can do it by artist now?

"Spotify users in the United States can now enjoy an artist radio function that mimics personalized Internet radio services like Pandora. The function had long been a standard feature available to European users, and it is found in existing U.S. subscription services such as Rdio, Rhapsody and MOG.

To hear an artist's radio station, go to an artist page and look for the "Artist Radio" tab next to "Overview," "Biography" and "Similar Artists." At Adele's artist page, for example, Spotify tells us Adele's artist radio will include similar artists like Amy Winehouse, Duffy, Florence + the Machine, Kate Nash, Beth Orton, Paulo Nutini and Mumford & Sons. After hitting the play button at the bottom of the page, the listener is taken through one song after another by Adele and those and other artists. "

[Slaky]

I wonder if Spotify would ever think about adding some kind of a radio station feature or would that cost extra money in licensing that would hinder what they have going on now? My guess is it's cost prohibitive. They depend on the individual user as their method of sharing/discovery - you like a song, you send it to your friends to hear. There's not an "I like Black Angels so I want to listen to a Black Angels radio station".

According to this, you can do it by artist now?

"Spotify users in the United States can now enjoy an artist radio function that mimics personalized Internet radio services like Pandora. The function had long been a standard feature available to European users, and it is found in existing U.S. subscription services such as Rdio, Rhapsody and MOG.

To hear an artist's radio station, go to an artist page and look for the "Artist Radio" tab next to "Overview," "Biography" and "Similar Artists." At Adele's artist page, for example, Spotify tells us Adele's artist radio will include similar artists like Amy Winehouse, Duffy, Florence + the Machine, Kate Nash, Beth Orton, Paulo Nutini and Mumford & Sons. After hitting the play button at the bottom of the page, the listener is taken through one song after another by Adele and those and other artists. "

Nice - although I don't see it available on the iPhone app.

[Tonker]

I wonder if Spotify would ever think about adding some kind of a radio station feature or would that cost extra money in licensing that would hinder what they have going on now? My guess is it's cost prohibitive. They depend on the individual user as their method of sharing/discovery - you like a song, you send it to your friends to hear. There's not an "I like Black Angels so I want to listen to a Black Angels radio station".

According to this, you can do it by artist now?

"Spotify users in the United States can now enjoy an artist radio function that mimics personalized Internet radio services like Pandora. The function had long been a standard feature available to European users, and it is found in existing U.S. subscription services such as Rdio, Rhapsody and MOG.

To hear an artist's radio station, go to an artist page and look for the "Artist Radio" tab next to "Overview," "Biography" and "Similar Artists." At Adele's artist page, for example, Spotify tells us Adele's artist radio will include similar artists like Amy Winehouse, Duffy, Florence + the Machine, Kate Nash, Beth Orton, Paulo Nutini and Mumford & Sons. After hitting the play button at the bottom of the page, the listener is taken through one song after another by Adele and those and other artists. "

Paolo Nutini is similar to Adele how, exactly?  Being British?

[Richard Chuggar]

I wonder if Spotify would ever think about adding some kind of a radio station feature or would that cost extra money in licensing that would hinder what they have going on now? My guess is it's cost prohibitive. They depend on the individual user as their method of sharing/discovery - you like a song, you send it to your friends to hear. There's not an "I like Black Angels so I want to listen to a Black Angels radio station".

According to this, you can do it by artist now?

"Spotify users in the United States can now enjoy an artist radio function that mimics personalized Internet radio services like Pandora. The function had long been a standard feature available to European users, and it is found in existing U.S. subscription services such as Rdio, Rhapsody and MOG.

To hear an artist's radio station, go to an artist page and look for the "Artist Radio" tab next to "Overview," "Biography" and "Similar Artists." At Adele's artist page, for example, Spotify tells us Adele's artist radio will include similar artists like Amy Winehouse, Duffy, Florence + the Machine, Kate Nash, Beth Orton, Paulo Nutini and Mumford & Sons. After hitting the play button at the bottom of the page, the listener is taken through one song after another by Adele and those and other artists. "

Paolo Nutini is similar to Adele how, exactly?  Being British?

So Spotify is Pandora?

[BH]

I wonder if Spotify would ever think about adding some kind of a radio station feature or would that cost extra money in licensing that would hinder what they have going on now? My guess is it's cost prohibitive. They depend on the individual user as their method of sharing/discovery - you like a song, you send it to your friends to hear. There's not an "I like Black Angels so I want to listen to a Black Angels radio station".

According to this, you can do it by artist now?

"Spotify users in the United States can now enjoy an artist radio function that mimics personalized Internet radio services like Pandora. The function had long been a standard feature available to European users, and it is found in existing U.S. subscription services such as Rdio, Rhapsody and MOG.

To hear an artist's radio station, go to an artist page and look for the "Artist Radio" tab next to "Overview," "Biography" and "Similar Artists." At Adele's artist page, for example, Spotify tells us Adele's artist radio will include similar artists like Amy Winehouse, Duffy, Florence + the Machine, Kate Nash, Beth Orton, Paulo Nutini and Mumford & Sons. After hitting the play button at the bottom of the page, the listener is taken through one song after another by Adele and those and other artists. "

Paolo Nutini is similar to Adele how, exactly?  Being British?

So Spotify is Pandora?

Thanks for contributing. No. It's not.

[Richard Chuggar]

I wonder if Spotify would ever think about adding some kind of a radio station feature or would that cost extra money in licensing that would hinder what they have going on now? My guess is it's cost prohibitive. They depend on the individual user as their method of sharing/discovery - you like a song, you send it to your friends to hear. There's not an "I like Black Angels so I want to listen to a Black Angels radio station".

According to this, you can do it by artist now?

"Spotify users in the United States can now enjoy an artist radio function that mimics personalized Internet radio services like Pandora. The function had long been a standard feature available to European users, and it is found in existing U.S. subscription services such as Rdio, Rhapsody and MOG.

To hear an artist's radio station, go to an artist page and look for the "Artist Radio" tab next to "Overview," "Biography" and "Similar Artists." At Adele's artist page, for example, Spotify tells us Adele's artist radio will include similar artists like Amy Winehouse, Duffy, Florence + the Machine, Kate Nash, Beth Orton, Paulo Nutini and Mumford & Sons. After hitting the play button at the bottom of the page, the listener is taken through one song after another by Adele and those and other artists. "

Paolo Nutini is similar to Adele how, exactly?  Being British?

So Spotify is Pandora?

Thanks for contributing. No. It's not.

What's the difference?

(without just linking to an article from rotoworld)

[BH]

I wonder if Spotify would ever think about adding some kind of a radio station feature or would that cost extra money in licensing that would hinder what they have going on now? My guess is it's cost prohibitive. They depend on the individual user as their method of sharing/discovery - you like a song, you send it to your friends to hear. There's not an "I like Black Angels so I want to listen to a Black Angels radio station".

According to this, you can do it by artist now?

"Spotify users in the United States can now enjoy an artist radio function that mimics personalized Internet radio services like Pandora. The function had long been a standard feature available to European users, and it is found in existing U.S. subscription services such as Rdio, Rhapsody and MOG.

To hear an artist's radio station, go to an artist page and look for the "Artist Radio" tab next to "Overview," "Biography" and "Similar Artists." At Adele's artist page, for example, Spotify tells us Adele's artist radio will include similar artists like Amy Winehouse, Duffy, Florence + the Machine, Kate Nash, Beth Orton, Paulo Nutini and Mumford & Sons. After hitting the play button at the bottom of the page, the listener is taken through one song after another by Adele and those and other artists. "

Paolo Nutini is similar to Adele how, exactly?  Being British?

So Spotify is Pandora?

Thanks for contributing. No. It's not.

What's the difference?

(without just linking to an article from rotoworld)

Look here. Seems to be a slicker version of itunes, where you can browse and listen to any full album you want. Probably not more cost effective than what you do if you only get a few albums a month, but if you like to listen to new stuff all the time, probably more cost effective. Plus I think you can recommend stuff to friends, create playlists for other people, etc, through the spotify app and/or facebook.. you can sign up and try it out using the PC app for free, which is what I did last night..
it's pretty cool.

[R-V]

Thanks guys except for Tdubbs. Sounds like a great service. I think the ADD risk would be more than offset by the benefit of getting more similar artist-type recommendations than I do now (instead of downloading yet another Lifehouse album maybe I could find some more similar bands).