Eager to share, but doesn't quite know how: hands on with Spotify

The long-anticipated US launch of music service Spotify finally took place last week. Ars goes hands on to determine if we'd gladly pay a nominal monthly sum for the service or just stick to the free version.

<a href='http://meincmagazine.com/gadgets/reviews/2011/07/nothing-wrong-with-free-hands-on-with-spotify.ars'>Read the whole story</a>

 

[A.W.]

I'll stick with my Zune Pass, which allows my wife and I to each have unlimited music (no 3,333 track limit) on up to 3 computers and 6 devices (IIRC). And with a WP7 phone, I can even stream or download music directly; no PC required.

Edit: Looks like it's 3 computers and 3 devices, not 6.

 

[Brenner256]

As someone without a Facebook account, it feels like the discovery component is almost nonexistent. There is a small related artists list next to the current artist's bio, but that is woefully lacking. If you're someone who already knows what bands and performers you want to listen to, the service is great. If you're more like me, someone who favors the radio station approach a la Pandora, you'll probably be somewhat disappointed.

My two cents anyway.

 

[tungsten2k]

No mention that the iOS app re-downloads your iTunes collection and places into the Spotify data set ?

iPhone 4 32GB instantly went from 5GB free to "out of space".

 

[MoonShark]

I tried the Mac client, and it kept refusing to play songs, it was glitchy with queueing, then when it would play them it would occasionally stop or pause instead of continuing to the next track. I had a strong wifi signal.

These are probably bugs that will be fixed soon, but still, I've been happier with Pandora, Grooveshark, Last.fm, etc. when I crave tunes.

Quick question: Does the client still show ads when you play your own music (as an iTunes replacement)? I keep my library on another system.

 

[H.L.]

Spotify's closest thing to a music discovery service is actually completely broken, at least for me.

Under my profile page, my "Top Artists" and "Top Tracks" lists are both mysteriously empty and have been since I began. This means that if you search for "Tracks for me" under the "What's New" tab, nothing will appear. The list is completely empty.

 

[Debacle]

If you use Windows or Xbox or WP7, Zune Pass sounds like a better deal. Almost as many songs (11 million vs 13 million), but you get to keep 10 each month forever.

 

[Digital Noise]

If you're looking to use Spotify to discover new music - stick with something else, and/or use it in conjunction with Spotify (Spotify + Pandora works great for me).

If, like me, you know who you want to listen to, but can't find their music ANYWHERE (back-catalog, out-of-published CD's are a PITA), then Spotify is awesome.

I've yet to submit an artist or group name that they haven't had available.

 

[Abulia]

I like it but the player UI is pretty feature-bare. There's no visualizer, EQ options, etc. Also, no tooltips or help to show you what's what. A lot of experientation. It doesn't feel fully-baked.

Plus I really miss some discovery options. Right now none of my friends are on Spotify and I'm manually searching for stuff to listen to. Spotify *REALLY* needs something like iTunes Genius.

The iOS app is iPhone only but will work on an iPad. It's UI is pretty miserable; you have to "hide" the album art to control audio sources or make adjustments. But points in Spotify's favor for supporting AirPlay; using my iPhone or iPad I was able to stream Spotify to my patio sound system (Airport Express), my game room sound system (Airport Express), or living room Apple TV quickly and easily. Spotify will be HUGE at my next party!

 

[Eldorito]

...and the rapidly fading Grooveshark...

Just out of curiousity, what's rapidly fading about it? I know it doesn't make news much anymore but I didn't know it was dying.

It's my stream of choice for work these days, I'd be disappointed if it disappeared. Granted, it wouldn't surprise me, their ad revenue can't exactly be high but I haven't heard anything about its impending doom.

 

[ziritrion]

As a long-time user of Spotify I'm curious about what the US reaction will be. However, I think that many people are still confused about what the big deal is with it.

In Spain (where I'm from), the only choices you had for music where either CD's, iTunes or piracy. In the US you already had Zune Pass, Rhapsody and others, but the options in Spain were limited. Then Spotify came along, and everybody was ecstatic about it: listen to any song for free in exchange of having to hear a few ads every once in a while, or pay a monthly fee for unlimited music. It became extremely popular because it was easy to use and free; it was also the first of such streaming services to come to Spain (and I believe that to many of the other countries where it's available as well). Recently they had to gimp the free service, but I'm a subscriber (although I don't pay every single month; only on certain periods like the summer months). Spotify also has an awesome feature which I'm not sure if it's come to the US: you can pay for a single day of ad-free unlimited streaming and it only costs 1€, which is great for parties and special events.

The social aspects of Spotify are limited to Facebook and Last.fm integration, but thanks to its APIs there already are a few web services available that compliment Spotify very well (they've been commented already in many blogs). Most people don't use Spotify exclusively and rely on many methods for music discovery anyway.

In the US you already have many ways to get music; from regular purchase models to streaming and subscription. I'm not sure if Spotify will fare well in the US, but it will be interesting to see. However, I'm pretty sure it will not have the same impact it had in Europe, mostly because the circumstances are vastly different.

 

[TomXP411]

As someone without a Facebook account, it feels like the discovery component is almost nonexistent. There is a small related artists list next to the current artist's bio, but that is woefully lacking. If you're someone who already knows what bands and performers you want to listen to, the service is great. If you're more like me, someone who favors the radio station approach a la Pandora, you'll probably be somewhat disappointed.

My two cents anyway.

I agree. I have been desperately seeing a service that has a solid recommendation engine, a good on-demand library, and isn't riddled with software bugs.

Pandora doesn't do on-demand
Slacker is unreliable
Spotify doesn't seem to have a recommendation/discovery system

arrgh!

 

[ziritrion]

I've made a mistake: the single day pass is not available anymore, which sucks big time. The revision to its service has been pretty harmful; I wonder whether it was due to profitability or pressure from record labels.

 

[cateye]

I'm finding the best use of Spotify for me is like a super-enhanced preview mechanism. If I hear (or discover) something I like on one of the streaming internet stations I listen to, or wherever, I can pull it up on Spotify, "preview" the whole album, and decide then if it's worth buying from Amazon or iTunes. As such, I don't really have any reason to ever pay the subscription fee, or use any of its social or other features.

Whether or not that makes me a "valuable" customer to them is up in the air, but as the article suggests, the rest of their features are just weak enough to not make me want to use it in much of a capacity beyond this.

 

[abhijeetgaiha]

Spotify has been having several technical issues as well, which I've been affected by as well. Have a look here: http://getsatisfaction.com/spotify/topi ... ot_playing

I still like the service, it's the best on-demand music service I've used yet. It would be nice if they succeeded.

 

[DoubleTap]

As my first venture into subscription music, I'm thoroughly enjoying the premium plan. So far the service hasn't not found something I've entered into the search bar.

I love the offline mode as well. Playlists that I create on my mobile device appear on the desktop app. Nice.

I just wish there was a true iPad version of the iOS app.

DT

 

[kansanian]

One commenter mentioned Rhapsody, but nothing in the article? Disappointing. I think Rhapsody is by far the biggest competitor in the U.S.A.

That minor gripe aside, I agree largely with the article. Just got my invite yesterday and tried it out.

Not only was the "auto-everything" terribly stupid and annoying, I did not like the interface at all.
Player controls on the bottom of the screen?

Navigation was also "spotty" (pun intended) as I had to poke around to get anywhere instead of intuitively navigating.

I'll stick with Rhapsody, thanks. Its "related artists" and "followers" etc. are great to find other artists. Spotify has a long way to go...

Oh, and Rhapsody, Spotify, Zune, Rdio, NONE OF THEM have the following artists available to stream (unless Rdio does, I wouldn't know)

Led Zeppelin
The Beatles
Tool

Nice try for those who say such services have "everything."
Missing this level of rock is criminally weak.

And people wonder why music is still shared, whether online or off...

The only saving grace about Spotify is that it may intensify competition from Rhapsody, and I hope it does. Perhaps it will also make it more clear to those who've had difficulty understanding the concept that streaming music is worth paying for if you look at it...

For now, again, I'm keeping Rhapsody. My library is already insanely large because I've had it for several years. Spotify won't sway me unless they offer something far more compelling than some upside-down iTunes-esque, hipster oriented, British borne, uptight, glossed over, rehash of a music program that wants to automatically share everything I play with the world

 

[wjousts]

I'm finding the best use of Spotify for me is like a super-enhanced preview mechanism.

That's about how I'd imagine using it. Get a full preview of a song, listen to it a couple of times, then jump to Amazon to buy the DRM free mp3. From that perspective, a good recommender would be a useful thing to have. Also, if Spotify sold DRM free mp3's, I'd have no reason to take my money elsewhere.

 

[wjousts]

O
Led Zeppelin
The Beatles
Tool

Nice try for those who say such services have "everything."
Missing this level of rock is criminally weak.

Zeppelin, ok; Beatles, of course; Tool ?!?

Putting Tool in with Zeppelin and the Beatles is criminally weak.

 

[mdavis360]

lol @ Tool

 

[kansanian]

Haha, I can understand the opinion, it was just three bands that came to mind...
Criminally weak would've been including Metallica (who's music is also unavailable to stream on Rhapsody, for example...)

...either way, touché wjousts...

I know Led Zeppelin and Beatles are available for online purchase now (at least on iTunes), but it's still baffling to see the amount of material that isn't able to be streamed.

The downfall of Rhapsody (and, I'm sure others, even Spotify) is seeing things come and go, sometimes permanently from the service due to licensing issues with the artist/label/copyright holder. Often times what WAS able to be streamed is changed to "purchase only" if it's even still available.

If they were allowed, Rhapsody and others would have no problem publishing pretty much everything they could get their hands on...

If only they'd all lighten up (labels/artists/copyright holders) and realize that, um, it's already ALL out there anyway, the better off ALL music services would be. The fact that it took Spotify this long to get access to all the labels is evidence that they're all still pretty well stuck on themselves.

 

[hobgoblin]

So, any chance for a tit for tat opening of Netflix to the world?

 

[idomagic]

Regarding the social/discovery aspect, I partly agree, and it was one of the main reasons as to why I only recently started usingt it and paying for premium (which I mainly did since I needed some decent music at work).

But a fairly overlooked "feature" (/workaround) is the simple linking of tracks, playlists and profiles. (Not that I know wether the US competitors do this as well)
There are several websites/communities dedicated to sharing and ranking playlists (and as you know, you can subscribe to a list) and, at least here in Sweden, playlists are sometimes used as promotion for radio stations, record labels, etc.
To link; select a track in spotify and copy it (ctrl+c), then paste wherever, no Facebook needed

edit: a pretty good example is http://www.digster.se which is driven by Universal

 

[Shyatic]

I've been through all these services... man, they have cooler names but the features are basically the same.

The last really good source I had was Last.fm. I was able to use its 'neighborhood' piece to help me find music I would like; I found bands from Sweden, Russia, and everywhere else that I would never have found otherwise. A lot of indie stuff too..

Then CBS bought it, and it turned into a steaming pile of dogshit. Suffice to say, I miss Last.FM, and while Spotify is nice, I honestly find Grooveshark to be better because it's easier to access (no desktop app). The mobile app might be nice, but since I have a Windows phone, there isn't one, and the Zune Music pass is actually a better value than anything out there right now.

So yea... I'll stick with that. Nothing wrong with Spotify, it's really just not that impressive.

 

[hobgoblin]

Regarding the social/discovery aspect, I partly agree, and it was one of the main reasons as to why I only recently started usingt it and paying for premium (which I mainly did since I needed some decent music at work).

But a fairly overlooked "feature" (/workaround) is the simple linking of tracks, playlists and profiles. (Not that I know wether the US competitors do this as well)
There are several websites/communities dedicated to sharing and ranking playlists (and as you know, you can subscribe to a list) and, at least here in Sweden, playlists are sometimes used as promotion for radio stations, record labels, etc.
To link; select a track in spotify and copy it (ctrl+c), then paste wherever, no Facebook needed

edit: a pretty good example is http://www.digster.se which is driven by Universal

Sharing playlists makes me think of mix tapes of the 80s.

 

[caseyjohnston]

...and the rapidly fading Grooveshark...

Just out of curiousity, what's rapidly fading about it? I know it doesn't make news much anymore but I didn't know it was dying.

It's my stream of choice for work these days, I'd be disappointed if it disappeared. Granted, it wouldn't surprise me, their ad revenue can't exactly be high but I haven't heard anything about its impending doom.

They're not necessarily on track to die, but they've recently gotten pretty bogged down with lawsuits from record labels. They have almost no one's permission to operate the way they do. Which is a shame, because it's a really nice service.

 

[oatmeal]

I think the non-buffering of Spotify is extremely nice. Things play almost instantly and skip aheads as well.

I agree lacking a "radio" feature that auto finds music is sorely lacking. Even generic genre stations would be an improvement. I just don't have the time at work to queue up music. Maybe I'll look for a good website that ranks music queues like the digster recommendation.

I have noticed some bugs. For some reason if I pause and come back later to play music it doesn't work. Doesn't throw an error just quietly plays. Skipping to the next track gets my sound back. I also noticed that "starred" music didn't sync with my mobile app for some reason. I was hoping to star music on my desktop and have it auto download for cached play on my mobile.

That last issue I sent an email to spotify support. I still haven't heard back in days. So yeah, support sucks.

 

[AnthonyInVA]

I've yet to submit an artist or group name that they haven't had available.

Is that an option? Do they bother to respond if you try?

My roommate is big into Go-Go Music from the D.C. area. He tried to look up D.C. Scorpio in MOG, Rdio, and iTunes. iTunes at least had some (not many) of his music while the other two had none at all. He hasn't looked into Spotify yet, but I'm expecting he won't find D.C. Scorpio there either.

He would, however, greatly enjoy a service that DOES actually respond to its subscribers and, if possible, add such music to its library.

 

[oatmeal]

Ugh that digster site requires a login to facebook? wtf.

Anyone have another recommendation for a playlist sharing/ranking service? No I'm not sharing my friend list with you!

 

[AnthonyInVA]

That last issue I sent an email to spotify support. I still haven't heard back in days. So yeah, support sucks.

And then I see this ^

But, that may just be because they have a huge influx of new, potential subscribers whose questions/comments/complaints they are already fielding in addition to their previous customer base?

 

[kansanian]

"He would, however, greatly enjoy a service that DOES actually respond to its subscribers and, if possible, add such music to its library."

...it's not up to the service in most cases. It is usually up to the artist, or the label, publisher(s), or the copyright holder(s)...

If the service doesn't have clearance from them, they can't legally offer the music...

Contacting the artist(s) or their agent(s) might help if that's an option...

For example, I chose not to publish some music on a couple online services out of personal preference... Would I change that if somebody asked, and actually wanted to buy my music from said services? Maybe, maybe not. It is otherwise available to purchase and stream just about everywhere else... For some reason, it's not on Spotify yet, even though the publisher claims to be partnered w/them. Perhaps it is there in other countries, just not in the U.S.A. yet since the service is still brand new here.

 

[AndyN8484]

I couldn't disagree more with this article. In fact, on Spotify's own website they have an entire section dedicated with links to a number of various tools to do a lot of the things that are being criticized. http://www.spotify.com/us/about/spotify-on-the-web/
It is what I enjoy most about Spotify being a new subscriber.

 

[idomagic]

Ugh that digster site requires a login to facebook? wtf.

Anyone have another recommendation for a playlist sharing/ranking service? No I'm not sharing my friend list with you!

Sorry, I think I mislead you, digster was an example of a group of "music professionals" composing playlists, and the whole thing is driven by Universal Music. (But you can use it without Facebook; "utan" means "without")

For other suggestions, check the link AndyN8484 posted.

 

[pasmith]

Have to give a shout-out to MOG.com, which has a really nice web player (which I personally prefer because I can access it at work without installing anything) and a nifty music discovery system that lets you 'mix in' similar artists at a ratio you control.

Spotify, even at the $10/month level, felt really sparse to me.

 

[Pjotr]

@A.W:

You don't need to own a PC to use Spotify on your mobile. You can search, build playlists etc on your phone (Android etc). You can stream directly and/or sync songs for offline play (like when flying). The 3333 limit is ONLY for how many songs you can have stored offline. Streaming has no limits. (you need to pay for full mobile experience of course)

 

[crazydave80]

Agree with everyone else that Spotify's discovery features suck. But the 3rd party sites (linked above) are pretty good, my current fav is http://sharemyplaylists.com/ - just pick from one of the thousands created by others or generate your own by seeding it with stuff you like so it can suggest similar tracks based on what you specify.

 

[fabarati]

There is a Spotify radio function here in Sweden. It's been there for as long as I've used it (since 2008).

http://i.imgur.com/JkpL0.png

 

[fabarati]

There are also two tabs on artist pages called Related artists and Artist Radio. I never quite understood what artist radio was (not everone has it) and honestly, I never really bothered looking into it.

Here are the related artist and artist radio for "Those Dancing Days"

http://i.imgur.com/Mci66.png

http://i.imgur.com/eH1xM.png

 

[bzzlink]

My spotify (Norway premium subsc.) has a radio feature. Can sort by year and genre.e.g. disco and hip hop from '80 - '00

As for discovery, search for 'spotify playlist' on google.... You can share playlists as http links. There are a lot of communities out there.

Another great feature, is the collaborative playlists. Send along a playlist link to everyone attending your party when you invite them. Everyone can add their favourite songs, to the list you play at the party! And yes they can do this from the mobile client as well.

 

[Meathim]

My spotify (Norway premium subsc.) has a radio feature. Can sort by year and genre.e.g. disco and hip hop from '80 - '00

I have that too but it's not very functional imo. The genres are very very very broad so you'll end up skipping half the songs anyway.