[slackline]

Free music legally 

[butters]

Free to listen to as long as you are connected to the internet and logged in as far as I can tell from a brief perusal of the ever so slightly but not actually very much more informative about spotify webpage. It would seem that instead of downloading the tunes all you get is a streamed version instead with lots of adverts (unless you wish to pay money of course).

Must say that this bit amused me:

"Because music is social, Spotify allows you to share songs and playlists with friends, and even work together on collaborative playlists, Friday afternoon in the office might never be the same again!"

We already do something similar to this anyway - we just use YouTube instead! Sometimes it pays to work in networks...

bluebrad

[slackline]

I prefer the Last.fm model/approach, but it too suffers from needing a net connection.

[cofe]

been using spotify for a while. the free version has mildly irritating ads every now and then but the whole thing is less annoying than last.fm.

i think this is the future of the (more mainstream) music industry, particularly with some fairly big media playas due to release their own versions in the next year or so. free to listen, pay to download. seems fine with me.

[slackline]

....free to listen, pay free to download. seems fine with me.

Streamripper    No idea if it plays ball with Spotify.  The only real trouble I ever had was getting it to rip Real Audio streams (excuse the crap pun) but then its only the BBC who bother with that and most of the radio shows that are worth listening to and keeping get posted on The Mixing Bowl anyway.

[Bubba]

Spotify is sorely lacking for most stuff I want. I guess that'll change - I heard they are adding around 10k tracks per day or something.

[Vitamin K]

I've just started using this and must say I don't mind the ads - you just tune them out after a while. In terms of coverage it seems to be growing and I've not had any probs tracking stuff down, but it all depends what you're after.

Other half wanted some Will Young on the other day - no problems, quick search, album playing and no cost (thank God)

[slackline]

Hope no one putting anything too personal/incriminating in their registration details.

[Falling Down]

I'm very impressed with Spotify to be honest, the quality is very high and  yes it might not have everything on it but I was able to listen to a Steve Hillage album that I've not heard for years this morning over breakfast.  I'm running Airfoil on the mac so I can direct spotify to the speakers I've got connected to airports around the house.

[Bubba]

It's not good that it can only find two Jeff Mills tracks. I'm sure it's got lots of potential though and i'll fire it up when I want to listen to less obscure stuff without downloading.

The other thing I don't like is that when you close it it only minimizes - not a huge deal but I find that intrusive default behaviour.

edit - i've just had a lot of fun going through some live John Martyn and Specials stuff 

[cofe]

The other thing I don't like is that when you close it it only minimizes - not a huge deal but I find that intrusive default behaviour.

get a mac word   

agree it's still missing a lot of stuff but i listen to 90% of music on a computer and so being able to search, browse find something and listen to it gratis is pretty much ace. i seem to be getting very few ads at the minute too.

[Johnny Brown]

You know changing your desktop to all white doesn't actually make it a mac word?

[Bubba]

get a mac word   

If i've ever got a large pile of tenners that need burning I might do

This mornings trip through lots of music I don't need to have on my hard-drive but still enjoy listening to has changed my mind about Spotify. It's really very good - when it reaches maturity it will be awesome.

[cofe]

when it reaches maturity it will be awesome.

that's the nub of it i reckon. the potential.

[Bubba]

The radio player is a nice touch.

Also, check out http://www.sharemyplaylists.com where you can find and post Spotify playlists.

[slackline]

Stumbled across the following site for downloading music where 50% of the profit goes to charities of your preference...

www.fairsharemusic.com

Beats lining Jobs' pockets via iTunes 

[Vitamin K]

Anybody tried: www.grooveshark.com? No ads and generally you can find what you are looking fo.

[GCW]

Yes, been using it at work and it seems pretty OK.  I'm also surprised by the number of esoteric tracks it has on it.  There's nothing I've looked for so far that it hasn't got!

[Vitamin K]

Just noticed some accidental street patois creeping into my post there..that's fo sure!

[slackline]

This is really clever...

Band releases silent album on Spotify and uses royalties to fund completely free tour 

Shame Spotify were tight arses, removed the album and said it was a violation of their terms, be interesting to see if they do pay or not though.