Spotify to offer free streaming radio app.

Spotify just announced that with a new update to the iOS and Desktop applications, they will begin offering free streaming radio music service.  Similar to Pandora it will offer you to select stations based on artists that you like and then will begin playing songs from their music catalog to match that style of music.  It will be ad based (the same as Pandora) and will only allow you to skip a certain number of songs per hour.  It will work for free from their current apps and if you are a Premium member already you will not have the ads and you can skip however many songs you would like.

This is a nice move for Spotify as they have been lacking a true streaming radio station.  I have often wondered why they never tried to compete with Pandora more.  Spotify is an amazing service that I personally decided to use for the premium access and now I can use it for my random song listening instead of just having to open up Pandora on my phone.

This update is rolling out slowly for iOS and Desktop.  Android and Windows phone users, be patient as this update is promised for you guys as well in the near future.

Spotify finally gets an iPad version and it's great!

Spotify the streaming music service that lets you make your own playlists of any song has finally released a dedicated iPad app. It was worth the wait, with the retina graphics and the very intuitive design, This is a great upgrade for iPad users of Spotify.

The full screen "now playing" screen (pictured above) gives you a great picture of the album art and to change tracks you can simply swipe up or down depending on where you are in your playlist.

 

This is what your playlists screens looks like. Your menu bar on the left, playlists next to it and the full details of the selected playlist is on the right.

 

The what's new section on the iPad app is expanded greatly compared to the iPhone version with a what's trending section for both your friends on Facebook and also a what's trending in your area. At the top you are greeted with a recommended section that I am assuming predicts what you might like from your playlists and what you have played in the past. I wouldn't say mine was very accurate but then again I really haven't played around with it much at all.

 

If you have an iPad and use Spotify this is definitely an update you will want to get. Also if you haven't ever tried Spotify on your mobile device download it free and you get s free trial of their premium service for 48 hours.

Microsoft releasing a Spotify competitor?

Rumors abound today on the interwebs about the possibility of Microsoft announcing at E3 their own version of a Spotify service for their xbox platform.  It would be code named Woodstock.  Pretty clever name for a music service but I would have a feeling that if this is true it would be released for even more things than just the xbox such as the Windows phone and Windows in general.  It will be interesting to see if this comes to pass and exactly how Microsoft would plan to blow Spotify out of the water.

Spotify!

Drop what you are doing and pay close attention! What's so important you ask.  It has come to my attention that some people out there have never... dare I say it... never heard of Spotify!  I know I couldn't believe it myself.

For those of you who don't know, and its ok I'll forgive you this time, Spotify is a music lovers dream!  If you like music or are obsessed with it then you have to try out Spotify.  No seriously this by far the best thing that has happened to music since the iPod.  I started watching this little gem when it was first introduced in Europe a few years back.  It took off really quickly there and has been trying to get state side for a while.  What took so long you ask?  I blame it on the typical US red tape that happens when music labels and corporations get involved.

What makes Spotify work so great is it allows you to make your own playlists of any songs that they have available and stream them to your computer for FREE.  Yes you heard that right an song for free.  Yes it is streaming only if you choose the free option and I believe you are limited to 20 hours of streaming per month.  If you upgrade to the $4.99 plan you get unlimited streaming to your computer.  If you choose the $9.99 a month plan you get unlimited streaming, offline listening, and streaming, offline listening to your mobile device.  After trying out the free version I quickly switched to the $9.99 premium version to have the offline listening on my iPhone so that I could listen to whatever I wanted while I was driving.



Why Spotify matters.




Can we say end to having any reason to download songs illegally?  I mean if you have access to any song why would you even bother risking it?  Also it would save you a crap ton of money from having to buy songs from iTunes or any of the other pay per track music services.  Those two reasons in my opinion is what will make Spotify the way of the future for the music industry, whether they like it or not.

Yes I know there are other similar services like Rhapsody and I have tried those and they just aren't as intuitive as Spotify.  If you have ever used iTunes then you will feel right at home with Spotify.   Alos Spotify has a great social aspect with its integration with Facebook.  I like being able to see your friends from on the right pane of the app and looking to see what songs my friends are playing the most.

To summarize simply go get this free program and try it out.  I promise you won't be disappointed!
Download Spotify here