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ICI/PRO is the Indoor Cycling Instructor Community's resource for free music, Instructor teaching tips, motivational cues, education, entertainment, class profiles, routines and music playlists.

Using Spotify Off Line

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Click the title for full post:

Another question about Spotify:

I was off to teach a class on Friday and always listen to my playlist on the drive over and all the songs were skipping. I tried rebooting my iPhone and still no luck. Luckily I had my iTunes playlist on my phone and did another profile for class. The problem is still there and the Spotify site is no help in solving this issue. Have you heard of this problem? I am ready to cancel my account …… Any ideas?

It sounds like these playlists haven't been set to Available Offline

Spotify works so well when connected to a wireless network you get the impression that all the music is right there on your device. Make the setting change shown here so your playlist is ready to play.

I recommend always turning your iPhone to Airplane Mode when you are teaching so your class isn't interrupted by a call.  

Originally posted 2011-08-21 08:55:55.

Why Try Spotify?

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As an indoor cycling instructor, you already know that music plays an important part in creating an exceptionally motivating class.

 

But sometimes, searching for new music and developing playlists can be time consuming and costly. Since iTunes came out with its social network, Ping in 2010, I’ve had great success finding music and sharing songs and playlists there with other instructors.  In fact, I may have been happy to stay with Ping forever.  Then I heard a rumor that with its new upgrade this fall, iTunes will be dropping Ping.  I can neither confirm nor deny that rumor, but it did scare me enough into looking at other music options.

 

That’s when my search began for a new music-sharing site that would offer me the ease of finding new music, putting my playlists together and sharing them with other instructors.  I knew about other social music sites such as MeeMix, , Maestro.fm, and Last.fm, and I had dabbled in Spotify before, even recreating some of my iTunes playlists and publishing them there.  I had never really explored Spotify enough to see all that it had to offer though.

 

With the possibility of Ping not being available to me any more, I knew that it was time to jump in and give Spotify another try.  This was around the same time that John contacted me to write some blog posts here at ICI/ PRO.  I mentioned to him that I was dabbling in Spotify, and he said it would ‘change the way I use music in my indoor cycling classes.’ As music ‘junkie’ and someone that had become pretty adept at creating playlists, sharing them and using them in my classes, I was sure that he was exaggerating.

 

As the next few weeks went by, I continued to explore Spotify, upgraded to ‘premium’ membership status and gained more confidence using it. I also installed the Spotify app on my new iPhone.  In that short time, I have almost completely stopped purchasing new music in iTunes and cancelled my  $12.99/month eMusic account.  I’ve  also begun to stream my playlists in my indoor cycling classes through my phone. Amazing, really, if you stop to think about it.  I’m still working out the kinks in this area, but overall I’d say it’s going quite well.

 

To say that this was a challenge for me would be an understatement, because I consider myself just a bit technologically challenged, and I will admit that I found Spotify difficult to navigate at first. I am not someone that picks things like this up easily. I’m guessing that a lot of you reading this are in the same boat.  I’m still working on learning how to use Spotify to it’s fullest potential.  While I know that I am only using a small part of what’s available to me as a premium member, I’ve already decided that John was right.  It already has started to change the way I’m using music in my classes.

 

Let me begin by telling you a few of the things that I already love about Spotify:

 

  • It’s inexpensive.   I know what you’re thinking.   How is $9.99 a month for a premium membership inexpensive?  Here’s how:  You don’t have to purchase music anymore.  You have thousands of songs available for you to use.  Between my monthly eMusic payment and my iTunes purchases, I was spending well over the $9.99 that I am paying per month for Spotify.

 

  • It’s simple to create playlists.  This part of the process is actually very similar to iTunes, only much simpler. You can browse new music, see what others are listening to and create your own playlists in less time than if you had to download them and drag them into your playlists.  In just a few clicks, you have everything you need at your fingertips.

 

  • You can share your playlists:  Kind of like sharing playlists on iTunes only you can actually sync an entire playlist to your device and use it in your own cycling class.  Sure, on iTunes you could purchase entire playlists easily, but it would cost you anywhere from fifteen to twenty dollars or more.  With Spotify, you have access to thousands of songs and playlists and you can use as many as you’d like.

 

While I’ve learned a lot about Spotify in the few short weeks that I’ve been exploring it, I still have so many questions about it.  I’m quite certain that I have not even scratched the surface of all that it has to offer me as a cycling instructor.

 

For example, here are few things that I’ve struggled with continued to struggle with:

 

  • I’m finding  it hard to find other people to ‘follow’.  One way to find people is to  log in through your Facebook account and follow your Facebook friends that are on Spotify, but I am specifically looking for other instructors and people with good musical taste.  No offense to my Facebook friends, but most of them don’t fit into either category.  It’s not as simple as ‘searching’ for people by name.

 

  • I’m still learning the whole ‘online’/’offline’ thing.  Do I want to stream my music via the Internet, or take it ‘offline’, which is a feature of the premium membership?  One lesson I learned: when you are ‘online’ and your iPhone rings during class, your music will pause until you dismiss the call, unless you switch your phone to ‘airplane’ mode.

 

My goal until my next post is work out some of these kinks and share more of my Spotify experience with you.  I would love it if I didn’t have to take this journey into the great unknow alone, so In the meantime, I will put this challenge out to those of you not yet using Spotify premium:

 

At the very least, try the free membership to see how you like it.  If you ‘re ready to make the jump, I promise you that the premium membership will be worth every penny.  I would be more than happy to entertain any questions that you may have about starting up with Spotify. If I don’t know the answer, I’ll try to find it for you.
Until then, keep the music flowing!

 

Here are a few links that you may find helpful:

 

Spotify

Try Spotify Premium Free For 30 Days! 

Chris’ Spotify profile

 

Originally posted 2012-09-11 15:32:23.

Teaching In a world where nothing is permitted

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A member called to my attention that per their Terms and Conditions, Spotify is only permitted for personal use.

Meaning that you agree not to use it in commercial applications.

“That's not good” I thought and I immediately went to read what he was referring to. Here's the T&C page that includes this from Spotify:

3. Grant of license

You are granted a limited, non-exclusive, revocable license to make personal non-commercial use of the Spotify Software Application (including a right to download said application) and the Spotify Service and to receive by stream (and, where you have purchased the Premium Service or the Mobile Service, by conditional download), and in the case of the purchase of A-La Carte Downloads or Download Bundles, to receive Permanent Downloads of the media content made available through the Spotify Service in your home country. You do not have a right to transfer or sublicense your rights under this Agreement.

Before I got too excited, I decided to check what other Terms and Conditions I have agreed to – who reads those things anyway? It turns out that every music service or music software I use is restricted to Personal Use Only. Let's go down the list:

  • iTunes has a similar restriction – (i) You shall be authorized to use iTunes Products only for personal, noncommercial use.
  • Windows Media Player from Microsoft – Unless otherwise specified, the Services are for your personal and non-commercial use.
  • My copy of MixMeister Express (no link) says: You may only use the MixMeister Software for Your private, non-commercial use.

So am I screwed? Do I need to learn how to perform as a one-man-band?

No

Are you prevented from using Spotify, iTunes, Windows Media Player or MixMeister to produce and deliver music for your class tomorrow?

I'm not an Attorney, so that's going to be your choice. I certainly don't want to be advocating you do something that's potentially in conflict with something you have agreed not to do… but I personally don't see this as comparable with using music that's been illegally downloaded in some fashion. Actually just the opposite 🙂

You've heard me state on this recent Podcast about music licensing that; as a content creator, I'm very much against the distribution of copyrighted materials without due compensation given to the creators.

My feeling is that as long as the studio is properly licensed for playing music, this won't be seen as much of an issue. Music labels are already dealing with the enormous amount of illegal file sharing that happens every day. iTunes changed how many people acquired music by creating a service that's so convenient (and secure) that millions of people would rather pay a $0.99 than waste their time going elsewhere.
Like iTunes, I believe that Spotify can actually reduce the amount of sharing that ends in no revenue for the record labels by offering a convenient method of finding and accessing music.
That said, I want to offer this disclaimer: Links to Spotify playlists you find here are intended for your personal use only.

What do you think about this?

Originally posted 2011-08-22 05:57:40.

Tech Wednesday – New iTunes Podcast App

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New Podcast App replaces iTunes

There's maybe a new App on your iPhone when you update to OS 6.0

Wasn't I just saying; if it wasn't for Podcasts, I would rarely (if ever) use iTunes?

Well I now iPhone/iPad users can access The Indoor Cycle Instructor Podcast through a new Podcast App, completely bypassing iTunes.

IMPORTANT NOTE!

This new Podcast App changes how ICI/PRO members will subscribe to the premium RSS feed (Super Secret iTunes Feed) that allows you to download Member's Only Audio PROfiles and PRO/Podcasts. 

For ICI/PRO members who were already subscribing – no worries. Your settings will automatically move everything to the new Podcast App.

Any ICI/PRO members wanting to use their iPhone to download and listen to our Member's only content please visit this page for simple instructions to adding your premium feed to the new Podcast App.

Some of you may have noticed the new Podcast App – it installed automatically for me – but not everyone I've talked to – when you upgraded to OS 6.0. You do upgrade your iPhone or Android device when prompted, don't you? Sounds like another Best Practices.

I'm seeing the new Podcast App as a big improvement, actually the whole OS 6.0 update as a big improvement, because now many common tasks can be done wirelessly. In other words; YOU ARE NO LONGER A SLAVE TO CONNECTING YOUR iPHONE TO A COMPUTER WITH THE CORD! Which of course is one of the benefits to Spotify – everything is done using a wireless connection 🙂

If you turn on the free iCloud storage and enable the iCloud Backup there may not be any reason to connect your iPhone to your computer at all.

This new App completely bi-passes iTunes. Once you've added the App here's a few tips and suggestions:

In the main Settings area (where you turn on Airplane mode) scroll down to Podcasts and be sure that Use Cellular Data is off so you don't burn through your Data plan 🙁

Open the Podcast App and select a Podcast. Clicking the arrow as shown takes you to the setting screen…

… can set the subscription to update and download new episodes whenever you have wireless service. 

Let me know your questions.

Originally posted 2012-10-10 08:14:49.

Important Setting In iTunes

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A new ICI/PRO member emailed asking me this question:

Just joined ICI and haven't had a chance to navigate the whole site yet but did go right for the Free Music Downloads. They appear in my itunes but when I go to listen to them itunes tells me that it cannot play them because it can't find the original file. I glanced over your site looking for troublshooting but couldn't find it. Any suggestions as to how to get itunes to recognize the songs?

This sounds like a Windows/PC problem: iTunes is the default player on most people's computers. When this ICI/PRO member clicked the Free Music Friday download link the song opened and played in iTunes but the file wasn't added to the My Music/iTunes Music folder. So the track plays fine the first time. But when you come back to the song, iTunes doesn't know where it is and asked if you would like to find it > don't waste your time.

Here's how to fix it:

Open iTunes and in the top left corner click Edit >then Preferences. A dialog box opens and click the far right hand tab click Advanced > you should see this, or something similar depending on which version of iTunes you have:

Tic the Copy files to iTunes Media folder and click OK.

Now whenever you open a song  it will automatically end up in a folder where iTunes can find it 🙂

Yes, it's a good idea to Tic the other option to keep your iTunes Music folder organized.

I welcome your questions and I'm always here to help!

 

Originally posted 2011-07-13 09:32:40.

Using Music – An Instructional Series

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This is post one in a multi-post series that will explain how to use and select music to compliment your class. As the series progresses, I will be sure to include the links to the previous posts so that the entire series can be found in the latest post.

As an instructor, music can become the most challenging part of any indoor class; however it can be one of the most important parts of the class. I have heard it said that we are not DJs on a bike, we are cycling coaches. While I may agree with the sentiment, we can not underestimate the importance of music in the delivery of a class. You could structure the most ideal training program with the very best designed drills, but if your music is off and does not match the work, chances are very good that the class will disappoint your riders. While we believe that the class focus and design should be well thought out before the music is added, the addition of music to your drills will truly make or brake your class.

What is it that makes the selection of music so crucial; music is a one of the most powerful mediums. It can facilitate communication that goes beyond words, enables meanings to be shared, and promotes the development and maintenance of individual, group, cultural and national identities. Music can alter movements, moods and emotions. Few other items that you come in contact with can effect such a wide range of human functions and feelings.

So, how do we begin with the so important task of selecting the right music for your class? It all begins with belief. You must believe in your music and your playlist or your class will not believe in it either. While there are seemingly endless types and styles of music and everyone in your class can have a different preference, it is your ability to believe and sell the ride that will matter. To make it a little easier, if you incorporate some basic principles, you will succeed more times than not:

Know Your Demographic
The demographics of an indoor cycling class can be affected by many factors including your club’s location (city vs. suburbs), day of the week and time of day that your class is offered, and if your class is designed around a specific focus or theme. One of the easiest ways to accomplish this principle is to take the time to learn what your riders like by simply asking them. You will never be able to please everyone all of the time, but people appreciate being listened to and will respect you if they believe your are doing your best to give everyone something they enjoy. Please, remember to remind your people that not all great music is great indoor cycling music and that it may take a few weeks to get their requests into one of your rides.

For Foundational classes (beginner), remember the overall focus is to provide a fun environment for people to gain some initial cycling fitness or possibly just fitness in general. With the exception of the warm-up (and possibly the cool-down/stretch), working songs should be music your riders will recognize, and maybe even sing along to. While the beat matching of the ride is still critical, you should take extra time with this group to be sure the music is fun and will keep them coming back for more.

For intermediate and advanced classes, it is critical that the music be beat-matched and of similar intensity to the work that you are asking of the riders. When we ask more of the riders, this also demands more of us as instructors. We need to put in the extra time to find “just the right music” that will not only support our drills, but it will also enhance them. Ideally, the riders should be able to close their eyes, or look away from the cycle display, and still hold the proper cadence by focusing on the beat and feel of the music. Aside from the beat, the intensity is also important: an epic climb demands an epic musical work to help us reach the summit.

One of our foundations at Cycling Fusion is that songs used for the first warm-up segment should NOT have vocals. The warm-up is where you spend a good portion of the time introducing yourself, the purpose of the class and give various instructions such as safety guidelines, proper position and how to gauge the level of effort. It is important that your voice be the only one heard in the cycling studio during the warm-up so riders have a clear understanding of expectations and how to approach the class.

In the next post, we will talk about Pulse, BPM and RPM and how using them will enhance your ride and heighten the student’s experience.

 

The Great Spotify Debate: Renting Vs. Buying

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Spotify-vs-itunes-300x184I get a lot of questions about Spotify, but the one question that I get over and over  from people that are interested switching from iTunes is:  “Do you own the music?”, or “Can I sync music from Spotify to my iPod or burn it to CD? “ And my answer is always the same: “No, you can’t, but you won’t believe what you CAN do for only $9.99 a month!”  Now I know that bothers a lot of people.  What's the sense in spending $9.99 a month and having nothing to show for it?  How is this worth the cost?

It seems that when it comes to music for our cycling classes, there are two camps: Those that want to own all of their music, and those that see their music as more disposable and don't mind ‘borrowing' it.

If you are strictly an iTunes user, then you own the music that you purchase. Well, at least you own the license to listen to songs on many devices.(* Here’s an interesting article from CNN that raises questions about digital music ownership.)  It’s all yours.  I once strictly used iTunes and now I own a LOT of music.  Most if it I rarely listen to or use in my playlists anymore.  It just sits there taking up storage space on my computer.

If you are a Spotify user, you are essentially borrowing the music.  You are paying Spotify $9.99 for UNLIMITED access to their extensive library of tunes.  I (along with many other cycling instructors that have jumped on the Spotify bandwagon) believe that the borrowing is the way to go.

Here are my top 8 reasons why I would rather borrow music from Spotify than buy it :

  1. I have unlimited access to music.  I rarely am unable to find a song that I am looking for.  If that does happen, I will purchase the song on iTunes or Amazon, but I’m still not spending as much money as I was pre-Spotify.
  2. I can listen to a song all the way through and then decide if it’s something I want to use in my playlist. I can’t count the number of times that I have purchased a song on iTunes and then later found that it was not suitable for my playlist.
  3. Spotify has a radio feature that allows me to ‘like’ songs as I listen.  These songs then go into a file called ‘liked from the radio’ and can be easily accessed for future playlists. This is a great tool for finding new music.
  4. I don’t have songs (most of which I’m not listening to) clogging up all of my computer space.
  5. I  can take my playlists ‘offline’, which means I can use them anywhere, even without an Internet connection. **You do need to have an iPhone or smart phone device to sync your music.
  6. I can follow other instructors and see what they’re listening to. I can check out their playlists and if I like what I hear, I can pull a few of the songs over to my own files.  If I’m in a bit of a rut, I can even follow someones entire playlist and sync it to my device to use in my own class. (Tip: This is frowned upon if you work in the same gym.)
  7. Many songs that I borrow, I may only use a few times.  If I use it more than that, it will always be there.  If I don’t use it again, I won’t feel that I have wasted my money.  There are many other songs out there just waiting to go on my next playlist.
  8. In my leisure time, I do enjoy listening to music.  The music that I listen to at home or in the car is not always the same as the music I listen to in my cycling classes.  For example, I love using Pitbull in my classes.  I can honestly say that I would never listen to his music outside of my class.  So owning a bunch of Pitbull does not seem cost effective to me.  Here’s another example: My all time favorite band is the Beatles.  I have rarely used any Beatles tunes in my classes, but I love to listen to them in my leisure time.  Do I own all of my Beatles music?  You bet I do.  And if I want to borrow it from Spotify, I have that option too.

Spotify is the best $9.99/month I have ever spent as an instructor.  It has made my class preparation less time consuming, more fun and much more convenient and to me and that is worth every penny.

What do you think? Do you feel more comfortable owning your music or are you OK with borrowing it?

 

 

iTunes Help – Removing Duplicate Song Listings

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Tuneup for itunes Spinning Indoor Cycling Instructor class music

2/2014 UPDATE: This software is no longer available.

With all this talk about PRO/Playlists and Spotify I can't forget my friends with iTunes 🙂

I received an email today from Richard, who's an ICI/PRO member, asking if I could help him…

Over a year ago I had to restore my computer and I used a back up drive to restore my music, actually I gave it to someone else to restore. When I got it back all my music was there but there were multiple entries of the same songs, some as many as 7 or 8 in iTunes.

I tried the iTunes duplicate feature to try to eliminate them but I have so many it was an endless task. Then I tried to delete all but one song in the list but when I clicked on some of the song listings, some played and some did not. So by mistake I deleted a lot of songs before I realized my error. I use Mixmeister 6 to build all of my playlist and then export a 1 hour long mixed file to iTunes to download to an iPod Touch. I think I might as well delete the music I have in the iTunes files and rebuild iTunes from what I have left in my music files.

I really don’t use iTunes much other than to transfer to the Touch. Do you have any thoughts on how I might correct this huge file problem?

You may remember (I sure haven't forgotten) that last fall I needed to replace my computer's hard drive after dropping it on the floor. Thankfully I was completely backed up with Carbonite and was able to restore everything… except I now have the same problem as Richard, dozens of duplicates showing in iTunes. So I thought this would be a good time for another I Can Help Video where I look into TuneUp – a popular plugin for iTunes designed to quickly remove duplicate listings in iTunes.
UPDATE: I just got an email from this company and they offered a 20% to our community. Use promo code CYCLING if you decide to invest in the full version.

If duplicate listings, missing artwork and Track 1/Track2/Track3 listings drives you crazy – TuneUp for iTunes looks like a good solution for you.

Update: As I continued to explore TuneUp I discovered how well it can replace Track 1/Track2/Track3 and I made another video about it here at iTunes TuneUp Software Review Videos.

Originally posted 2011-08-14 05:38:41.

This could be trouble

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That shuffle button stays right there on the top.

That shuffle button stays right there on the top.

I was greeted by another Spotify update this morning and see they've added a new way to accidentally screw up your class 🙁

Forgive me if you have already experienced this Spotify update. I might be a few days late reporting the change – I've been using the new Schwinn Class Tamer app and wanted to use a past Spotify playlist today.

That big Shuffle Play button sits there at the top, taunting you to inadvertently touch it (or drip on it) and mix up your song order. It won't go away. Swipe up or down to scroll through the playlist to see what's next and that dang button stays right there at the top. Who thought that would be a good idea?

I do like the white on black fonts – they're a bit easier for me to see/read – but still the same frustratingly tiny track length time font.

During class this morning it took me a few tries to get out of the Now Playing Info screen. Tapping anywhere on the bar across the top doesn't work anymore – you need to carefully tap the little X in the top-left corner.

For some reason I couldn't see that X this morning.

For some reason I couldn't see that X this morning.

 

Originally posted 2014-04-03 08:20:34.

Having Problems Downloading the Massive Amount of Free Media On ICI/PRO?

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Download

 

 

Have you been having a hard time figuring out how to download media from the ICI/Pro website?

Try following these directions and let me know if it helps:

To download media to a Mac:

  1. Right Click on the blue underlined link
  2. Select “Download Linked File As”
  3. Select a download location
  4. Once file is completely downloaded, find it in the location you selected
  5. Drag the file into your iTunes or Spotify library OR
  6. Right Click on the file and Select “Open With”
  7. From the drop down menu select “iTunes” or “Spotify”
  8. File should begin playing and is now part of your iTunes or Spotify library

To download media to a PC:

  1. Right Click on the blue underlined link
  2. Select “Save Link As”
  3. Select a download location
  4. Once file is completely downloaded, find it in the location you selected
  5. Drag the file into your iTunes or Spotify library OR
  6. Right Click on the file and Select “Open With”
  7. From the drop down menu select “iTunes” or “Spotify”
  8. File should begin playing and is now part of your iTunes or Spotify library

Click here to watch a video.

 

I hope this helps.

 

 

PlayPlay

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Are you paying too much for Spotify? How do I stop Apple Music payments?

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Stop paying iTunes for Spotify

Both of these questions have pretty much the same solution…

Spotify is jumping in Apple's face with this and I find it kind of funny 🙂 Turns out that if you're paying your monthly Spotify subscription through iTunes, you are paying an extra $3.00 a month. Why? Because iTunes charges an extra 30% on top of recurrent subscriptions.

Spotify is trying to raise awareness around the fact that it's cheaper to subscribe on the web instead of through Apple's App Store. The leading subscription music service plans to email iPhone customers the below note encouraging them, if they haven't already, to start paying at Spotify.com and save a few dollars. “In case you didn’t know, the normal Premium price is only $9.99, but Apple charges 30 percent on all payments made through iTunes,” the email blast reads. “You can get the exact same Spotify for only $9.99/month, and it’s super simple.”

The message is followed with a step-by-step tutorial that explains how to shut off auto-renew through iTunes (so Apple won't keep charging you the higher $12.99-per-month rate) and transfer your account to the web – something that can only be done once your current subscription lapses. “Pardon us if you can't do this immediately. Your current plan needs to end first,” Spotify says.

This will only apply if you downloaded and subscribed to Spotify using your iDevice. Most of us (me included) used our computers and subscribed directly with Spotify.

But this got me thinking; how do I cancel my free trial to Apple Music?

Turns out it's easy to cancel any monthly subscriptions.

badgeThe complete article is available to ICI/PRO Members  Join ICI/PRO to unlock this today.

 

 

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