Spotify launched amid a flurry of PR , including a spot of the BBC’s main news. Heralded as the new “new model” that will save music for the price of an audio advert you can listen to tracks, create playlists. It currently only allows streaming and no downloads. It is a curious hybrid between an Itunes and Last.fm.
Whereas Last. Fm has led me into whole new realms of music and artists. In one of those slightly bizarre “How did I end up here” moments I have become quite obsessed with minimalism , Terry Riley , Morton Feldman, John Cage etc. Spotify requires a touch more work. You need to search for artists and genres from which you can create your own playlists. It does have a radio, with an ability to limit by genre and year which is quite a nice touch, however the music was pretty banal.
What I am not sure is how I would use Spotify? Apart from the home page with new tracks and artists you may like you need to decide what you want to listen to. What it does give you in return is more control than Last.fm, letting you select artists etc. You can also use Shuffle.
On the music front Spotify is quite mainstream with last.fm you get much more obscure tracks but with that comes a few duffers. The adverts were not too obtrusive and the interface is a good clone of iTunes easy to use
What it comes down to is do you want a more lean in controlled or lean back take the ride experience ? For the moment I quite like Spotify but not as much as last.fm
