Spotify Premium

[gasteropod]

I've been trialling this since yesterday and I'm seriously thinking about finally abandoning CDs now. This has mainly been prompted by the fact I no longer have any space for them and it's been stressing me out, even searching unsuccessfully all over Grimsby just for a new CD rack.

I've been using the standard free version of Spotify for a while, albeit not that much, but what's great about the Premium version is there are no adverts and the sound quality is now up to 320kbps instead of the free version's 160kbps. I realised I could now hook my laptop up to my surround sound system via my new DAC, and it's great playing Spotify through my main speakers now.

Anyone else checked this version out? A tenner a month seems incredible value to me considering the amount I spend on CDs.

[Markgway]

I have collector's blood. I need to own the actual disc.

[bradavon]

When it comes to films I want to own the disc. Partly because I like collecting films and partly because downloads are not in the same league of quality as DVDs/BDs and probably never will be.

CDs however rarely offer extra value content and an MP3 (to me anyway) is indistinguishable to CD quality. It's the quality of the hardware that matters more. Up until about 6 months ago I still bought CDs but I got to the point that:

A: I cannot find anywhere to store them and they're worth nothing if you try and sell them.
B: All I was doing was ripping the disc and solely listening to the MP3s. So it got a bit silly to pay £6-8 a pop, when I'd rarely use the CD again. I use CDs in my car but that's what CD burners are for.

I download the odd album but mostly use Spotify nowadays. Agreed, Spotify is excellent. The adverts don't bother me in the slightest, they're so infrequent. Luckily I've got one of the original free accounts (no limits), not the free accounts they now offer (Spotify Open) that only give you 20Hrs a month.

I still buy the odd CD, for artists I'm particularly into but most artists I don't consider myself a collector of their work.

The big pull for me to get a Premium account is the Mobile access. I'd love to have Spotify on my smartphone. Spotify Premium is also coming to Virgin Media, for those who have it. Incidentally if it's just the adverts that bother you, you can pay £5 a month to remove them. It's the only Premium feature you get though. That's not directed at anyone in particular.

[gasteropod]

I have collector's blood. I need to own the actual disc.

Ditto, I'm swimming in discs, but I feel it's time for me to try and move on now. I really think Spotify (especially in its premium form) is the future of music.

[gasteropod]

Spotify Premium is also coming to Virgin Media, for those who have it.

What do you mean?

And I too have the original free version of Spotify, kinda strange they still let us have unlimited and not the newer members lolz. Also, I want premium for its higher sound quality, 160kbps isn't enough for me if I'm thinking about abandoning CD's and paying a tenner a month, it's great for the free version though.

[bradavon]

I really think Spotify (especially in its premium form) is the future of music.

Agreed. Even having to download MP3s is a pain in comparison. Spotify is so good for parties, people can listen to whatever they want and I don't have to worry if I've got it. It worked a treated at last years birthday. I created a massive playlist and left it on random. People still played their own stuff too.

It doesn't have everything (no Beatles obviously, Oasis only have one album) but it's selection is vast. Spotify's real beauty over other free music streaming services (We7, Last.fm, Deezer) is in it's excellent media player desktop program. The rest use the web browser, which isn't ideal.

What do you mean?

Virgin were going to launch their own streaming music service but they couldn't get Sony Music on board. So instead have signed a deal with Spotify. There's Spotify on Windows, Mac or Linux. There is Spotify on iPhone, Android, Symbian (Nokia), WebOS (Palm Pre) and Windows Mobile 6.x (soon the new Windows Phone 7). Oddly it's not on Blackberry (the only smartphone OS left) but basically Spotify want to get their product on to as many platforms as possible. All but the Windows/Mac/Linux platforms require a Premium account.

In other words there'll be a Spotify App accessible via Virgin Media on your TV:

http://www.techradar.com/news/internet/ ... our-900907

And I too have the original free version of Spotify, kinda strange they still let us have unlimited and not the newer members lolz.

My guess, they made the original free deal "too good". I bet people paying was low. "Spotify Open" is only 20Hrs for free. It gets stranger when you give a friend one of your 10 invites, they no longer get any invites with their Spotify Free accounts. Whereas originally you gave an invite out and that person got their own 10 invites.

Basically the original Spotify (or "Spotify Free" as it's now called) isn't going to grow much further, once all the original invites are used up. I've got about 5 left. It's one of those things that you don't think you need, until you've got it. I've given several to friends over the years for them never to bother cashing in their invites. Thankfully you can re-issue them to someone else.

There have been several rumours that Spotify Free (in favour of Spotify Open) is going to be killed off but nothing official. They'd be crazy to do this.

160kbps isn't enough for me if I'm thinking about abandoning CD's and paying a tenner a month, it's great for the free version though.

It sounds fine for me. I rip MP3s at 128Kbps. It really helps with storing them on MP3 Players/Phones. CDs do "probably" sound better from my CD Player (I cannot quite tell) but I'm sure that's more to do with the better DACs in my CD Player (it's actually my BD Player) than my laptop, with it's cheap sound card and 3.5mm connection.

And yes Spotify Premium is good value for money but I've got an odd thing about paying for monthly charges (I try and limit them, am happy with Freeview etc...). If it was a fiver I'd go for it, for sure. I've got a mobile contract but that's more to do with PAYG costing way too much for a modern data sucking smartphone.

[gasteropod]

Ahh I see, cheers.

As for 128kbps, I think that's too low, but if the sound quality's good enough for you then that's all that matters. I rip my CDs at 192kbps for my mp3 player.

I don't have any monthly charges so far, I still use pay and go for my mobile, but with Spotify at least I can just cancel at any time rather than being tied to a contract. I'll have to see how this free trial goes anyway, got a whole month of it. This evening the sound paused at one point during a song for about 20 seconds, whether that's to do with my ISP or Spotify, it's something to bear in mind when making a decision to abandon CDs, I'll see how often it happens.

[bradavon]

128Kbps was considered the norm. back in the day but it's 192Kbps nowadays. I've always used 128Kbps and to an extent, don't know any better. Occasionally I get a situation where I click Play and nothing happens but it's rare. Other than that it's flawless.

You can see if your phone is supported here but I wouldn't recommend it on PAYG:

http://www.spotify.com/uk/mobile/overview

Spotify Premium also gives you Offline mode. So if your internet goes down or you lose mobile data/wifi access on your mobile you can still use it.

[gasteropod]

Occasionally I get a situation where I click Play and nothing happens but it's rare. Other than that it's flawless.

Are you referring to your mp3 player? Because that example has nothing to do with the bitrate hah. I find it amusing that 128kbps used to be referred to as 'CD quality'...err whatever!

Google also has a music service coming soon, I wonder how that'll turn out. Their online music locker plan sounds cool.

[romerojpg]

CD or nothing for me. If I took my imaginary digital shit to the singer to sign, I am sure they would like that

Download/Net = May as well Pirate

[bradavon]

Are you referring to your mp3 player?

No Spotify.

I find it amusing that 128kbps used to be referred to as 'CD quality'...err whatever!

Me too. No lossy format is CD quality. It's such a real shame High Resolution music never took off. Both DVD-Audio and SACD sounded incredible. Far surpassing any music format ever released. MP3 is obviously fantastically portable and efficient but it's a shame when we've moved on with films, CD quality is "still" considered the top end for music.

Google also has a music service coming soon, I wonder how that'll turn out.

I bet it will follow the We7/Last.fm/Deezer line of thinking though and be browser based. Spotify wouldn't be half the service it was if it was browser based.

Their online music locker plan sounds cool.

What's that?

CD or nothing for me. If I took my imaginary digital shit to the singer to sign, I am sure they would like that

Fair point.

Download/Net = May as well Pirate

How so? Spotify is legal and has instant access to a massive selection of music. You simply couldn't buy it all or download it as quickly.

I don't get the point of iTunes or Amazon personally. Amazon even charge for identical files you can pirate for free. iTunes locks you into the iPod world. At least Amazon use MP3s, that all MP3 Players can read.

[gasteropod]

The music locker will, like Spotify, We7 and iTunes' newly launched Ping, have social networking features. For $25 a year, consumers will be able to store songs in the cloud and access them on any internet-connected device by either streaming or downloading. Fellow subscribers will be able to listen to each song sent to them on a playlist in its entirety once.

Any music that Google has licensed would be accessible to the user from their cloud-based account. This includes tracks purchased from any retailer, ripped from a CD or downloaded from peer-to-peer networks such as Rapidshare and Pirate Bay – which may prove to be another obstacle to Google getting licences for tracks in the first place.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/musicbl ... ic-service

[bradavon]

That does sound interesting. It sounds like it's going to be MP3 storage instead of streaming from their database. They're gonna need stacks of online storage available.

[bradavon]

For the first time in ages I had to download an album because it's currently a Spotify Premium exclusive and it felt like such a hassle in comparison to the simplicity and speediness of Spotify. Load Spotify, type in Search Term, click on Track and Listen. None of this waiting for it to download first.

One neat thing you can do though. If it's a song/album not on Spotify (either it's missing or premium exclusive). Once it's downloaded, you can import it into Spotify and it seamlessly merges with the streamed music, allowing you to access it from Spotify.

If only Spotify cost a fiver I'd be all over it. Otherwise I still need MP3s for when I'm away from a PC.

I'll have to see how this free trial goes anyway, got a whole month of it.

How did you get this?

I'm currently sorting out my Birthday Spotify Playlist and really bloody annoyingly they've stopped the One Day Pass (no ads for 24Hrs for 99p), that I normally use for parties. So I'm considering getting Spotify Unlimited for a month and then cancelling. I'm happy with "Spotify Free".

[gasteropod]

I thought it was a month free at first but it was actually less, I decided to stay with Premium though, bloody loving it! And it's a bit silly that you want unlimited music for a fiver a month, I think a tenner is amazing value and hope that Spotify can survive, it needs all the paying members it can get.

[bradavon]

How much time did you end get up getting? Have you tried out the Mobile App? Does the higher bitrate sound much better? Do you know how long the contract is for? I'm thinking of giving Spotify Premium a go but only if it's a 30 day contract. If I'm going to pay a fiver, I may as well pay for the lot and give the Mobile App a try (big draw for me).

I already get unlimited music for free. I'm on the older "Spotify Free" account remember. Spotify Premium is good value but a tenner is still a tenner. It's good value but more than I'd ideally like to be spending.

I e-mailed Spotify and "Spotify Day Pass" is dead but they've confirmed if you switch back to one of the free accounts (Open or Free) you'll go back to what you had before. So I can safely try Spotify Free. The FAQ does say "presently" though. It's clear at some point Spotify Free will be killed off.

I keep hearing the current business model of free + ads isn't sustainable. I'm unsure why, it's "the" it's user base is the size it is. People will leave in droves if they have to pay. Not because Spotify isn't good value for money (it is) but because users have got use to it being free. They'd never have the user base they have if they started out with a subscription only model.

[gasteropod]

I can't try the mobile app because I'm on pay as you go and O2 won't allow me to use the internet until that model is no longer a 'contract phone'.

I think my free trial was probably about 10 days or something, I thought the free trial was offered on the page where you select which subscription of Spotify you want.

If you pay for one month, you can just cancel before that month is up and then it won't charge you again, no hassle.

Yeah the ad-based model isn't viable because you need to think how greedy record companies are, and the artists need paying, and Spotify needs paying. The ad-based version is mainly a way to attract users, and then hopefully they'll want to upgrade to a paid subscription.

[bradavon]

I can't try the mobile app because I'm on pay as you go and O2 won't allow me to use the internet until that model is no longer a 'contract phone'.

What? That makes no sense. It's your tariff that dictates if you can get internet and how much of it you're allowed to use. I had Internet on PAYG for years. It's costly though, so not at all suitable for Spotify but it worked.

I think my free trial was probably about 10 days or something, I thought the free trial was offered on the page where you select which subscription of Spotify you want.

It's 7 days.

If you pay for one month, you can just cancel before that month is up and then it won't charge you again, no hassle.

Thanks.

Yeah the ad-based model isn't viable because you need to think how greedy record companies are, and the artists need paying, and Spotify needs paying. The ad-based version is mainly a way to attract users, and then hopefully they'll want to upgrade to a paid subscription.

True. The smaller artists have complained they make virtually nothing out of it. I'm unsure how successful the paid model is though. I would pay the fiver, if Spotify Free is cancelled but I now know how good Spotify is. When people buy an album they buy into one purchase not a monthly cost. It's a psychological thing but may put people off.

I am going to try out Spotify Premium in a few weeks, now the Spotify Day Pass has been cancelled. I need No Ads for my party (there is no better music tool for parties) and if I am going to pay, I may as well trial Spotify Premium over Unlimited. I've wanted to try out the Mobile App for ages too, particularly how well it copes with 3G or even GPRS coverage (I imagine badly). There's an offline mode though.

[Yi-Long]

Don't know about the sound-quality, but when I want to listen toa song or download it, I usually just go to http://prostopleer.com/

[bradavon]

Thanks. I've just downloaded one at random and it's a 128Kbps MP3. Is there any way to download albums? Instead of tracks. I tend to use ISO Hunt and the like. This is more akin to BitTorrent than Spotify.

[bradavon]

Spotify made a loss last year:

http://www.techradar.com/news/internet/ ... led-910030

Which isn't much surprise, it only launched November 2008 (maybe Q3 2008). I'd be more interested to read if it made a loss this year. Interestingly it seems to make quite a large chunk of it's money through subscriptions. More than I thought it would have.

[bradavon]

I've (finally) signed up to the Spotify Premium 7 day trial. I was already impressed with Spotify Free but boy Spotify Premium is impressive:

No Ads, High Bitrate music (much more depth), offline mode. Spotify Mobile: Very professionally made.

Regularly I hear a song on the radio/TV, it sticks in my head and want to listen to it now but unless I've happened to download it first I'm stuck. Not any more. It took 30 seconds to download/stream a 7 minute song (96Kbps, 160Kbps an option) over GPRS. Which is impressive!

If you've got a Spotify Unlimited or Premium account, as long as you "registered" in one of the supported countries you can even use Spotify in an unsupported country. So I'll be able to use Spotify on a friends computer in America when I next visit. That's cool!

It "just works". Suddenly downloading/transferring MP3s and MP3 Players/iPods seem very 1990s.

[gasteropod]

Told you

[romerojpg]

Yup and when you loose the net you are fucked

[gasteropod]

Yup and when you loose the net you are fucked

That's what 'offline mode' is for, duhhhh!!