Spotify Review

edited by Shab Asgharnia

Basic overview of what the tool does?

Spotify is a music streaming service. Though there are many out there, Spotify’s unique abilities rely on the fact that it takes the good from various stream sites and combines them all in one easy tool. Music can be directly browsed by artist, track, album, record label, genre or playlist. Spotify has over 20,000,000 songs in its catalog, allowing a wide range of access to music.

Any additional resources required to use the tool?

No additional sources are required. For PC the requirements are Windows XP/Vista/7. For Apple the requirements are Mac OS X 10.5.0. Apps available for iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad. Requires iOS 4.0 or later. See link to search other phone apps.

What the tool does well?

When you first initiate the software, all you'll encounter is the music you already have localized on your computer, but hidden just below the surface is the larger cloud library that you will gradually uncover. Spotify relies on search, listings of most popular songs and albums, and social interaction amongst users for new music discovery. The Top Lists present 100 of the most popular songs and albums on the service, which can be filtered by location (U.S., U.K., Spain, etc.), and a New Releases panel shows off the newest additions to the service. Last but not least, Spotify has built a library of over 20 million songs, with 10,000 new tracks added every day.

• The first time you log in, it activates a 48-hour free Premium trial.
• After that, it offers a 30-Day free Premium Trial.
• Up to 3,333 songs can be synced for offline listening on up to three devices at a time with a Premium membership.
• Integrates with Facebook and Twitter, allowing for a social community. 

Cost:

What it does poorly?

• Spotify free is subsidized by Ads, and purchasing Premium is required for mobile use (unless accessing radio only).
• A Premium account is recommended for the best perks.
• You can only stream music on one device at a time. 
• There's no way to export that content outside of Spotify, such as burning a CD. 
• Can only be used for personal non-commercial use. 
• Your playlists are not automatically set to private. 
• New artist can only get on Spotify through a record label or aggregator. 
• Some major bands are not available on Spotify: AC/DC, The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, Metallica, Pink Floyd, Radiohead 

What happens when you...

Try to stream music from the same premium account on multiple devices?

• If you begin playback on another device, the playback on your current device will be paused.

Listen to really embarrassing songs without adjusting your privacy settings?

• Chances are, all of your friends will call you out and laugh at you.

Links to additional outside resources:

Spotify Web Player