MetaChat - Possibilities of Spotify

Spotify's isn't free is it? I thought it was like $10 a month?

posted by octothorpe 31 July | 12:40

It's free to use but maybe sharing is an upgrade feature, I don't know. (I've had it about 20 minutes but am falling in love).

posted by Miko 31 July | 12:42

I think the social features of Spotify are paid. I plan to subscribe but I am waiting until after the beginning of the month to set a reasonable payment date.

Spotify (even free) will play a huge part in my music listening from here out. The other night I set up a 4 hour Bootsy Collins playlist that did not repeat a single song, and the commercials only seem to come every 25 to 30 minutes. I can handle that.

posted by Ardiril 31 July | 12:49

MeFi's own Lore Sjoberg has been sharing links to playlists on his Google+ account (mostly collections of quirky cover songs), and anybody with a free account can click and listen. I just tried setting up a short playlist (the three classic rock groups featured in the Credibility Gap comedy bit "Who's On First (Rock & Roll Version)" and another bit by the CGap because that one wasn't on Spotify). Then I right clicked on the playlist, clicked "Copy HTTP Link" and pasted it here. Tell me if it works.

posted by oneswellfoop 31 July | 13:53

I don't "get" Spotify. What does it offer that Grooveshark does not? Besides ads, I mean.

posted by BitterOldPunk 31 July | 14:17

Grooveshark never crossed my radar.

posted by Ardiril 31 July | 15:32

Slack-A-Gogo has posted links to Spotify playlists on G+, as well. They work fine.

posted by BoringPostcards 31 July | 15:32

Grooveshark looks pretty good. I guess I don't fall within any of their target market demographics.

posted by Ardiril 31 July | 15:43

Turntable.fm lets you actually dj live in your own room--up to 5 people at a time can be djs and a whole bunch of people can hang out and listen.

posted by leesh 31 July | 15:54

Seconding turntable.fm

posted by Obscure Reference 31 July | 16:15

Heh, well, Grooveshark does have 2 songs by the Fabulous Poodles while Spotify has none.

posted by Ardiril 31 July | 16:29

I haven't dug into Grooveshark or Turntable.fm that much, but for some reason Spotify seemed to hook me right out of the box. I wasn't really expecting to want to use it beyond taking it for a test run, but I immediately started making mixes.

I think it's pretty easy to make and share mixes, although because of it's different regions it's not a great universal choice for MeCha mixes. I'd love to have a service that everyone could here could make mixes and access.

Here are a few mixes I made to test things out:

Slack-pop-a-gogo - a playlist of melodic pop favorites very heavy on power pop
Won't Come Back: Teen Tragedy Songs - Teen tragedy songs as well as a few genre parodies and a few other songs close in theme
80's American College Rock - A collection of stuff from my college radio days. Stuck with American artists just to keep it from being too broad.

posted by Slack-a-gogo 31 July | 17:06

Good stuff, Slack, I'm diving deeply into your power pop... but as I looked down the list, Spotify had an "EXPLICIT" warning on the Raspberries' "Go All The Way"?!? Silly Spotify.

Still, an extra 1000 points for 10cc's "Good Morning Judge", a great song for shocking anyone who thinks 10cc="I'm Not In Love" (Well, "Second Sitting for the Last Supper" is even better).

posted by oneswellfoop 31 July | 17:43

I'm also interested in exploring turntable.fm.

posted by box 31 July | 17:50

Ardiril - I think it's so cool you even looked for Fabulous Poodles! while Spotify has none.

oneswellfoop - Thanks for the nice words on the playlist. Your test playlist worked fine. I haven't thought about Credibility Gap in years. Didn't even think of looking for stuff like that on Spotify. Just looked for some other comedy and found some Goons, Python, Alan Sherman, Bob Newhart, Woody Allen, Stan Freberg, and even those goofy Jerry Lewis prank calls and some radio bloopers (listening to Orson Welles ramblings now). No Tom Lehrer or Albert Brooks though. It's weird what's available and what's not.

I also loved the Raspberries explicit warning - thank goodness they're protecting the children.

posted by Slack-a-gogo 31 July | 20:39

The Poodles are pretty much my benchmark for judging music sites. A little Mr. Mike anyone?

posted by Ardiril 31 July | 21:15

wasn't really expecting to want to use it beyond taking it for a test run, but I immediately started making mixes.

Me too. Usability, accessibility, and not having to be 'in the know' are nice attributes.

posted by Miko 31 July | 22:30

wasn't really expecting to want to use it beyond taking it for a test run, but I immediately started making mixes.

Me too. Usability, accessibility, and not having to be 'in the know' are nice attributes.

posted by Miko 31 July | 22:30

If you haven't seen my Mix Party site yet, it's similar to Listening Room and Turntable.fm (without the Twitter/Facebook requirement).

Oh, and the source code is free.

It's been dead the past few months, but if enough people show up it's really fun.

posted by narwhal bacon 31 July | 23:14

n-thing grooveshark. Waiting for the "killer app" of spotify that makes it worth signing up for.

posted by Eideteker 01 August | 09:56

I don't think Spotify has or will have THE killer app, but I think they'll end up being on top because of a few "slightly better apps" over the competition and word-of-mouth momentum. My main reason for signing up was to stream new releases to see if they're worth buying or not (I'm still part of the music ownership thinking). But I have been using it much more than I expected to already. For me the ease of playlist making and sharing was the killer app - and if they're the service most of friends use that will lock my loyalty for sharing playlists alone. But if the MeCha consensus goes towards another service I might go that way since I'd love to hear mixes made by MeChas. Based on the shuffles, there is an awesome source of music enthusiasm here that I'd love to tap into.

posted by Slack-a-gogo 01 August | 10:45

A lot of Grooveshark's albums are missing songs.

posted by Ardiril 01 August | 12:11

Well, for those who want to try turntable, I've started a private Mecha room. Feel free to join me! Click here, and in theory it'll work.

posted by leesh 01 August | 14:34

Didn't work for me on my Ipad2, leash. It said I could login via my (nonexistent) Facebook account or put in my email and hope for an invite. So I gave up.

posted by bearwife 01 August | 15:15

Yeah, you do have to have Facebook or Twitter to log in, unfortunately.

posted by leesh 01 August | 15:25

If you don't want to use Facebook (the only social media option right now) to populate your friend list on Spotify, and you know the name/s you'd like to add, you can type spotify:user:[username] in the search box and click the Add button when their profile/s appear. You'll need to create a profile for yourself first.

posted by initapplette 01 August | 15:32

I'll be in Mix Party all this week spinning tunes. No Facebook/Twitter login required.

However, iOS devices will not work. Apple requires you to click on the songs to play them, which sort-of defeats the purpose of the website.

posted by narwhal bacon 02 August | 12:23

I haven't been able to get the site to load at all, narwhal... is it currently online?

posted by BoringPostcards 02 August | 12:48

(Trying to visit via a Windows PC, BTW)

posted by BoringPostcards 02 August | 12:49

It is up, and it's been a party of one all day. :(

It looks like IE is having some kind of weird issue (again), so if you were using that I suggest another browser. I'll take a look at it in a bit when I get off work.

posted by narwhal bacon 02 August | 18:17

31 July 2011