By Jennifer Lintz, Registered Dietitian and ICI/PRO Member Soigneur
Now that I'm finally on Spotify, there is one feature that I particularly appreciate:
Spotify Radio.
Pre-Spotify, this was my process for finding new music and creating playlists:
- Listen to Pandora.
- Make a note of songs that would work well in class.
- Download new tunes from eMusic.
- Create playlist in iTunes.
Not anymore!
Spotify has become my one-stop shop for creating class profiles. Instead of going from Pandora to eMusic to iTunes, I now do every single bit of my playlist prep in Spotify. This is my current routine:
Click the "i" for any track and then click Start Radio for a playlist of similar music.
- Listen to Spotify Radio. I also enjoy looking at my friends' and colleagues' Spotify playlists for ideas.
- Add songs I like directly to my class playlist.
The "directly" part was a huge selling piece for me. In addition to hitting the "Thumbs Up" button, which immediately saves songs to the "Liked from Radio" playlist, you can add radio songs directly to your class playlist by:
- dragging them to a playlist on your computer OR
- clicking "Add to _______" and selecting the appropriate playlist
Talk about a time saver!
On top of this feature, Spotify has unlimited skips, meaning we can hit the "Thumbs Down" button as many times as we would like. The number of stations is unlimited, too. You can create radio stations based on a specific artist, song, genre, or even a playlist you already made.
My love of Spotify caused me to cancel my $16.99/month eMusic membership and sign up for Spotify Premium ($9.99/month) so that I can use my music "offline" when I am teaching classes. So far, I am not looking back!
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Ok Jennifer but I do recommend a quick glance in the rear view mirror every so often so that you don’t delete or do anything to your iTunes music. You want to ALWAYS BE SURE it is back there, just in case.
Spotify is very capable and getting better all the time. But time will tell. Your $10 Spotify subscription gives you options the free version does not, but it does not guarantee that the music is yours or that it will always be there when you need it.
It sounds like you put a lot of time and effort into creating your playlists. It would be a shame to lose all that if something as simple as you forget to give Spotify the new expiration date on your credit card or you change credit cards or they decide to change the rules.
I understand why instructors want to be thrifty, but as my Grandpa used to say, “If it is too good to be true…” or “don’t put all your eggs in one basket”
One addendum to my earlier post. I like Spotify to try on playlists like my good friend Missy’s. which was great. Thanks to John for making the audio profile music available on spotify we can decide if we want to permanently archive that in iTunes.
I totally agree with Chuck. You are at the mercy of Spotify and their terms of service. The same is not true when you own your music. Buyers beware!
Alan you’re completely correct – except I think I’m looking at this completely opposite from you.
Every month I pay Spotify $9.95 for my premium subscription. And every month Spotify provides me with a service that I feel is worth much more than I’m paying for it.
With a very few exceptions, I view music as perishable. To my knowledge, none of the music I use today is in that big file of iTunes music that I haven’t bothered to re-import to the computer I bought over a year ago = those 4,000+ songs aren’t worth what Spotify provides me for 10 bucks.
None of the value I receive from Spotify today will occur next month and I have no expectation that it will. If Spotify went belly-up tomorrow I’d be disappointed, but I would transition to something else.
Thanks, Chuck, Alan, and John. I save all of my profiles in Excel, just in case I happen to lose my music somehow, whether it is iTunes, Spotify, or something else. Since starting with Spotify, I have used a playlist or two from iTunes for some of my “throwback rides,” but overall, I have been very happy with Spotify.
The perception of value has always been a slippery slope.
One of my good friends thinks leasing his car is a good value. So great indeed that he never keeps the car to the end of the lease but turns them in for a newer or different model. Of course this requires rolling over the remaining lease into the new. To me there is no value in tying up cash flow just to have the newest car. But then it really is not about the car, is it?
Assuming, John, that you paid an average of $.99/song in your library of 4000+ songs I would say you have an investment to take care of. that you have not imported it doesn’t mean you can’t or wont’ – especially if Spotify goes belly up next month – import to your new computer.
So lets call a spade a spade. Your own words; Spotify provides me with a service that I feel is worth much more than I’m paying for it. In other words John, you feel you are getting something for nothing. Most would say, “what’s wrong with that?” Grandpa would say, “You get what you pay for.”
There is plenty of up side, for now. The big one, Spotify does what iTunes doesn’t, manage the library. That is huge. You just get what you need from their library when you want it. It is always there. No duplicates. Within policy limits, all your devices have the same music and sharing is getting easier. Indeed the sharing is why I pay my $10/month. For me it is worth that just to try a playlist. I used Missy Crosson’s last friday.
You think music is perishable but the fact that one can get Nina Simone, Bing Crosby, Louis Armstrong and Glenn Miller with the push of a button seems to prove otherwise.
Somehow I get the feeling that throwing away those 4000 songs on your other computer is a long way off.
I was wondering if you could help me. Above my activity bar, I use to see people that I could choose to follow, it is gone. Looked in preferences , etc. Need your help to get it back. Thank you so much…Dan