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Spotify's U.S. Landing Page
- hunterowens 15y agoPerhaps their partnership with Facebook will be discussed again at Facebook's event today.
- hskf 15y agoThat's my prediction. I have a hard time believing it's a coincidence, but I could be wrong of course
- deleted 15y ago[deleted]
- megaman821 15y agoA couple of questions to Spotify users: What advantages does Spotify have over Rdio? Can Spotify be used as a streaming service and a digital locker for tracks they don't have?
- justincormack 15y agoYes, you can upload tracks they don't have (at least in the paid for version, not sure the free service lets you). I don't know Rdio.
- pirko 15y agoYou can't really upload tracks, as in upload to the cloud. You can only import tracks into the client so that you don't need another media player to play them.
- michael_dorfman 15y agoYou can upload tracks to the cloud, but you can only play them with a Spotify client. Further: if the track is in the GraceNote database, you can share the track (via a playlist) with friends on Spotify.
- megaman821 15y agoTo clarify if I upload a few track from my home computer that Spotify does not have a license to, I can then play these tracks later on my phone?
- pirko 15y agoYou have to manually import the tracks in both the client on your home computer and in the client on your phone. Spotify doesn't provide any upload / cloud functionality.
- michael_dorfman 15y agoNo, that's not correct. I have loaded several track to Spotify on my PC, and can listen to them using the client on my phone without having to manually load/import them there. They sync automatically when you connect.
- megaman821 15y agoIs your computer running when this sync happens or is it uploading to the cloud?
- danieldk 15y agoNot according to Spotify themselves: http://www.spotify.com/nl/help/faq/local-files/does-spotify-upload-my-local-files-to-its-servers/ http://www.spotify.com/nl/help/faq/local-files/does-spotify-... As I have always understood it, your local music collection is included in the client. If you share playlists containing tracks from your local collection. But if they are not provided by Spotify, friends need to have the same tracks locally as well to be able to play them.
- quinndupont 15y agoYou cannot upload tracks to Rdio
- megaman821 15y agoI am aware. I am just wondering if an Rdio/Amazon Music mashup service exists.
- binarymax 15y agoIm not sure since I've never used Rdio. But here is what I love about spotify (I am a premium subscriber for a laughable fee of £10 per month for all the ad-free music I want). - The collection is enormous, and newly released albums become available pretty quickly. There are of course artists who are not available but there is so much out there its insane. - The speed. Since its pretty much legalized P2P, I never need to wait for a song (well maybe sometimes there is latency but its rare). - Its mobile, across international borders. I live in the UK and travel a lot. I can still access the service from anywhere. And also, yes I can index my local catalogue (but the local tracks are not available on other machines/devices).
- kenneth_reitz 15y agoThe most important: Audio quality. If you have a paid Spotify subscription, you get 320kbps ogg streams (when they're available).
- binarymax 15y agoAlmost forgot about that - my speakers don't do the service justice :)
- seabee 15y ago> And also, yes I can index my local catalogue (but the local tracks are not available on other machines/devices). They sync just fine to my phone and iPod, so long as they are in playlists.
- williamdix 15y agoI have used both and the only real difference for me has been the availability of music. However this is probably just a result of a US Rdio account and Swedish spotify account. I have found finding new music to be slightly easier in Rdio.
- MatthewPhillips 15y agoI'm a former Spotify user. Rdio is better. The thing I disliked about Spotify was there wasn't a way to save an album or song to a collection or library. You could only create a playlist which lived in the left pane. So if you had 1 artist you liked you might have 5 different playlists for 5 different albums. Do this for a few artists and it quickly turns into an innavigable nightmare. Also, it doesn't have a web interface.
- Tomek_ 15y agoFor one thing: user interface. The one of Rdio is pretty confusing, whereas the one of Spotify is, for me at least, the best UI of a music player ever. That's the great thing about Spotify (and I think it's often overlooked): it's not only that their idea is great, but also that the execution of that idea is stellar (for the same reason I prefer Spotify over Grooveshark).
- mariuskempe 15y agoYeah, exactly. I've used the mobile apps of both, and Rdio's has 9 confusing icons and requires you to learn a complicated mental model of your music library will work, whereas Spotify just has 'Playlists', 'Search', and 'What's New' - couldn't be simpler.
- hubb 15y agois canada still shunned? or will it launch here with the US launch?
- quinndupont 15y agoI'm wondering the same thing... No word in the news about Canada
- AaronMT 15y agoThis will likely never happen.
- deleted 15y ago[deleted]
- mustpax 15y agoRdio.com works in Canada, though you do occasionally run into artists/albums that are not "available in your region."
- melvinmt 15y agoSpotify has completely replaced iPod on my iOS devices and iTunes on my MacBook. Coming from Europe, I'm using Spotify in the States for over a month now so I guess that once you get a (paid) subscription it works everywhere in the world (it has no streaming restrictions). So all you need to do to try it out is create an account through a proxy/VPN and you're all set!
- ohashi 15y agoI pay for it too. Got addicted in Sweden... it changed the way I consume music. You go to a party and it's always just a laptop with spotify. You and everyone else can access your playlists or any song, anytime. It's brilliant.
- sp332 15y agoI think as long as you can pay from an account in one of the licensed countries, it will work.
- davidpadbury 15y agoI've been paying for Spotify in the UK and been using the desktop client without any tricks in the US since moving here. The big problem is that the Spotify iPhone app isn't available in the US app store. Is there anyway around this?
- tobylane 15y agoSwitch to (and pay in) the UK store, links at the bottom of the itunes store home page.
- taylorlb 15y agoI get the Zuckerberg quote, but Demi Moore endorsing the product can't be relevant to anyone who might request an invite to a just launching music service.
- bryanh 15y agoYou recognized the name, so that counts for something.
- shii 15y agoGrooveshark already does everything listed. And it's been available in the USA for years. The only problem is their iPhone app has been continuously rejected by Apple so they've been forced to publish for iOS on Cydia's store for jailbroken apps. That and licensing/litigation issues with some large recording companies. They have deals with a few and have been through court with others.
- bobwebb 15y agoI have no idea why it doesn't get more attention. Inferior marketing department, I suppose.
- MatthewPhillips 15y agoI don't think Grooveshark is a very good product, but I'm not crazy about Spotify either. Last time I used Spotify (about a year ago) they didn't even have the ability save albums to a collection or library. You could only create playlists which turned into terrible UI once you had more than a few. Not having a web interface is also a major minus in my book.
- seabee 15y agoThe problem with music players is that not everyone wants to consume music in the same way. BTW you can create folders of playlists. Between that and search, it makes it manageable enough for me.
- shii 15y agoGrooveshark allows you to build a library of music, favorites, playlists, follow friends, find and buy concert tickets from Artists page through SongKick (YC 07), listen on your mobile device if you have Grooveshark Anywhere. Their other paid plan, Grooveshark Plus gives you access to early features before they're rolled out to the normal users like their desktop client, visualizations, Last.fm scrobbling, no limits on library + fav size and more. If they can find a way to fix their content quality problem and licensing issues with the RIAA, they have a really bright future. They're the most innovative company in the space right now and I think it would be a damn shame if they were forced to close due to different recording companies constantly suing them and turning back on their settlement deals. Having to deal with EMI, Sony Warner MG, Universal and their ilk separately is part of the problem as well. The reason their iPhone app got pulled from the App Store[1] was because UMG filed a new copyright infringement lawsuit against them Jan 2010. You have to understand they function quite similarly to how Youtube works and is obligated to follow the DMCA. [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grooveshark#Legal_issues http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grooveshark#Legal_issues
- molukk 15y agoI've been a spotify subscriber for two years now, and it's more less the only player I use for music on my PC, mobile and ipad. Together with the related artists feature of Spotify, Spotify social(sharing playlists etc.) and scrobbling to Last.fm, I've discovered lots of new music I enjoy. It really is fantastic. The client is also pretty quick and fairly sparesome on resource usage. It's a bit annoying when music surreptitiously disappear from their library -- in that case you have to use local files.
- modernerd 15y agoSpotify feels like driving around in a stolen car and leaving £10 a month in the glovebox. I'm a European Spotify subscriber, and I'd be hard pushed to go back to purchasing albums again. Access really does trump 'ownership', and it would take Apple introducing a similar subscription service for me to go back to iTunes now. But I wonder how Spotify can scale and actively support musicians. It might sound strange, but -- even as a paid subscriber -- I feel guilty when I use Spotify. I can't help feeling that musicians get an even rougher deal when I listen to their music over Spotify than when I buy tracks from iTunes or directly from their websites. There is something unsettling about having instant access to a huge array of songs and only paying £9.99 a month for the service. It is so different to the traditional model that it almost feels like stealing. It's a feeling I don't get listening to the radio; with the radio, you're a passenger hitching a lift. With Spotify, you're in control. And somehow it feels wrong. Like joyriding[1], It's hard to shake the feeling that there will be consequences. I'm sure that won't dent your enjoyment of the service if you're in the US, but I thought it worth sharing the viewpoint. [1]: So I'm told.
- ender7 15y agoIt seems that we're quickly heading toward a point where all music becomes essentially free [1], and serves only as PR for boosting ticket sales. Keep in mind that, currently, most musicians can be broken into two groups: 1. Superstars that make so much money that they won't be missing your Spotify dollars. 2. Most other musicians, who don't really make that much off album sales compared to ticket sales (unless they sell physical CDs at their concerts, in which case, maybe). I'm curious if there are any indie musicians out there with a different opinion, though. [1] http://techcrunch.com/2008/11/08/360-music-deals-become-mandatory-as-labels-prepare-for-free-music/ http://techcrunch.com/2008/11/08/360-music-deals-become-mand...
- ssharp 15y agoThe group (user) consensus on music seems to be that it should be, for the most part, accessible for free, and that live shows are how music is expected to be monetized. That seems like pretty ridiculous and greedy reasoning on the behalf of consumers. You're essentially eliminating one large revenue stream, in hopes that it generates new business in another revenue stream. While labels certainly rake plenty of revenue away from the artists, I think people largely underestimate the amount of money recorded music brings in to musicians, producers, songwriters, etc. Many people who are either not part of the tour, or who cannot tour, are going to be adversely affected by the incorrect idea that the music industry is zero-sum and revenues will just shift accordingly for all. If that were the case, the labels would have been on board a long time ago and 360 deals would be significantly more prevalent than they are. There are lots of revenues to be lost by reducing, or making free, the cost of recorded music. How much is the Beatles catalog worth (in terms of albums sales, not licensing) and what is the lifetime value of their album sales vs. their touring receipts?
- tptacek 15y agoI know this is exciting to people who have been envious of UK Spotify, but we've had Rdio for like a year now, right? Rdio is pretty excellent.
- Locke1689 15y agoI think it's going to depend on the selection for me. Also, I have to say I really hate Rdio's queueing model. They make it really tough to just navigate the queue and add and remove various songs from different artists. For example, I find it really annoying when they add an entire album to my queue when I just pressed the play button on one song.
- tsvk 15y agoEarlier this year, Spotify put more restrictions on the services they offer to their non-paying users: http://www.spotify.com/blog/archives/2011/04/14/upcoming-changes-to-spotify-free-open/ http://www.spotify.com/blog/archives/2011/04/14/upcoming-cha... . For example, there is no more unlimited listening: each track can now be listened to only five times for free. It might be that this tightening of free content was only a preparation for the U.S launch, i.e. the record labels would not let Spotify in to the U.S. market without Spotify changing its services to something more restricted.
- adaml_623 15y agoI believe Spotify paid the labels for each and every track played. So their burn rate was something like £20million per year. They needed to convert free users to paying users. Personally I'm incredibly happy with Spotify.
- kingkilr 15y agoA few of us at our office have had beta access for a few weeks, everyone with it (for some reason I got left off the invite list :/) likes it, but the one person I know who also has an rdio account prefers rdio.
- djb_hackernews 15y agoWhats the difference between Spotify and Rhapsody? I've been a subscriber to Rhapsody for years and it's been a terrific experience.
- pirko 15y agoIf you are interested in how Spotify works and how they use Python you should check out this talk from EuroPython: Spotify and Python: love at first sight http://ep2011.europython.eu/conference/talks/spotify-and-python-love-first-sight http://ep2011.europython.eu/conference/talks/spotify-and-pyt...
- joelrunyon 15y agoI feel like Spotify has been "coming soon" for the last 3-4 years. Lets go all ready! :)
- perfunctory 15y agoSpotify is an awesome service. Now we need Netflix to come to Europe.