Spotify

[Pip Madeley]

Does anyone else use Spotify?

It's a free, legal online music service which lets you stream music direct to your computer - the only thing is you get a 10-second advert every 20 minutes. It looks like iTunes and it's very slick - recommended!

[Jeff]

Does anyone else use Spotify?

It's a free, legal online music service which lets you stream music direct to your computer - the only thing is you get a 10-second advert every 20 minutes. It looks like iTunes and it's very slick - recommended!

Sounds like something George Bush would say. Hadn't heard of it myself.

[Rob McCow]

I've been running this for about 8 months now, the holes in the collection make it a little irritating but I've found it very useful for tracking down little oddities. Like the time I really wanted to listen to Jeff Wayne's War of The Worlds, it saved me £18.

I've also found some interesting classical tracks, one of which turns up in a forthcoming PS Audio.

[Pip Madeley]

I've been using Spotify for months now, but I'm interested to see that musical legend Peter Gabriel is behind We7 which works on a similar basis except there's no sign up required and it all works through your browser.

Decent selection too, it explains why I couldn't find Peter Gabriel's back catalogue on Spotify anyway...

[SiHart]

I'm very quickly becoming a Spotify fan. I only joined last week, but since then I've listened to loads of great stuff- from Radiophonic Workshop rarities to the new Benny Andersson album (which I didn't even realise had been released!). In fact if I'm not careful I'll turn this into a Today I Spotified thread cos there's so much great stuff to find!

At the moment I'm listening to The White Noise- An Electric Storm- an electric- psychedelic album from Delia Derbyshire and Brian Hodgson among others.

Si xx

[Si Hunt]

It just doesn't appeal to me, perhaps because I usually use Youtube to sample a song, then will buy it if I like it. At only 69p, I'll happily pay to hear a song a few times for that price.

Si.

[SiHart]

I think I prefer Spotify as a test bed for songs, as you can usually hear the whole album. I suppose it's just got to me this last week!

Si xx

[Rob McCow]

http://www.spotify.com/int/blog/arch...ify-free-open/

Spotify is changing!

■New Spotify users will be able to enjoy our unrivalled free service as it is today for the first 6 months.
■As of May 1st, any user who signed up to the free service on or before November 1st 2010 will be able to play each track for free up to a total of 5 times. Users who signed up after the beginning of November will see these changes applied 6 months after the time they set up their Spotify account.
■Additionally, total listening time for free users will be limited to 10 hours per month after the first 6 months. That’s equivalent to around 200 tracks or 20 albums.

I strongly suspect that this is a sign of things to come. The internet services that we enjoy won't be free forever. At some point we'll have to start paying for the services we use directly, rather than through 'hidden' advertising costs.

Honestly, I don't mind too much. £5 per month for unlimited free music on my computer wouldn't really be that expensive. Heck, most people could spending a year's worth of subscription on CDs any given weekend!

[Paul Monk]

I think its a shame that they stoppeddoing the 99p for 24 hours deal, as that was really useful at parties. Thats really all I use it fo so I'll probably stick to the free service.

[Rob McCow]

Well, to pay £5 for infinite free music at a party isn't that bad either in my opinion. Plus you get a month of Spotify off the back of it.

If you don't listen to a vast amount of music at home, then the free service would still cover you I reckon.