Spotify - any good ?
Discussion
I converted last year, its very good. Makes iTunes look last century. We have a family premium, four premium accounts for about £15 (my daughter, a student, actually pays the bill !!!!!!)
What I like is not the new music, but old music it's reconnected me to, stuff I'd forgotten I liked so much. Stuff from artists I've got cd's of that are now in a box in the attic. And stuff from the records and cassettes of my youth. And it's all 'free', in that I can have as much as I like for the monthly cost.
What I like is not the new music, but old music it's reconnected me to, stuff I'd forgotten I liked so much. Stuff from artists I've got cd's of that are now in a box in the attic. And stuff from the records and cassettes of my youth. And it's all 'free', in that I can have as much as I like for the monthly cost.
TTmonkey said:
I converted last year, its very good. Makes iTunes look last century. We have a family premium, four premium accounts for about £15 (my daughter, a student, actually pays the bill !!!!!!)
What I like is not the new music, but old music it's reconnected me to, stuff I'd forgotten I liked so much. Stuff from artists I've got cd's of that are now in a box in the attic. And stuff from the records and cassettes of my youth. And it's all 'free', in that I can have as much as I like for the monthly cost.
Is that with student discount.? We usually find they revert to normal billing every year and we have to reapply for student discount. Don't forget you can have 2 or 3 devices per account if it saves you money paying? We have one account and our own devices on it sharing her account with our own playlists set up etcWhat I like is not the new music, but old music it's reconnected me to, stuff I'd forgotten I liked so much. Stuff from artists I've got cd's of that are now in a box in the attic. And stuff from the records and cassettes of my youth. And it's all 'free', in that I can have as much as I like for the monthly cost.
I love it - but I am in a job where I can wear earphones all day if I wanted to.
I used the free account for years, but upgraded to the premium one about 18 months ago, and wouldn't look back.
In terms of discovering new (or new to you) music, I find it really good. The curated playlists are excellent, and has opened my eyes to new artists or albums I haven't previously been aware of.
If you're considering it, it's well worth getting the free version and seeing how you get on with it and then deciding.
I used the free account for years, but upgraded to the premium one about 18 months ago, and wouldn't look back.
In terms of discovering new (or new to you) music, I find it really good. The curated playlists are excellent, and has opened my eyes to new artists or albums I haven't previously been aware of.
If you're considering it, it's well worth getting the free version and seeing how you get on with it and then deciding.
TTmonkey said:
What I like is not the new music, but old music it's reconnected me to, stuff I'd forgotten I liked so much. Stuff from artists I've got cd's of that are now in a box in the attic. And stuff from the records and cassettes of my youth. And it's all 'free', in that I can have as much as I like for the monthly cost.
I like the bit where it finds other artists like the one you're listening to (I always forget where it is and takes me ages to find again!). So like you I listen to old stuff and it finds all the bands I'd forgotten about but used to love, I can jump about for hours and end up miles from where I started.Does anyone listen to an album any more?
I can still remember buying Gaucho (Steely Dan) on vinyl and, as with other albums, would listen rather reverentially several times.
Nowadays, with Spotify, I am constantly hopping around between bits of music - because there is so much choice. I'm like a kid in a sweet shop.
Fluffsri said:
Been thinking about Spotify and Amazon as we already have prime.
If you have prime there is quite an extensive library included with Amazon music without paying the extra subs.I have the free 'Google play' music and Amazon music all on the Sonos phone app if the kids are using my Spotify premium account.
Given how little they pay the actual artists for a stream and it's at different rates depending on who it is I think they're a bit unethical, particularly for any independent artist who isn't going to make a dime, they pay about $0.006 per play, if they're signed to a label then their share drops to $0.001128
It works for heavily marketed artists like your Taylor Swifts and whatnot as they'll get a bagillion plays and will make some money but if you're into stuff that's not Top of the Pops type stuff then you may as well just torrent their music as they're not making any money anyway.
AppleMusic is said to pay a lot more but it's still a percentage of a penny per play.
I think that if you actually care where your music comes from then dipping into your pocket and buying their albums is the only way to ensure they can afford to continue.
It works for heavily marketed artists like your Taylor Swifts and whatnot as they'll get a bagillion plays and will make some money but if you're into stuff that's not Top of the Pops type stuff then you may as well just torrent their music as they're not making any money anyway.
AppleMusic is said to pay a lot more but it's still a percentage of a penny per play.
I think that if you actually care where your music comes from then dipping into your pocket and buying their albums is the only way to ensure they can afford to continue.
qube_TA said:
Given how little they pay the actual artists for a stream and it's at different rates depending on who it is I think they're a bit unethical, particularly for any independent artist who isn't going to make a dime, they pay about $0.006 per play, if they're signed to a label then their share drops to $0.001128
It works for heavily marketed artists like your Taylor Swifts and whatnot as they'll get a bagillion plays and will make some money but if you're into stuff that's not Top of the Pops type stuff then you may as well just torrent their music as they're not making any money anyway.
AppleMusic is said to pay a lot more but it's still a percentage of a penny per play.
I think that if you actually care where your music comes from then dipping into your pocket and buying their albums is the only way to ensure they can afford to continue.
While hardly a Suge Knight of the music industry, from my understanding the majority of the money comes from the initial record deal and subsequent tours, media coverage, sponserships, collabs etc. It works for heavily marketed artists like your Taylor Swifts and whatnot as they'll get a bagillion plays and will make some money but if you're into stuff that's not Top of the Pops type stuff then you may as well just torrent their music as they're not making any money anyway.
AppleMusic is said to pay a lot more but it's still a percentage of a penny per play.
I think that if you actually care where your music comes from then dipping into your pocket and buying their albums is the only way to ensure they can afford to continue.
xjay1337 said:
While hardly a Suge Knight of the music industry, from my understanding the majority of the money comes from the initial record deal and subsequent tours, media coverage, sponserships, collabs etc.
Yeah it's almost a return to the early days of pop music whereby there would be fewer artists, they'd be heavily managed by their label and would be booked to do shows/events etc and would take a salary. But if you're the sort of act that would sell maybe 10 to 15,000 copies of a record, to replace that by ~20000 plays they're now making about £20, they're not going to be able to record their music for that. Some acts can make revenue by touring but not all music suits that environment anyway. Streaming has forced the creation of more festivals, there's only so much space for these and they're expensive to attend. And yet it is easier for artists to break through these days.... home recording studios can rival what professional studios charged fortunes for a few years ago. YouTube is free and used to launch new artists. Record labels are not taking the lion's share from physical sales as they used to...
There are plusses and minuses to the current state of affairs.
There are plusses and minuses to the current state of affairs.
Spotify is probably the best value £10 I spend by miles. As others have said the amount of artists you could be introduced to based on your listening habits is great, and it really does seem to have a great algorithm behind it - god knows how it does what it does.
I've lost of the number of times I've come to the end of a playlist and it's kept on playing stuff I've never heard of, then a few weeks later I've got a new playlist with heaps of songs from that artist.
I've lost of the number of times I've come to the end of a playlist and it's kept on playing stuff I've never heard of, then a few weeks later I've got a new playlist with heaps of songs from that artist.
speedyguy said:
Fluffsri said:
Been thinking about Spotify and Amazon as we already have prime.
If you have prime there is quite an extensive library included with Amazon music without paying the extra subs.I have the free 'Google play' music and Amazon music all on the Sonos phone app if the kids are using my Spotify premium account.
Fluffsri said:
speedyguy said:
Fluffsri said:
Been thinking about Spotify and Amazon as we already have prime.
If you have prime there is quite an extensive library included with Amazon music without paying the extra subs.I have the free 'Google play' music and Amazon music all on the Sonos phone app if the kids are using my Spotify premium account.
However, my 'go to' music app is undoubtedly Spotify. It's a great user experience/interface (unlike Amazon) too.
NDA said:
Does anyone listen to an album any more?.
A mate of mine commented on this recently. He's in the music journo business but also a heavy Spotify user, but he went back to vinyl and remarked on how good it was to listen to an album end to end, in the order the artist(e) intended. Gassing Station | Music | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff