It's Friday once again and that can only mean one thing. It's time for my favorite tracks of the week! Today I have for you a newer tune that you can use as a flat road and an older one that makes a great hill.
The first song was released in June of 2015 by the American duo MKTO and it's got a very different sound from their 2013 hit ‘Classic‘. I've used it as a flat road at around 90 rpm's.
It's obvious I have a thing for Pirates Of the Caribbean. I featured Epica's Pirates of The Caribbean in my very first ‘Favorite Track of The Week‘ post and today I'm sharing this one by one of my favorites- Rodrigo y Gabriela. If you have not used any of their music in your classes, you should definitely check them out. They are an amazing acoustic guitar duo with a totally unique sound. Here are a few of my favorites to use in class by them:
Today's featured song is from the Pirates of The Caribbean: On Stranger Tides soundtrack. It would make a great climb, alternating in and out of the saddle. Make sure you look for the Photek remix here.
New music Friday is a favorite day of mine. I love waking up with my morning cup of coffee and Spotify (and iTunes) to see what new music I can find to use in my classes. Sometimes I walk away disappointed and other times I feel like I’ve hit the jackpot. I can typically tell if a song is going to really work for me right away and then other times, it needs to really grow on me. Today I’m going to share a few of my finds from last week that I hope you’ll be able to add to your library!
I'll start you off with this one from one of my favorite bands, Imagine Dragons. It's around 79 RPM's so it can really be used as a flat road or a hill, depending on your resistance. It's only 3 minutes, but here's hoping for an extended version or maybe a remix in the near future. *Fun Fact: Imagine Dragons will perform on the series of premier of new Muppet Show airing Sept 22.
Another standout from last week's new music is from ZZ Ward's new album, Love and War. Check out Marry Well for a steep climb and also Rescue for a flat road, but watch for an F-bomb at about 1:45.
And finally, another female artist that I'm loving lately, Gin Wigmore. (If you haven't used her Black Sheep and New Rush yet, you definitely should give them a try.) Her new album Blood To Bone has several great tracks that would work well for cycling. Check them out here:
I hope you find something in this post that you can use in your next playlist.
A few weeks ago I noticed a new playlist along the left side of my main Spotify page titled Discover Weekly. I hadn’t put it there myself, so I clicked on it to see what it was all about and I was pleasantly surprised at the incredible mix of songs that it included. I investigated further and found that it’s a new feature that Spotify offers and it’s amazing! It’s like a fresh mix tape delivered to you every Monday.
According to Spotify, the songs included in your personal Discover Weekly playlist are based on your listening habits as well as what others are listening to. (Hint: Make sure you save your favorites because it will refresh every week! I created a new playlist called Discover Weekly Finds and then I will sort them out when I have more time.)
This week’s favorite song of the week is called Happy (no, not THAT Happy…) and it came straight from my personalized playlist. It’s from a group I’d never heard of called C2C (feat. Derek Martin) . Check out this video of them performing the song live. They’re using turntables to recreate the sounds of the drum and guitar and it’s pretty cool:
I used it as a climb, but it would certainly also make a great warm up or flat road.
Has this ever happened to you and really messed up the energy of your class?
You switch from the Now Playing screen on your iPhone, back to the Playlist Screen to check what song is coming up next.
Except you're a ways into the class and to see the current song that's playing in the list, you need to carefully scroll down through the playlist. Easy to do when you're sitting at a desk. Not so easy when you are all sweaty and pedaling a bike. So what you intended as a swipe to scroll down the order, becomes a click that starts a different song. This of course messes up everything and has you flustered, trying to get back to the previous song – and at the correct point in the track 🙁
I found a solution for this today. I'm not sure how long it's been there, but there's now an option to see the Play Queue the list of what's coming up next. Here's how you can find it:
From the Now Playing screen > Click the top right icon.
That will open the Play Queue with the current track always at the top!
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.[wlm_private ‘PRO-Platinum|PRO-Monthly|PRO-Gratis|PRO-Seasonal|Platinum-trial|Monthly-trial|PRO-Military|30-Days-of-PRO|90 Day PRO|Stages-Instructor|Schwinn-Instructor|Instructor-Bonus|28 Day Challenge']
Open the Music App on your phone and click the silhouette icon in the top-left corner.
Next choose View Apple ID and Log In.
Then under Subscriptions > Manage
This screen will show your Apple Music and other auto-pay subscriptions, including Spotify if that's how you're subscribed.
NOTE: cancelling won't end your trial early.
Please let me know if you have additional questions. [/wlm_private]
That will open the Play Queue with the current track always at the top!
