User Opinions of Spotify - free version...

[charles t]

I 'do' realize prob should have posted on the How To thread - but more action here...

1) Supposedly, ads (adverts) may play in background during streaming, using free version.
I haven't heard such yet, but if so, would apprec being cautioned.

2) Sound quality seems adequate...opinions?

3) When creating a playlist of entire CD, will the tunes stream consecutively in a foolproof manner?

4) Blessings...

[Stunsworth]

I'm a premium member, but what I remember about the ads when I wasn't is that they play in between track, not during them.

Sound quality - again from memory is 160 kps for the free version - double that for the paid for version

A CD's tracks stream one after the other, but there is a very short pause between them. This has been a complaint by many people for a long time. In practice I don't find it too distracting - though I would prefer gapless playback.

I subscribe to the tenner a month service, and I'm very happy with that. The totally free service limits how much you can listen in a month, and how many times you can play the same track. That isn't the case for the paid service.

[johnb]

I agree with Stunsworth, from what I can remember of the free version.

However, with the subscription versions only 20-30% of the albums are actually available at the higher bit rate of 320 kbps. For whatever reason, they seem to have quietly dropped their initial intention of making everything available at 320 kbps. There is absolutely no indication of the bit rate of an album or a track so I would guess that many people think they are listening to 320 kbps when the actual bit rate is 160 kbps (as our perceptions are often influenced by what we expect to hear). IMO this is verging on the fraudulent.

Having said that, there is an enormous range of classical music on Spotify and it is a tremendous resource.

The search facility is problematic, to say the least! If I search on "Mahler" there are approximately 180 tracks that come up. These seem to be a selection of tracks from various albums. When I search on "Mahler" in the Album field on the Squeezebox Spotify plugin (which presumably searches the same Spotify database) there are 607 albums to select from! So, just because the recording you want doesn't appear when doing an initial search doesn't mean it isn't on Spotify - careful use of search terms might reveal it.

[Stunsworth]

John, I'd agree with everything you say. The search function could certainly be improved.

Incidentally there's a Firefox add on that allows you to select some text - say an artist or album name - on a web page, and by right clicking do a search for the selected text in Spotify...

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/spotify-search/

[ian russell]

I 'do' realize prob should have posted on the How To thread - but more action here...

1) Supposedly, ads (adverts) may play in background during streaming, using free version.
I haven't heard such yet, but if so, would apprec being cautioned.

2) Sound quality seems adequate...opinions?

3) When creating a playlist of entire CD, will the tunes stream consecutively in a foolproof manner?

4) Blessings...

Funny, I've just been trying Spotify out this week.

Yes, adverts play between tracks, I reckon every 15 minutes or so but don't quote me on that. Sound quality, good enough for free but I wouldn't pay for it.

I won't be using it to create playlists as I can't stand ads, so no idea if it's foolproof.

[Dave2002]

I agree with Stunsworth, from what I can remember of the free version.

Having said that, there is an enormous range of classical music on Spotify and it is a tremendous resource.

The search facility is problematic, to say the least! If I search on "Mahler" there are approximately 180 tracks that come up. These seem to be a selection of tracks from various albums. When I search on "Mahler" in the Album field on the Squeezebox Spotify plugin (which presumably searches the same Spotify database) there are 607 albums to select from! So, just because the recording you want doesn't appear when doing an initial search doesn't mean it isn't on Spotify - careful use of search terms might reveal it.

John et al.

I haven't found the search in Spotify to be nearly as awkward as Napster and some others. You should be able to use several words, such as "mahler Barbirolli intermezzo" which might home you in on something. As with most of these search systems there are likely to be problems, maybe minor. Thus "Mahler Barbirolli 8" might find a recording of Mahler's 6th or 9th, or even a recording of some other composer's 8th or Opus 8 - I haven't checked what it actually does. I agree that some tracks may be there, but hidden, or need to be focused in on by careful tweaking. There are also differences between using Spotify on a computer and on a tablet such as an iPad. I'd guess that the Squeezebox search would be different too - though I've only tried that using the remote with Napster. The best interface for Spotify I find is the regular one for PCs and other computers. The iPad app is OK, but not so good.

Some of my comments also apply to Napster, though generally the quality on Spotify is better, and despite the reservations re search, that is also better. I use the premium service, though I passed on invites to others who seem to find the free versions adequate for their use.

Re gapless playback, it isn't normally a big problem, but it was for me with a set of variations by Boris Blacher, which resulted in my ordering the CD. It will depend on the track layout, and how the streaming service has dealt with them. Some CDs which the CD company has thoughtfully provided on multiple tracks may be almost unplayable. In the case of the Blacher variations, not only were there gaps, but small fragments of each track were missing at the start or end.

If you only want to playback through a pair of computer speakers the free versions may be good enough. I sometimes feed mine through a USB interface to a DAC and a higher quality system. It is worth having the premium service for that I think.

I find the playlist feature useful, and have even lived dangerously and run live when demonstrating to small private groups. I also share playlists with others, and sometimes listen to their playlists too.

[johnb]

If you only want to playback through a pair of computer speakers the free versions may be good enough. I sometimes feed mine through a USB interface to a DAC and a higher quality system. It is worth having the premium service for that I think.

As long as you realise that only 20-30% of albums are actually available at the higher bit rate and you will have no way of telling which they are.

PS Did Barbirolli ever record Mahler 8?

[charles t]

Funny, I've just been trying Spotify out this week.

Yes, adverts play between tracks, I reckon every 15 minutes or so but don't quote me on that. Sound quality, good enough for free but I wouldn't pay for it.

I won't be using it to create playlists as I can't stand ads, so no idea if it's foolproof.

Every poster's input has saved me some unnecessary frustrations. Just have to invest time - manually - with Spotify.

Another (pay) alternative, especially for classical, is: Millisong.com which streams @ 320 (all).

If interested, would advise PayPal only...other ordering plan involves mobile phone verification, etc. Totally goofy.

[Dave2002]

PS Did Barbirolli ever record Mahler 8?

Not AFAIK. Actually neither Napster nor Spotify gives a response for the 8 query. Change it to 6 In Spotify and a Philharmonia version appears, and change to 9 and a RAI version appears - which wasn't the version I was expecting.

Barbirolli seems to have recorded Beethoven, Dvorak, Bruckner and VW 8ths, and some of his recordings have an 8 in the catalogue code!

[johnb]

Dave,

The EMI Barbirolli/Berlin Phil recording of Mahler 9 is also on Spotify (together with the BBC Legends 7th, the EMI 5th and a Radio-Sinfonie-Orchester Stuttgart 2nd).

[gradus]

I changed from Free to Premium because Spotify were making some significant sounding changes to their free service that would have interfered with my listening and I wanted higher quality sound, so I am surprised to read that higher quality isn't necessarily what I'm getting. Time for an email to them i think.

[johnb]

gradus,

The only way that I know to tell the bitrate is by using a bandwidth monitor utility on your PC. That is what I use.

[hackneyvi]

Every poster's input has saved me some unnecessary frustrations.

There may be lots of other sources I know nothing about but ...

What I've liked Spotify for is the breadth of free music it lets me sample at reliable quality that isn't there on YouTube. The sudden crashing of some bore advertising British Gas has become a small price.

I thought I'd found a trick of turning the volume right down at the end of the track to avoid the ad. But, if you turn the sound too low, the advert stops playing till you turn it up again.

They aren't fools who made this thing. I don't know what could be said to be wrong with so large a catalogue of free music.

[Frances_iom]

... I don't know what could be said to be wrong with so large a catalogue of free music.

you may be interested in http://blogs.hbr.org/cs/2011/07/why_...r_spotify.html

[Stunsworth]

you may be interested in http://blogs.hbr.org/cs/2011/07/why_...r_spotify.html

Ifs, buts, and maybes.