Spotify is a new audio streaming service that is unlike most of those that have gone before it. Once you have downloaded the app ( Windows and http://www.spotify.com/en/download/mac/ versions available ) you have a world of music available to listen to with no downloading required. Unlike other streaming services Spotify streams are high quality 160 kb/s Ogg files and begin playing the instant you click on a track with no signs of buffering or delays in startup.
Spotify has signed a number of deals with record labels and distributers who provide the content for the service which is currently only available in a free advertising supported version in Sweden, Norway, Finland, the UK, France and Spain with other countries coming soon.
The free service provides unlimited music access with only occasional ads dropped in between tracks and displayed in the Spotify application. The inconvenience is certainly very minor considering the amount of content that is available for free.
Spotify has also provided a feature to enable sharing of playlists with friends by creating unique URL’s for each list which can then be shared via email, IM and on web sites. There are already a large number of web sites popping up that provide Spotify users with a way of publishing their playlists to the wider Spotify community. Amongst the better ones of these are SpotifyList, Spotify Playlists and SpotyShare
Additionally Spotify is Last.fm aware and will scrobble your played tracks to your Last.fm profile so fans of this service can keep track of the music they have been playing.
Overall Spotify is a stunning service which is highly rated by all who have tried it ( just try searchin
