The Deezer iPhone App is very similar to the Spotify App. No, make that darn near exactly the same. While there are a few very small differences between Deezer and Spotify, there's one positive and one negative that will affect how you use Deezer in your class.
I love how the Deezer App allows you to change the track order on your phone, instead of needing to make changes on a computer like Spotify. Clicking the pencil icon bring you to edit mode where you can reorder to your hearts content.
Note: neither service lets you change someone else's playlist. If you want to switch/change/substitute tracks you need to create a new playlist and copy/drag all the tracks into it.
Both Deezer and Spotify offer an “offline” mode so the music is actually downloaded to your phone vs. needing to rely on a wireless connection for streaming.
Note: we hear frequently from Instructors who are confused by both Deezer and Spotify being advertised as “Streaming Music Services” – which they are… but for your class you should only use the “Sync” (Deezer) or “Available Offline” (Spotify) modes to ensure uninterrupted playback. Android devices say simply “Download”. This is very important because both Deezer and Spotify display “local” tracks (from iTunes) when you're creating a new playlist. If your new playlist includes a local track it'll skip over / won't play if you try to stream your class using the club's wireless. Syncing your iPhone, using the same wireless network as your desktop, ensures all your tracks will be there.
With Spotify you need to open each playlist before you can toggle the “Available Offline” option. With Deezer you can set a playlist to “Sync” at both the playlists screen and once you've opened the individual playlist.
Here's the “Now Playing” screen. Disappointingly Deezer has chosen to use the same tiny font as Spotify for the playlist timer. Obviously all of their developers are all young, with young people's eyes 🙁
So what's the negative difference between Deezer and Spotify?
Deezer doesn't appear (I can't find it) to offer a crossfade option. I really enjoy a seamless class, especially when it doesn't take any time to create, so I would miss not having this feature. Beyond that they're almost identical and either could make a huge improvement to your class.
We're in the process of adding a one-click Deezer playlist link to each Audio PROfile and plan to have this completed by tomorrow. We are doing this specially for all of our Canadian ICI/PRO members who can't access Spotify.
If you are in Canada you can click any of the Deezer links like this one to Krista's playlist shown above and sample each track – Deezer will open and you don't need to sign up in advance. Those of us in America will need to wait until whenever they get here.
I've been consumed learning all about the Deezer music service and completely forgot to post this yesterday 🙁
My memory is a bit fuzzy, but I'm pretty sure the very first Indoor Cycling class I taught was in the fall of 1998 – about 15 years ago. Amy had just been hired to develop an Indoor Cycling program at Bokoo Bikes, a new local bicycle retailer where I was leading their outdoor group rides. The owner's plan was to add some life and energy to the store, during the cold/dark/long winter months when people aren't much interested in visiting a store that sells outdoor bicycles.
We had four Instructors, eight Lemond bikes, a single speaker and our own corner of the bike store. Amy organised a schedule of two weekday – evening classes, one on Saturday morning and I taught a 90 minute endurance class on Sundays. It was awesome… until 2004 when Life Time Fitness built a big box club a few miles down the road. We lost everyone to their beautiful, dedicated studio with 45 new Spinner NXTs, four speakers + a massive subwoofer and showers.
This actually worked out well for me. Between teaching in the winter and leading summer group rides, I had developed a loyal following. These friends made a few suggestions (gotta love those comment cards) to the Life Time department head, which resulted in my current employment.
15 years is a long time to be doing anything and the need to stay fresh (at least for me) is a continuous process.
One strategy to keep from getting stale has been to do the unexpected. Instead of teaching from the normal front & center position, I'll jump in and ride with my class. This is really effective when you're using virtual ride videos and actually teaching to what's being displayed.
Another option to shake things up is to teach with OPM (other people's music). Spotify makes it so easy to grab another Instructor's music and hit play. This may sound like it would result in a random & disorganised class, but it doesn't. If you've taught for a bunch of years like I have, the class just flows out of you.
Barbara Hoots taught me the value of using a remix of a well know song – and a well produced mashup is even better – to grab both your and your classes attention. Here are a few mashups that you can use to shake things up in your class for your free tracks this week.
I really love Fleetwood Mac and this mashup with Adele is awesome.
No one will be expecting this to include the Bee Gees.
Deezer offers all the benefits of Spotify and (unlike Spotify) it is available to all of our ICI/PRO members in Canada.
But for some strange reason, it's available most everywhere on the planet… except not in the USA and Japan. At least for now – but it will be soon, I hope.
I've been continually frustrated with how Spotify hasn't been accessible to our neighbors to the north. Starting this weekend each of our over 55 Audio PROfiles will include a link to a Deezer One Click Playlists for all of our Canadian ICI/PRO Members!
I've just begun learning* about all the features offered by Deezer. I have to say that once Deezer get's here, I'll probably be switching 🙂 So far it looks awesome – and yes it has a playlist timer!
But it goes beyond the a simple timer. Deezer offers you MixMeister like control over each track in your playlist; start/stop, pitch control (yes I said PITCH CONTROL), volume control (because auto-volume never seems to work right), cross-fade, EQ and yes there's an App for that – both iPhone/iPad and Android devices are fully supported for off-line use. This is exactly what I've been waiting for!
Depending where you are located, you're seeing the Deezer player below.If you are not in the USA or Japan, you can click it and Deezer will play 30 second samples for you – or – the full song if you are logged into a Deezer account. Those 30 second samples are something Spotify never offered – If you didn't have a spotify account the player doesn't work. Which will make it very easy for everyone to sample our playlists once Deezer comes to America.
USA and Japanese Instructors will be taken to a “coming soon” page where you can subscribe to receive a notification if/when it's avalible. Just like Spotify, once you have a Deezer account you can subscribe to a playlist, share with your friends and follow people. Deezer doesn't require a Facebook account to register, just a valid email. Pricing for a premium account (so you can use your phone) is about the same @ ~$10.00 a month.
The team at ICI/PRO understands that many of you appreciate the educational tutorials, tips and tricks we've offered for Spotify over the past year. We are committed to providing similar help and support for Deezer users.
I see this as another game-changer for Instructors, so stay tuned.
Are you already using Deezer? I'd love to know your experiences.
*Don't ask how I'm able to access their service, let's just say; I have a “friend” in canada who's helping me with all of this.
Macy’s has a great soundtrack rolling right now. We were all dancing and grooving away today to this ‘oldie, but goodie’ while I was working there. It was really fun! We all know how our members and participants like recognizable tunes and this will make a great JRA (just riding along) climb at 62 rpm’s. You might even get a couple of them to pull a dance move or two 🙂
Here is Marvin Gaye and ‘Got to Give It Up’:
Spotify has multiple versions of this in different lengths.
And here is the link to a remix for your free download:
Our family was watching a movie the other night (Side Effects with Jude Law, Channing Tatum and Catherine Zeta-Jones. It’s a great psychological thriller!) A fantastic song came on as the credits were rolling and I am incorporating it into my profile this week.
Thievery Corporation’s ‘Forgotten People” from their 2008 Radio Retaliation album is a quick flat road (3:13, 97 bpm) to use for soft pedaling and recovery, or sprint work.
Here’s hoping you enjoy this song as much as we did!
Sometimes I never know what I'll find when I look for a free version to offer you. After striking out on Forgotten People (which was too good not to share) I clicked the related artists tab and discovered Air and in specific Air — Alone in kyoto.
Try out these remixes.
Based on what's being described, iTunes Radio won't work for your class. Unless you just want to hit play and work with whatever iTunes decides to deliver to you.
iTunes Radio (from what I can see) is really just Apple's version of Pandora. Give them a song or genre of music and iTunes Radio will serve a streaming radio of suggested songs.
I found a good explanation at zdnet.com of why Apple isn't offering a streaming catalog like Spotify or Google's new Google Play music services.
1. It's less like to cannibalize its iTunes music sales. A buy button is prominently displayed in the upper-right hand corner of the iTunes Radio now playing screen putting you just a touch away from being able to purchase a track.
2. It was a much easier sell to the music labels. I'm sure that the buy button in the upper-right corner was a significant part of Apple pitch to labels.
3. It was easier to close deals with three major music labels (which came down to the wire) as opposed to getting deals with all of the labels representing the 26 million plus tracks in the iTunes Store's massive music library.
Personally, I'd rather have a “catalog” (or hybrid) music streaming service from Apple (imagine, every track in the iTunes store being free to listen to!) over a “radio” service, which is why I don't see canceling my Spotify subscription any time soon. Ever since I've bought into the catalog streaming model, I've purchased very few individual tracks (although I've still purchased a few pre-release albums and live recordings) — which is probably the exact reason why Apple (and the labels) opted for iTunes Radio on Monday. I hope that Apple eventually expands it's music subscription offering, but judging by how long it took it to secure deals with three music labels (iRadio has been rumored since September) I'm not optimistic.
