Monday, February 27, 2012

How Spotify Dominated The World Of Online Music

By Gavin Tyrone


The Question

Spotify is currently sweeping the nation. In only a few months it has become one of the most popular sources of free, legal music on the internet. But why did this sudden change occur? Before, people were perfectly content with a combination of iTunes, Pandora, and piracy to meet their music needs. YouTube also offers many music videos free of cost. The question is, how does Spotify compete with such established methods of attaining music? The simplest answer would be that it is the best music distribution platform, and it knows it.

Connectivity

Most people heard about Spotify through Facebook. If they didn't, they heard about it from someone else who found it through Facebook and loved it. Or, they have might have got a free spotify invite do invite someone from somewhere and were able to activate a free account. This social connectivity has been a huge boon to Spotify since the very beginning. It offers the added bonus of music comparisons and track listings from your friends. Rather than just saying that someone used Spotify, it says exactly what they listened to and suggests that you might like to do the same. It also had the foresight to add an off switch to this function; you can easily run Private Session mode if you don't want your friends to see what you're listening to.

Simplicity

It's easy for people to get confused when using web-based services. Even very common programs rarely see full use because people just can't figure them out all the way. It avoids this by creating the easiest-to-use interface possible while still allowing excellent service. This software utilizes an iTunes-inspired tab system for navigation, but makes it much simpler for users to access playlists and full albums. The search is also very well-designed and accurately returns every album, artist, and song that can be connected to the search words without created a cluttered list.



Legality

Obviously a big advantage for Spotify and its users is that it is legal. Songs are paid for by ads rather than copied illegally. It can seem that today's internet users have no qualms about breaking the law for their media, but a few key points prove this is not true. The majority of those who pirate online do so because they don't feel they have the money to spend on music. It isn't because they don't want to, it's because they can't. Any platform that offers free music and is compatible with the law has an advantage over pirating.

Variety

There is an enormous collection of music. You can play any song at any time as many times as you like. While both legitimate and illegal music can be found on the likes of YouTube, it tends to be slim pickings because the music supply on YouTube is controlled by what the people who actually upload videos listen to. The ordinary user's taste has no impact. Spotify has such a huge collection that it doesn't matter. You can find just about anything, from the latest pop hit to a Broadway recording from 1968.

Consistency

A common complaint with sites like Pandora is that the ads are too frequent and too loud. They also usually have limits to how many times you can listen to the same song, artist, or album. Spotify defies all these standards. You can listen to any song as many times as you want. Advertisements are few and far between. They're also usually relevant to either the overall experience or to what you're listening to, and if you really dislike the ads you can pay for premium and have them removed.

The Verdict

Spotify succeeds by taking the failures of other music sources and learning from them. By righting the wrongs of its competitors, it became the single best free music platform available.




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