... or die.
Do you remember Napster? This online music app had a mascot that appeared to be a cyborg cat listening to music. This image didn't even make sense and still the company went on to briefly after take over the world. Then, after briefly taking over the world it was
completely dismantled due to countless lawsuits related to copyright
infringement. Since then, it has collaborated with Rhapsody and with
this coordination tried to regain its glory. But the main issues that arose are
that you need to pay $10/month for something that had been offered for free and the fact that Napster is still tainted from the
late 90’s/early 2000’s legal battles. It's also not even the best online
music platform and associating itself with Rhapsody, which is somehow currently
the #1 digital subscription service, is a disservice.
Personally, I think the whole thing's shit and thus this joint collaboration is a
loss all
around.
What Napster did do, though, is show that the Internet
has the ability to provide a music forum accessible by all. After this innovation the
turf wars began. Currently, there are several options to stream and/or
download the music you want to hear. Following Napster came Limewire ("file sharing" i.e. free downloading, now defunct) , Pandora (first non-station-affiliated online radio), Grooveshark (customizable online playlist radio file-sharing-like), AOL music, iTunes, and now the golden boy of the music platform Spotify. There are a few other options but they're not really worth mentioning.
Limewire, like Napster,
was a target of countless lawsuits and eventually disbanded like a group
of gypsies after a run-in with Johnny Law. It also came with countless
viruses and thus the message that appears when you go to their website. Then came the likes of Pandora and Grooveshark. The first is starting to wilt and the latter will most likely meet the same demise as Limewire and Napster as it's about to get beaten down with lawsuits as vast as Mike Tyson. There is also iTunes,
which maintains a slightly different pay-to-download-and-play platform but as such also provides the most
comprehensive library of music you can search easily to develop/create your own playlists, and they're paying a minor percentage per song which will keep them out of legal trouble. What makes iTunes timeless is that Apple was able to make iTunes
a necessity since it's the main way to download music for their
revolutionary products. It also has contracts, aided by said payments, in places that'll keep it
from facing the same death penalties as Napster and Limewire. That said, I can foresee all of the other online music options becoming obsolete by the strong arm of Spotify.
Music is instantly circulated to every individual with 24/7 access to internet. Whether through a smart phone, computer, or tablet, Spotify is thrusting itself to the top of the online
music industry with a user-friendly interface, several devices for
listening, and a library as deep John Travolta’s closet.
Another great
aspect, especially in this economic environment, is that it's free
unless you download the app to your phone which is a measly $10/month.
To put this into perspective, it costs the same amount for an unlimited
library to music as a meager 8 songs (or a single mid-level album) on iTunes. Essentially, if iTunes and Pandora had sex, Spotify
would be their beautiful progeny.
Spotify, like Pandora,
is all about streaming music, the superior radio mode that we all listen to all day to drown out the monotony of the workplace, and the ability to
recommend your style of music. Also like Pandora, you don't need to
download the songs. Then it meshes these abilities with iTunes vastly superior playlist and song/band specific search mode. You can create playlists and make your own library from a countless amount of music options.
Plus,
they've also taken advantage of the unlimited access element created by the Internet so that your song selection and playlists don't vary depending on what device you're using. Spotify
has taken another one of Apple’s (of course) progressive computer
programs, the Cloud, so that your music collection is accessible
on your work and home computers, your tablet, and can even sync up with
your phone as long as it is smart. They have taken advantage of apps in order to penetrate every avenue and it seems to be working.
Since its inception in October of ’08 as the brainchild of the Swedish startup Spotify AB, it has had to deal with the countless issues created by the Internet
such as security breaches, glitches, the potential of copyright
lawsuits, as well as the competitive act of separating itself from the countless porn sites, sports sites,
video sites, social networking sites, and other music options that
flood the Interweb, as well
as navigating the e-funding world. Also, since it has developed a following, it has to figure
out how to progress the app, maintain its users, and flourish
financially. They have dabbled with pay-to-download-track, tried to
restrict the amount of times users can listen to a song (which was
lifted in March), and, after a 6 month trial period, they're only going to allow the free users to listen to 10 hours a month. I
personally think this is a terrible idea and foresee this, like
restricting users to only being able to listen to any given song 5 times, to
be lifted after they start losing users. You currently have the option
to pay a monthly fee now to get the “Unlimited” or “Premium” versions,
but in a world where internet
companies make a majority of their profits off advertisements, who the fuck wants to
pay anything to use their products? Either way, I recommend Spotify for everybody as even the most novice music listeners will learn more about music, including discovering new artists they really like, than ever before. And it’s a great time-sucking tool to take you out of the cubicle.
- Kyle
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