Pros
-Vibrant social features
-Excellent features
-320kbps streaming
-Exclusive content
Cons
-Clunky web player
-Poor search
-Messy organisation
In Europe at least, Spotify's success has been unparalleled.
The service has become a by word for music streaming, and its star has risen
fast, taking the subscription music model into the mainstream.
For a few years the lack of competition meant that Spotify's
life was relatively easy, and its biggest worries were turning its free users
into paid-up Spotify Premium subscribers.
However, things now aren't so simple. The likes of Google
Play Music All Access, Napster, Deezer, Xbox Music, Nokia Music and now even
Beats Audio muscling in on Spotify's action means life has never been tougher.
But does Spotify still have the advantage over its rivals?
Or is the incumbent lagging behind the new pretenders on the streaming scene?
Let's take a look.
Create, share and subscribe to playlists
The catalogue
Spotify's 20 million-track catalogue was once the envy of
the streaming word, and it still edges the competition.
But line up the main players of Napster and Google Play
Music All Access and compare song for song, and you won't find much difference.
The selection offered by streaming services is frankly awesome, but Spotify's
super strong brand does give it the edge.
In the latest update to the service, it was revealed that
Spotify had secured exclusive rights to the catalogue of long-time digital
dodgers Led Zepplin. The company also won rights to Metallica and Pink Floyd
ahead of its rivals, and shows that being the big player has huge benefits.
Being the big brand also works against them, too. In 2013
Thom Yorke famously pulled his solo work from the service citing poor returns
for small bands and artists – but Erazer and Atoms for Peace are still
available via Google Play.
It's a tough call but Spotify's catalogue, coupled with its
power to win high profile exclusives certainly gives it an advantage over its
rivals. But with the line-ups of its rivals looking strong, there's more to a
service that just the selection.
The desktop app works well but needs better search features
Desktop app
The premise of
Spotify is simple. Search for the music you
like, and click to play it. If you're a free user you get to add songs to
playlists and listen to them of shuffle with advertising every couple of songs.
A premium subscription costs £9.99 a month, and gets rid of
ads and the playback restrictions. It's a mighty free service, which none of
Spotify's rivals can match, and it's worth anyone trying out.
Spotify's traditional interface has been the desktop app,
which is used by the majority of its customers. It's not terribly well designed
and could sorely do with an update, but the layout is functional, enabling you
to see a lot of tracks at one time, which was one of our criticisms of Google
Play.
If you like an album you save it as a playlist for
posterity. Everything is done through playlists, whereas most services use a
personal library for saved albums and playlists for things you build yourself.
It does keep it simple, but after three years and 200
playlists, it can be hard to find what you want. Spotify does nothing to keep
regular playlists on top, so it's up to you to find what you need. It's not the
best system, but it works.
The search is also terrible, and one thing that doesn't seem
to have improved since day one. Get a song name or band name wrong or
incomplete and you'll be thrown absolutely nothing in return. Search for J
Dilla's "rough draft" instead of "Ruff Draft" and you may
as well have searched for "infinite monkey cats".
The browser-based web player is limited in functionality
Web player
Spotify's web player is the most recent addition to its
aural army of offerings and it provides a way for people to get access to their
music when they can't install the desktop client. It's a big plus for workers
who use corporate machines, and overall, it's excellent to use.
The layout is clear and simple, and will be familiar to any
Spotify user. All options are clearly labelled on the left hand side, so it's
easy to access playlists, inbox tracks and more.
Spotify is a much more feature-rich and mature service than
Google Play, and the web app reflects this.
There's no HTML5 streaming feature like there is with Google
Play though which means music can stutter a bit depending on what you're doing
on your machine or in the same browser particularly.
The web player also doesn't work smartly with the desktop
app. If you're listening to music using the desktop player and click a link,
the web player opens - and there doesn't seem to be any obvious way to stop
that from happening. Perhaps we should just ditch the desktop player
altogether? A scary thought, but with such a comprehensive set of features, we
could easily do that.
It's also almost impossible to manage playlists in the web
player. It's very much a music playing option and should not be depended on to
optimise your Spotify experience.
The mobile apps are brilliant, especially the Android version
Mobile app
Spotify's mobile app used to be the preserve of Spotify
Premium users only, but the service has now opened up music on the move to
everyone. However, those who pay out do still get the best mobile deal, as you
can 'offline sync' playlists so you can listen to them without the need to
stream.
Free users can only listen to playlists in shuffle mode.
The apps are all stable and easy to use and are offered on
iOS, Android and Windows Phone. There's also a dedicated iPad app, but Android
tablet users just have a ported version of the phone app, which works well, but
doesn't look quite as good as the iPad version.
Bizarrely, each app is different and works a different way –
some employing swipes and taps, others long presses and context menus. Overall,
we feel Android phone users get the best deal. That particular offering has
some neat additions such as placing synced albums at the top of the screen, and
is designed a little cleaner that its iOS counterpart.
All options are accessed by swiping from the side, and you
can again access every Spotify feature from your phone. Your inbox, playlists,
friends and recommendations are all present, and the seamless integration of
features means you could use the mobile app as your only entry to Spotify, and
still get the maximum from it.
Share tracks, albums and playlists on Facebook
Social
While Spotify's catalogue and app collection place it as one
of the best music streaming services, it's the integration of social that
crowns it king.
Social features run through the service like musical blood,
but instead of being a cheap gimmick it makes the service special.
Users are linked by Facebook accounts, which means you'll
quickly have a ready made community comprised of your existing friends without
having to create a whole new online persona. You can then send tracks and
albums to any of your friends, and things that you receive are added to your
inbox.
It's vibrant, simple and works. Music's about sharing, and
unlike the bland sandboxes of Napster and Google Play Music All Access, Spotify
mixes the right amount of social features without going overboard.
You can send links to tracks and playlists and subscribe to
any other user's, too, and sites like ShareMyPlaylist.com have created
sub-communities full of new music to discover.
When diligent user spend hours creating playlists of game
and film soundtracks like the fantastic GTA V list earlier this year, they
spread via Twitter and Facebook like wildfire. They become worldwide events
supported by Spotify.
Of course, some aspects of Spotify's social features aren't
quite so good. You can follow artists which helps the recommendation system,
but it's half-baked and has no real benefit.
Follow your Facebook friends' musical activity from within Spotify
Verdict
Spotify is still the undisputed king of streaming, and its
reign doesn't look like ending soon.
There are still things to work on for a perfect score. A
better desktop app and brushing up the organisation and search features should
be top of the agenda, as well as new features such as party modes and better
discoverability of new music.
However, its fantastic catalogue, ability to use its brand
to win major exclusives and superb (and unrivaled) social features make it the
obvious choice for anyone looking to take the plunge with streaming. Add to
that the fantastic free features and it's a no-brainer to give Spotify a try.
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