Spotify Free: What You Get With Music Streaming

Spotify's U.S. Launch and the Streaming Music Landscape

The highly anticipated streaming music platform, Spotify, became available in the United States last week. This arrival is expected to introduce some competition for established music service providers, such as Apple.

Similar to other streaming platforms like Radio.com, MOG.com, Rhapsody, Pandora, and Last.fm, Spotify enables users to enjoy music via the internet. This eliminates the need for downloading and managing MP3 files.

Key Differences: The Free Tier

However, Spotify distinguishes itself by providing a free, ad-supported tier. This grants access to a vast library of millions of albums and songs through the Spotify desktop application.

Unlike services like Pandora, which restrict listeners to pre-curated playlists, Spotify allows for complete control. Users can select individual tracks and full albums for a comprehensive listening experience.

Understanding the Free and Paid Options

A detailed examination will now be undertaken to clarify the benefits and limitations associated with both the free and premium versions of the service.

The free version provides substantial access, but certain features are reserved for paying subscribers.

Consideration of these differences is crucial for determining which Spotify experience best suits individual needs.

Spotify's Free Tier

Currently, access to Spotify's free plan operates on an invitation-only basis. Interested users can submit their email address for potential access. Alternatively, immediate access is granted through the Unlimited or Premium subscriptions. A considerable distinction exists between the free service and these paid options.

The most noticeable difference for free users is the presence of advertisements. These are integrated throughout the Spotify interface, manifesting as both audio and visual promotions.

Advertisements and Interruptions

Unexpectedly, even during album playback, Spotify incorporates short commercial breaks and service-related announcements. During the research for this article, over six such interruptions occurred while listening to a Miles Davis album.

These interruptions, while frequent, allow users to enjoy music without incurring subscription costs.

Provided a stable internet connection is available, the audio quality delivered by Spotify’s free tier is generally quite acceptable.

• Cost Savings: The free plan offers substantial savings compared to paid subscriptions.
• Audio Quality: Good audio quality is maintained with a reliable internet connection.
• Advertisements: Frequent audio and visual ads are a core component of the free experience.

Ultimately, the free plan presents a trade-off between cost and uninterrupted listening.

Spotify Player Features

The Spotify Player functions by connecting to your Spotify account, offering a similar experience to music players like Apple’s iTunes. However, in the opinion of many, its design isn't quite as refined.

Upon launching, the Spotify application presents itself as a music browser. Users are greeted with a display of New Releases and a curated feed of music shared by connections on both Facebook and Spotify.

Social Networking Integration

Spotify’s social feed can prove quite valuable, contingent on the friends you’ve connected with. This feature effectively allows friends to act as virtual DJs for one another, broadening musical horizons through shared discoveries.

Services like Rdio.com, for instance, demonstrate a more robust implementation of social networking. When accessing Rdio, users are immediately shown a “Heavy Rotation” list featuring songs and albums favored by their network. Furthermore, connections aren’t limited to Facebook friends.

Track and Album Management

A beneficial aspect of Spotify is the ability to mark individual tracks and albums as favorites. While it lacks the granular rating system of iTunes – which allows for 1-5 star ratings – quickly identifying preferred songs with a single click is a convenient feature.

Local File Integration and Playlists

For frequent Spotify users, the application’s integration with locally stored MP3 files is a welcome addition. This allows access to existing downloads and playlists directly within the Spotify interface.

However, Spotify currently does not support the creation of smart playlists. These automated playlists are generated based on user-defined rules and criteria.

Additional Account Benefits

A Spotify account provides several additional features, including the ability to share listening activity on Facebook and Twitter.

Users also gain access to their pre-existing downloaded MP3s and enjoy 14 days of Spotify access while traveling internationally.

Cost Savings and Storage Efficiency

For those who aren’t avid music listeners, a free Spotify account represents a considerable cost saving.

Crucially, it also reduces the amount of storage space occupied by music files on your computer’s drives. This is a primary reason many users, including myself, prefer services like Rdio.com.

Spotify’s Search Capabilities

A primary frustration for many Spotify users is the lack of dedicated browsing options based on musical categories or genres. The application primarily relies on a single search bar, which conveniently stores your previous queries.

Despite this limitation, Spotify offers valuable supplementary features such as Overview sections, artist Biographies, and a curated list of Related Artists.

Discovering New Music

The Related Artists function proves particularly effective for uncovering artists and songs that align with your musical tastes, all accessible directly within the Spotify interface.

This feature allows for seamless exploration and expansion of your musical horizons.

• It provides a convenient pathway to discover new music.
• It leverages the platform’s data to suggest similar artists.
• It enhances the user experience by offering personalized recommendations.

The inclusion of artist biographies and overviews further enriches the user’s understanding and appreciation of the music they are exploring.

Spotify Upgrades: Understanding the Costs

To fully enjoy the Spotify music platform, a subscription fee of $4.99 or $9.99 is required for either the Unlimited or Premium tiers. These paid accounts eliminate advertising interruptions.

For those anticipating frequent Spotify usage, the presence of ads can become particularly disruptive, especially during enjoyment of preferred songs.

Benefits of an Unlimited Account

Selecting an Unlimited account unlocks several advantages. These include unrestricted listening time, the capacity to share music and playlists with contacts, and the functionality to manage personal music files.

Furthermore, an Unlimited subscription provides continuous access to your account regardless of your geographical location.

Premium Account Features

The Premium plan incorporates all the benefits of the Unlimited tier. It also extends access to your account via mobile devices.

Offline listening is another key feature of the Premium plan, alongside improved audio quality.

Additionally, Premium subscribers can integrate Spotify directly with home audio systems like Squeezebox, digital televisions, and Sonos wireless systems, bypassing the need for a computer connection.

Personal Recommendations for Music Streaming

Although not specifically requested, having extensively utilized streaming music platforms since the days of Lala.com – a service unfortunately discontinued, largely due to competition from Apple – and currently with Rdio.com (at a cost of $5.00 or $10.00 monthly), I suggest exploring several options before settling on Spotify.

Rdio.com Advantages

A primary factor in my continued preference for Rdio.com lies in the superior functionality of its desktop application when compared to Spotify’s. Specifically, Spotify lacks the ability to navigate music selections by genre, a feature I find quite useful.

Furthermore, accessing a Spotify account from a different computer necessitates downloading the Spotify player each time. As far as I've been able to determine, a web-based Spotify application is not currently available.

Missing Features in Spotify

Another notable omission within the Spotify application is a History function. This feature would allow users to easily rediscover tracks they’ve previously enjoyed. Its absence is a drawback for those who frequently revisit favorite songs.

Trial Periods and Feedback

Most streaming music services offer a complimentary trial period. It is advisable to take advantage of these trials before committing to a subscription with Spotify, which does not extend trial access to all of its premium features.

We are interested in hearing your opinions regarding Spotify. Are you a current user? Please share your thoughts and experiences with us.