Get Spotified!

The latest on-line music tool that is gaining a lot of attention both in the press and by word-of-mouth is Spotify. I came across it being recommended on an online forum, and so thought I should give it a road-test. Here's what I found.

Spotify is a data-bank of music which you can play online via your PC, the sound quality is very good, the range of music on offer absolutely vast, the music streams very quickly and efficiently, and it costs.... er, nothing! It's not a 'themed' radio station in which it generates tracks it 'thinks you will like based on previously expressed preferences' rather it is a genuine on-line juke-box in which you can choose whatever you want to hear from its seemingly inexhaustible play-list. What's more, all this is available completely free.

Realistic readers will already be wanting to know what the catch is. Well there are three. The first is that Spotify only allows you to play, not download music, so you can play as long as they are functioning. The second is that they are funded not by selling music but by selling advertising space and so you have to listen to an advert every so often. The third is that it requires a small download to work, and doesn't just play through your web-browser. These however are very minor inconveniences to pay in order to be able to freely browse through their vast audio catalogue.

In the last hour, in order to relieve the bordeom of folding the washing and matching socks, I have done a few searches and found Rock, Prog, Gospel, Blues, Jazz, Classical, Folk, and Contemporary Christian Music from artists as diverse as Champion Jack Dupree, Memphis Slim, Chris Tomlin, Deep Purple, The Modern Jazz Quartet, Tallis, and of course, Barclay James Harvest. The possibilities seem endless.

This is one of the best on-line toys I have seen for ages. I wonder if the music-industry are happy about all these giveaways. Will they shut it down? My advice is to enjoy it now while you can!