by Nick Growall
Staff writer
Several students across campus have discovered a new way of accessing free music online over the summer. On Thursday, July 14, a Swedish-based music-streaming service called Spotify was launched in the United States, allowing members access to around 15 million songs with just the click of the mouse.
According to their website, Spotify was started in Stockholm, Sweden and was originally launched in October 2008. As of July, it is available in Finland, France, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, the United Kingdom and the United States. The system is compatible with both PC and Mac computers, and allows you to import music from such programs as iTunes, with the ability to sync with a mobile device.
“It makes searching for music on the Internet so much easier,” said safety major Caleb Wagner. “I can just type in an artist’s name in the search bar and it will pull up their entire catalogue. Now I don’t have to worry about getting a virus when I’m trying to download an album or song.”
However, Spotify doesn’t allow access to every song imaginable. Some artists have opted not to be added to Spotify and licensing restrictions keep certain artists, such as the Beatles (who have a digital distribution agreement with iTunes), from being added to the Spotify library.
Another complaint of Spotify is that it does not allow for downloads of their songs either. “It’s kind of annoying that I can’t download songs off Spotify,” said chemistry major Kayleb Koslowsky, “but it’s helpful when I want to listen to an album before I buy it, so then I don’t go and waste my money.”
Although not having the ability to download songs has its setbacks, some of the perks that Spotify presents are the ability to connect your Spotify account with your Facebook and Twitter accounts. Doing this allows you to share your playlists and view your friends’ playlists, as well as see their favorite artists and songs.
For free users, Spotify lets you listen to unlimited music for the first six months. After which, you’re allowed five playbacks per song and 10 hours a month. For those seeking unlimited listening, Spotify also offers an ‘Unlimited’ subscription. And for those looking to take their music libraries with them, Spotify also has a ‘Premium’ subscription, which also allows you access to Spotify on your smartphone, even when you are disconnected from the internet. For more information, visit www.spotify.com for more details.
Staff photo by Nick Growall