Spotify
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Overview
"Millions of tracks, any time you like. Just search for it in Spotify, then play it. Just help yourself to whatever you want, whenever you want it" ("What is Spotify?").
Spotify is a Digital Rights Management (DRM)-based music streaming service launched in 2008 by Spotify AB, a Swedish company. Users of the service have the ability to stream millions of tracks from a wide range of record labels. By downloading a client for a desktop computer or mobile device, users can take advantage of this streaming service, manage and play locally-stored music files, and utilize a wide variety of other features, such as social media integration and content-based music recommendation.
History and Development
Spotify can be seen as the result of two emerging concepts in digital media distribution: streaming music from external servers in the "cloud" and placing more lenient restrictions on the rights to play digital music. Early forms of digital media management systems, such as Apple's iTunes, originally heavily limited how owners of digital content could play their media through DRM systems in ways such as allowing a purchased song to be played on a specified number of computers. Many believed - and researchers later confirmed (Ruth and Hodges) - that such DRM systems caused increased levels of music piracy.
Another disadvantage of buying music stored on a CD or locally on a computer is the limit purchasing a "copy" of the music places on how one can play that music. As cloud computing has gained prominence, many have moved toward the ideas of owning the "right" to play a song instead of owning a copy. Through services such as Amazon's Cloud Player, users can purchase music, store it on the "cloud" on an external server, and access that music from any device that has access to the Cloud Player.
Spotify's development began in 2006, and the ability to play music from the cloud was central to the development process. Instead of purchasing music, however, the Spotify team chose to create a service that allows users to access any music from a record label with which the company has a deal. Spotify launched the first version of its service on October 7 ("We've Only Just Begun!"); as of November, 2011, Spotify's users have access to approximately 15 million songs (Check).
Features
View larger on Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c3U9tB_IXLE&feature=g-upl
Charts: Spotify allows users to view which tracks, albums, and artists are currently the most popular. The client allows users to view popularity by region, everywhere, or for the user.
Radios: Users can set up a radio station to play a set of songs selected based on certain criteria. Using certain tags, such as genre or decade descriptors, Spotify can play back songs that are related to the tags that the user selects. Additionally, users can listen to a radio station for each artist, where Spotify will play music from both the artist and related musicians.
Artist and album information: Spotify allows users to learn about artists and albums by displaying biographical information and album reviews.
Social media integration: Users can link their Spotify accounts to their Facebook and Twitter accounts. Linking to Facebook allows users to display the music they display on their news feeds and share playlists with Facebook friends. Additionally, users can post a tweet on Twitter containing the music they are listening to.
Playlist organization: In addition to sharing through Facebook, users can create, share, and edit playlists with any other Spotify users by sending links through email, instant messaging, or websites set up for the purpose of sharing playlists.
Last.fm integration: Spotify users with a Last.fm account can connect their accounts and allow Last.fm to record the songs they listen to.
Offline mode: Spotify premium users can choose to sync tracks to their computer or phone, so they can be played in instances where an internet connection is not available.
Impact on Business
Spotify reached 2.5 million paid subscribers in November 2011 (Fang). With this number steadily increasing, Spotify has made an impact in a number of industries, and its influence will likely grow in the future.
First, although Spotify has not disclosed its number of free subscribers, one can assume that it is a significant number. Because Spotify uses advertising to generate revenue from free subscriptions, businesses in most any industry could use Spotify to gain publicity. As the number of Spotify users continues to increase, so will Spotify's utility as a means for advertising.
Clearly, Spotify's effects on the music industry are also extremely important. It presents an alternative to other technologies, such as Google Music, iTunes, and Amazon Cloud Player, which rely on users accessing specific songs they have purchased. Spotify allows users to listen to music without being forced to purchase the song first; lesser-known artists who receive little exposure may benefit from the revenue they generate from users playing (and, perhaps, subsequently purchasing elsewhere) their music on Spotify. Although it remains to be determined which services, if any, will achieve major prominence, Spotify's success will help determine how we pay for music and how record labels and artists generate revenue from it.
Finally, Spotify presents opportunities for software developers. Spotify makes its Application Programming Interface (API) publicly available at http://developer.spotify.com/en/libspotify/overview . This allows developers to easily create applications that interface with Spotify. Although Spotify has already created clients for desktop and mobile devices, developers can use the API to integrate Spotify with their applications in any number of creative ways. Developers who find ways to effectively integrate Spotify into applications have the opportunity to generate revenue from well-designed programs or websites.
Subscription Plans
Spotify Free: Free; access to millions of songs, integration with social media, ability to organize local music files, access to artist radio; advertisements periodically between songs, limited to 10 hours of listening per month.
Spotify Unlimited: $4.99 per month; same features as Spotify Free without advertising or time limits.
Spotify Premium: $9.99 per month; all features of Spotify Unlimited plus enhanced sound quality, the ability to play local files and Spotify files on mobile devices, offline mode for desktops and mobile devices, and the ability to use Spotify with certain music systems.
("Get Spotify: Overview")
Supported Platforms
Spotify's desktop client is available for Windows 2000 and later as well as Mac OS 10.4 ("Tiger") and later, with a complete Linux version still in development.
Spotify's mobile application is available for iPhone, Android, Windows Phone, Symbian, and Palm, with a version for Blackberry in development.
Availability
As of November 2011, Spotify is available in available in Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Faroe Islands, Finland, France, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
Related Technologies
Amazon Cloud Player: http://www.amazon.com/b?ie=UTF8&node=2658409011
Amazon Cloud Player allows users to purchase music, upload it to the cloud, stream or download it to desktop computers, and stream it on mobile devices.
Google Music: http://music.google.com
Similar to Amazon Cloud Player, Google Music allows users to purchase music and listen to it on desktop and mobile devices.
Apple iCloud: http://www.apple.com/icloud/
Apple's iCloud allows users of Macintosh computers and iOS devices to sync a variety of files to the cloud. A user's music purchases on Apple's iTunes store are automatically available on all of his or her Apple devices that use iCloud.
Grooveshark: http://www.grooveshark.com
Grooveshark is an online music streaming service that bears many similarities to Spotify. Although it is not as fully featured, it does allow users to search and stream from a catalog of music online and receive recommendations based on the music they play.
Conclusion
Spotify's ability to stream millions of tracks for an affordable price makes it extremely useful. This ability combines with other features such as social media integration, artist radio, and playback on mobile devices to form a service that may very well revolutionize the way we consume music. As the world of computing moves more and more toward cloud-based solutions, the importance of Spotify to consumers and businesses is hard to understate.
References
"What is Spotify?." Spotify. N.p., 2011. Web. 25 Nov 2011. <http://www.spotify.com/us/about/what/>.
Ruth, David, and Amy Hodges. "Removal of Restrictions Can Decrease Music Piracy." . Rice University, n.d. Web. 25 Nov 2011. <http://www.media.rice.edu/media/NewsBot.asp?MODE=VIEW&ID=16282>.
We've Only Just Begun!." Spotify Blog. Spotify, n.d. Web. 25 Nov 2011. <http://www.spotify.com/us/blog/archives/2008/10/07/weve-only-just-begun/>.
Check, Dan. "Spotify vs. Girl Talk: What Is Spotify’s Music Catalog Missing?." Slate. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Nov 2011. <http://www.slate.com/blogs/browbeat/2011/07/22/spotify_vs_girl_talk_what_is_spotify_s_music_catalog_missing_.html>.
"Get Spotify: Overview." Spotify, n.d. Web. 25 Nov 2011. <http://www.spotify.com/us/get-spotify/overview/>.
Fang, Paul. "Spotify closes 2.5 million paying subscribers." . Slash Gear, n.d. Web. 25 Nov 2011. <http://www.slashgear.com/spotify-closes-2-5-million-paying-subscribers-23197780/>.