Spotify.com review

Like 98% of working middle-class men I get bored sitting in front of a mind-numbing computer screen watching youtube videos to entertain me at work. There are only so many times I can watch "Sit on You" or cats singing chocolate rain. I find I can do more efficient work when music is playing in the background. This is true for every facet of my life. I need a soundtrack at all times: Mowing the lawn, running, doing dishes, showering, and looking up TPS reports at work.

There have been several sites that work to satiate this appetite for new music, like Playlist (where the song choices are spotty) and Pandora (where you rarely get to hear what you searched for). This is where Spotify comes in. This service is huge in Europe and has just been launched here (let's not kid ourselves we are the real marketplace for quality, i.e. not techno/house).



Spotify lets you pick an artist and listen to most, if not all, of their songs/cds. There are a few plans to choose from. Personally, because I collect pennies, I go for the free version. This version gives you 20 hours of music a month but does have scattered ads. The $5 is called Spotify Unlimited. As the name implies you get unlimited time with Spotify but it is limited to the computer, but thankfully you cut the ads with that cost. The Premium plan is $10 a month and gives you unlimited songs, no ads, and the Spotify app for your phone to take it on the go. That is a great deal and is similar to rhapsody.

I would give rhapsody the edge for now because Spotify's song selection so far in the U.S. is not as developed. But with time to expand discographies of each artist, there will not be a better streaming service than Spotify. Maybe if I wasn't so cheap I would get a smart-phone to get Spotify Premium. For now, take the Spotify free download on your computer and try it out. Oh p.s. you need to be invited currently to start it up. So make some friends who are smarter than you.