One minute review
Our favorite music streaming service is Spotify. First launched in 2008, it has a library of more than 70 million songs and 2,2 million podcasts. Therefore, it is not surprising that it also has 354 million users worldwide. In an age where more and more people are choosing to stream media (music, movies, TV shows) rather than buy it, Spotify has covered the music streaming space.
Spotify Subscription Options Spotify:- 1 month plan: € 4,99 per month (total cost € 4,99)
However, Spotify is more than just a catalog of tracks and podcasts. It has an intuitive interface, a fantastic recommendation engine that feeds your personalized playlists, new features added all the time, social tools that make sharing easy, and you can use it almost anywhere and on almost any device. That's not to say the service doesn't have some fierce competition. Tidal is a solid alternative for those looking for audiophile-grade sound. Apple Music makes sense for Apple lovers. There's also Deezer, YouTube Music, and Amazon Music Unlimited, as well as platforms that give artists more control, like Bandcamp and SoundCloud. With that being said, Spotify is still the king of music streaming. While Spotify's core functionality—great catalogue, intuitive experience, affordable pricing plan—makes it a fantastic service, the platform stands out for its constant innovation through new features, new layouts, custom playlists, and even new offers like Spotify Lite and Spotify The HiFi. These improvements are rolled out regularly and ensure that it really does provide the best experience for everyone. With Spotify's excellent catalog, move on to podcasts, top exclusives, constant improvements to every aspect of the platform, and custom playlists that continue to excite users (and prove that Spotify's algorithm knows what it's doing). You know better than them), we think this is one of the best options for a music streaming service today.
Spotify's desktop interface is easy to use, with a sidebar to help you navigate, minimal and colorful tiles, and simple tags perfect for listening and listening. (Image credit: Spotify)
What is Spotify?
Spotify is a music streaming platform. This means you can use it to browse tracks, albums, and podcasts and, over a Wi-Fi or data connection, play them. You can also create playlists of tracks, save your favorite songs to a library, and even download them to your device so you can listen when you're offline. Offering plenty of search features, it's also a great way to discover new music. However, its appeal to many lies in its recommendations. This makes it ideal for anyone who wants to continue working, partying or relaxing, without having to think about what song to play next. Spotify decides for you, and often their options are perfect.
An example of what you get at the end of the year when you open your Spotify Wrapped. (Image credit: Spotify) Spotify is also known for its smart ideas, adding new services, implementing redesigns, and creating great viral sharing campaigns, like Spotify Wrapped. The company has also been working on Spotify Lite, a simpler version of the Spotify app that uses less storage, data, and battery to optimize performance, making it ideal for older devices and operating systems. What we are saying is that Spotify is much more than a music library. It has a lot to offer and new features are constantly being added.
Spotify: price and subscription
You can pay for Spotify subscription or use Spotify for free. You'll always get a better experience with a paid service, but Spotify's free tier is decent. Although this is called "free", the reality is that it is not; it is supported by advertising. Companies pay Spotify to give you the luxury of free listening so you can hear their ads. But Spotify still wants you to be a paid subscriber, so the free experience isn't top-notch. A free subscription allows you to play any track, album, or playlist at any time and in any order, which is nice. But every few songs you'll hear an announcement that you can't ignore. Using the Spotify app on a mobile device with a free account, you can choose 15 playlists containing 750 tracks in total. You cannot freely skip the tracks in these playlists and there will also be some ads to fight here.
Spotify Kids is similar to Spotify, but it's simpler, more fun and more colourful. (Image credit: Spotify) If you're just a casual listener, the free version might work for you. But for most people, Spotify is worth subscribing to. It costs £9.99 / £9.99 / AU$11.99 per month and gives you unlimited access to Spotify on your laptop, phone and tablet. More recently, Spotify added Premium Duo. It is designed for couples or two friends. That's €12.99 / €12.99 / AU €15.99 per month for two accounts. You get all the benefits of Spotify premium, as well as Duo Mix, a regularly updated playlist for two with music you'll both enjoy. One of the best things about a premium account is that you can also download tracks to three devices at once for offline playback, turning Spotify from an online streaming platform to a music service. If there are a few of you in your household, you can save a lot of money with a Spotify Premium family account. It costs $14.99 / £14.99 / AU$18.99 per month, but allows up to six people to log into Spotify at the same time. If you try to share a standard account, you'll be kicked out as soon as someone else tries to play a song. With a Spotify Premium Family subscription, you can also access Spotify Kids. This is a private app designed for children ages three and up that includes tracks from children's movies, songs, and soundtracks.
Spotify: Music Catalog
Spotify regularly posts updates on how many millions of tracks it has in its library. At the time of writing, that number is 70 million. Over the years, a number of artists have removed their music from Spotify, including The Beatles, Taylor Swift, Jay-Z, and Thom Yorke. Although, last we checked, most of the artists who had their music removed early on can now be found on Spotify. The reasons for its withdrawal from music varied, but Spotify has been criticized in the past for not compensating artists as fully as possible. An argument in favor of Spotify is that it keeps people away from piracy and allows them to discover new music and artists. However, some people still choose to avoid Spotify and buy music outright or use services like Tidal and Bandcamp, which give artists more autonomy and royalties.
This is how Spotify looks on all your devices. (Image credit: Spotify)
The best way to use Spotify is through an app on your desktop, phone, or tablet; works on a variety of devices. IOS devices must be running iOS 12 or higher. For Android, Android OS 4.1 or higher. Are you using a Mac? OS X 10.11 or higher. And Windows desktops and laptops must be running Windows 7 or higher. Spotify also works with some home stereos, TVs, car stereos, and game consoles. There's also support for Spotify on wearable devices, including the Apple Watch. You can check Spotify Everywhere to see which devices are supported.
Spotify: web player
The web player isn't the best way to use Spotify; It doesn't feel as slick as the app, and some features, like creating playlists, are possible but seem clunky. However, the web player allows you to use the Spotify service on a laptop or desktop without installing anything. This can be useful if you're on a work PC and can't install apps. For a long time, the web player didn't work with some browsers, but now you can use it in Chrome, Firefox, Edge, Opera, and Safari. It doesn't give you everything you see in the app, but most of the key things you need to hear when you can't get to the app—your library and research, for example—are there.
The Spotify mobile application has a simple and easy-to-use interface; its dark background also makes the artwork stand out. (Image credit: Spotify)
Spotify: mobile app
Spotify apps on all major platforms (iOS, Android, and Windows Phone) are stable, easy to use, and frequently updated to make the experience as intuitive as possible. Thanks to a new update, the app's home screen displays items you've recently read at the top, including albums, playlists, and podcasts, so you can get back to them. A new clock icon in the top right corner also provides a list of everything you've played recently; it's like looking back at your browser history. Below are several playlists, recommendations, and album suggestions personalized for you and your listener. Ours has playlists set up for us, including Discover Weekly and a selection of Daily Mix playlists, as well as a dedicated section for new podcast episodes and new releases (this is a recent update too) including new tracks and albums based on songs you might like. In the search tab, you can manually search for items in the top bar, or you can search by genres and moods using the thumbnails below: think pop, workout, focus, and country. In your library, you'll find all your playlists, saved artists, albums, and podcasts. You can see which ones are downloaded for offline listening; they will have a small green arrow next to them.
Here's what you see when you browse podcasts on Spotify - if you scroll down, you can search for details like education, stories, comedy, or business and technology. (Image credit: LaComparacion / Spotify)
Spotify: Podcasts
In an effort to become the only audio app you'll ever need, Spotify added podcasts to its platform in 2015, and now there's a massive selection. With Spotify, you "follow" podcasts instead of "subscribe" to them, with new episodes appearing on your home screen. If you already have a podcast app that you know and...