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Spotify coming to the U.S., sign up for an invite

lokiju said:
The big difference is it has a completely free option (for now) and also integrates your existing music collection.

It has some social aspect to it as well for music discovery.

Here's a write up on it detailing some of the differences.

http://gizmodo.com/5821267/is-spotify-really-your-streaming-music-savior
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hmm...its pretty cool it puts your own music along with its streaming catalog. it's still different from pandora which is what i thought it was trying to compete with.

so when will google buy spotify? 😛
it does look like what google music was supposed to be.
 
DLeRium said:
whats the bitrate on the free service?
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http://www.spotify.com/us/help/faq/tech/codec-quality/

What quality does Spotify stream in?
We use the Ogg Vorbis format for streaming. There are three quality ratings that we use:

q3 (~96 kbps)
q5 (~160 kbps)
q9 (~320 kbps)
Note: not all tracks are currently available in high bitrate.
Desktop: Streams are q5 quality. Premium subscribers can enable higher bit rate streaming at q9 from the preferences menu.

Mobile: A higher quality q5 is offered, along with a “low bandwidth” option of q3. You can choose separate qualities ratings for streaming and synching in the More tab of your Spotify mobile app.
 
DLeRium said:
whats the bitrate on the free service?
Click to expand...

Not sure, but I'd wager that for >90% of people the limiting factor on sound quality will be their speakers or headphones, not the bit rate. Also, no matter what bitrate they choose there will be some self proclaimed audiophiles that will be unhappy no matter what bitrate they choose. I think it sounds good and it's got a huge selection for a free service.
 
boomhower said:
Paying for mobile access = staying with Pandora and Slacker.
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I don't really see Spotify as a competitor to Pandora. There is no reason you can't use Spotify and Pandora. And you can sync your songs over wifi and access them offline.
 
Spotify has 15 million tracks, Slacker just 2.4 million. Pandora is more like an Internet radio station with some functionality to skip songs where as Spotify allows you to play songs and create playlists freely (they recently introduced some restrictions in the free service however). There's no obvious distinction between streamed tracks and your locally stored music.

Slacker and Pandora are only available in North America (Pandora just in the US), which is why Spotify has become so dominant in Europe.
 
Thanks for the heads up on this! I'm checking it out now using the UK proxy trick, and so far it's great!
 
I'm a zune pass member and I don't see myself giving that up for spotify.

That said, they have a Linux client so I'll probably at least use their free service at the office.
 
JimmiG said:
Spotify has 15 million tracks, Slacker just 2.4 million. Pandora is more like an Internet radio station with some functionality to skip songs where as Spotify allows you to play songs and create playlists freely (they recently introduced some restrictions in the free service however). There's no obvious distinction between streamed tracks and your locally stored music.

Slacker and Pandora are only available in North America (Pandora just in the US), which is why Spotify has become so dominant in Europe.
Click to expand...
I had no idea Slacker had that small of a library compared to Spotify. I think Pandora has 6 million?
Anyway, I'm starting to think Slacker is smarter at selecting music. I'm using Pandora less and less since I installed Slacker on my phone.
 
Ns1 said:
i'm in...but I'm not sure why I want this?
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Same here. I like last.fm and pandora since they give me recommendations based on what I listen. Spotify is cool and all and has a ton of songs, but I have the problem that I don't have a clue what I want to listen to. :\

If there is a recommendation system in spotify, I've seemed to miss it.
 
Last week when people started getting invites I hogged Twitter on 'spotify code' search phrase and managed to snipe one from someone sending his friend the activation code 😀 (why he did it in public instead of a direct message I have no idea). I had the register page open on another tab so that code was used merely a few seconds after it was sent. Feeling like a villain never felt so good.

Having tested it for a couple of days, I found that I'd never pay for this type of service. I have a sizable local collection already and I don't really listen to music that much anymore to justify the monthly fee. However it's nice to have when you're on your computer and suddenly in the mood for listening to something/some type of music that you don't have handy.

Anyway, last night I received an invitation code from the email address that I submitted weeks ago that I obviously don't need anymore. It looks like a generic link so it should work for anyone. I don't think they open up the registration for everyone yet so if there's anyone interested just send me a PM (established AT forum member, etc, etc).

update: code is quickly claimed 😀
 
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