Is Spotify worth 10 dollars a month?

[Fantasysports1 43]

In the past it seems when I have it I don't use it after a while. Maybe because I don't know too many songs and a lot of the hot billboard songs I don't like. Yet having the ability to play any song especially if you have a good selection can helps you with menial tasks like cardio or operational work.

It can also help with your mood and relaxation.

 

The free version is almost unusable because of the ads. You can only shuffle songs and then have to wait like 1 hour to repeat.

Edited November 23, 2017 by Fantasysports1

[kutta 5,525]

Yes. Best 10 bucks I spend every month. You can also download all the music you want for that price. It’s a bargain.

[⚡DEADHEAD⚡ 765]

11 minutes ago, kutta said:

Yes. Best 10 bucks I spend every month. You can also download all the music you want for that price. It’s a bargain.

Yep. And now we have so many playlists built on Spotify, we're not going anywhere. 

[flapgreen 5,994]

It's great 

[KarmaPolice 17,106]

3 hours ago, kutta said:

Yes. Best 10 bucks I spend every month. You can also download all the music you want for that price. It’s a bargain.

Yep, might be the best $10 I spend a month. 

[otb_lifer 7,940]

inadvertently let it drop a few months ago (the CC i used for payment was replaced)  

spoiled #### that i am, was going absolutely ape#### with the ads, it's like once you have premium, ya can't go back - and i won't ever.

a most crucial sawbuck, so very worth it.

 

[wilked 2,139]

When used in tandem with Amazon Echo and kids, invaluable 

[JoeSteeler 3,495]

have a $30 spotify gift card I will sell for $20 if anyone is interested

[James Daulton 9,256]

To think that in the "old" days we'd spend $12 on a record or cd and now $10/mo gets you access to millions of songs.  It's crazy how we can access music these days.

[flapgreen 5,994]

1 hour ago, James Daulton said:

To think that in the "old" days we'd spend $12 on a record or cd and now $10/mo gets you access to millions of songs.  It's crazy how we can access music these days.

Very 

[wilked 2,139]

1 hour ago, James Daulton said:

To think that in the "old" days we'd spend $12 on a record or cd and now $10/mo gets you access to millions of songs.  It's crazy how we can access music these days.

I think there’s another way to look at it tho

 

we used to buy 4-5 albums a year, spend $50-60. Now we spend $120 a year. This is why the business model works 

[bigmarc27 4,160]

7 hours ago, bananafish said:

A few years ago I used Spotify during almost all my waking, non-working hours, but now podcasts have taken its place. It's a great service but I don't know if it is still worth $10 when I only use it a few hours a month. 

I think I just answered my own question.

Yeah this is me... I have Spotify on the iPad so I can pick and choose songs, but I listened to podcasts all day. 

[KarmaPolice 17,106]

39 minutes ago, wilked said:

I think there’s another way to look at it tho

 

we used to buy 4-5 albums a year, spend $50-60. Now we spend $120 a year. This is why the business model works 

If you are talking about the "old" old days, no way was it only that for me.  Sure, I'd get a bunch used, but I was spending quite a bit more than that/month on music.  If you are talking about my adult self with kids a few years ago when I signed up for Spotify, then you are correct, I was probably buying a couple CDs a year tops.  

From what I understand the business model works because artists don't get jack for this compared to a huge record deal back in the day and the music companies went in on the cheap to get in on these streaming services, so there's that too.  

 

[got_nugs 2,759]

45 minutes ago, wilked said:

I think there’s another way to look at it tho

 

we used to buy 4-5 albums a year, spend $50-60. Now we spend $120 a year. This is why the business model works 

I used to buy at least 2/3 albums a week.  Having a virtual jukebox on my phone?  Worth 10x what I pay imo.

[NutterButter 6,161]

If my wife didn't already have a spotify account that she's paying for, I'd get amazon music.  We have prime so its 2 bucks cheaper and the biggest thing is that you can upload music to their cloud and listen on every device which I find better than having a copy of that music on every device.  

And yes its worth it.   To think about what I waste $100 on throughout the year and instead having all the music I want accessible to me whenever and wherever seems like a great value.

Edited November 23, 2017 by NutterButter

[-OZ- 8,118]

10 hours ago, Fantasysports1 said:

In the past it seems when I have it I don't use it after a while. Maybe because I don't know too many songs and a lot of the hot billboard songs I don't like. Yet having the ability to play any song especially if you have a good selection can helps you with menial tasks like cardio or operational work.

It can also help with your mood and relaxation.

 

The free version is almost unusable because of the ads. You can only shuffle songs and then have to wait like 1 hour to repeat.

That might be the thing for me. I only listen an hour at a time at most right now. If I played it all day I'd more strongly consider buying the subscription.

2 hours ago, James Daulton said:

To think that in the "old" days we'd spend $12 on a record or cd and now $10/mo gets you access to millions of songs.  It's crazy how we can access music these days.

Fair point. But in our youth, you either bought albums or taped off the radio. Now you can listen to any song you want at any time for free. Sure YouTube isn't perfect but it set the standard. 

If you can download the playlist to another mp3 player it's probably worth it for me. Or maybe I'll wait until I'm cycling more and carry my phone (I don't carry the phone while running). 

Right now, I download songs from vid2mp3.com (and podcasts from various sites). If Spotify saves me a couple hours of downloading through that site which doesn't always work, yeah I'm guessing it's worth it. But it has to depend on your use.

Edited November 23, 2017 by -OZ-

[Todem 4,895]

3 hours ago, James Daulton said:

To think that in the "old" days we'd spend $12 on a record or cd and now $10/mo gets you access to millions of songs.  It's crazy how we can access music these days.

And now you know why concerts cost hundreds of dollars to attend. It is where bands make their money. Artist development? Long long gone.

[Todem 4,895]

36 minutes ago, KarmaPolice said:

If you are talking about the "old" old days, no way was it only that for me.  Sure, I'd get a bunch used, but I was spending quite a bit more than that/month on music.  If you are talking about my adult self with kids a few years ago when I signed up for Spotify, then you are correct, I was probably buying a couple CDs a year tops.  

From what I understand the business model works because artists don't get jack for this compared to a huge record deal back in the day and the music companies went in on the cheap to get in on these streaming services, so there's that too.  

 

Bingo. The artists are getting really ####ed over. 

 

But I still use it as I love music and it is an incredible value. I would spend hundreds on albums and CD’s...hundreds. I am a music junkie. I use Amazon Prime and love it.

Edited November 23, 2017 by Todem

[Fantasysports1 43]

30 minutes ago, -OZ- said:

That might be the thing for me. I only listen an hour at a time at most right now. If I played it all day I'd more strongly consider buying the subscription.

Fair point. But in our youth, you either bought albums or taped off the radio. Now you can listen to any song you want at any time for free. Sure YouTube isn't perfect but it set the standard. 

If you can download the playlist to another mp3 player it's probably worth it for me. Or maybe I'll wait until I'm cycling more and carry my phone (I don't carry the phone while running). 

Right now, I download songs from vid2mp3.com (and podcasts from various sites). If Spotify saves me a couple hours of downloading through that site which doesn't always work, yeah I'm guessing it's worth it. But it has to depend on your use.

 

You can only shuffle songs in a playlist and sometimes they play random songs that Spotify thinks relates to the playlist. You can only skip like 6 songs per hour. You can't play the specific songs you want and you can't fast forward/backtrack the song. If you aren't broke and feel it helps you it is worth getting premium unless you already have a good playlist on itunes or something.

[-OZ- 8,118]

1 hour ago, Fantasysports1 said:

 

You can only shuffle songs in a playlist and sometimes they play random songs that Spotify thinks relates to the playlist. You can only skip like 6 songs per hour. You can't play the specific songs you want and you can't fast forward/backtrack the song. If you aren't broke and feel it helps you it is worth getting premium unless you already have a good playlist on itunes or something.

I'm not trying to argue against the value, but if I want a specific song I can get that from YouTube. If I'm on a computer I'm just not seeing the big difference between leaving YouTube on in the background vs Spotify. On the phone I completely understand why paying for Spotify would be worth it. 

 I'd really like a small stand alone Spotify player convenient for running. If they make that (and it's not that expensive) I'll subscribe.

[KCitons 4,164]

I have/had about 7 gbs of music that I built over the last 25 years. (we used to belong to Columbia House back in the day)  I still have about 250 cds in the basement. When ipods came out, I ripped all my cds to digital. I continued to buy albums or songs over the years, everything is now mp3 format. My son had been paying $10 a month for an individual Spotify account for the last year. About a month ago, he upgrade to the family plan. For $15 he gets six accounts. I don't know why it took me so long to get on board with this. I don't have to install anything to my sd card on my phone. If I change phones, I only need to install spotify and let it download my songs overnight. (I like to use it in offline mode while in the car to save data)

tl:dr - if you think the $10 a month is worth it, $15 for 6 people is a no brainer. 

[Brony 7,613]

It's not only the direct cost of music in the past.  Even in the download days after CDs, I was spending so much time ####ing around with iTunes and organizing music and hooking my iPod up to the computer and waiting for iTunes new version to install or find the right cover art.  So stupid in hindsight. 

So now I pay $10 per month and I get lists delivered to my phone with new music that I might like. And if I don't like it, I say 'next song' and I'm off to the next song. 

Now Imagine how much I'd pay for this service if it let you search for playlists containing song X or that my company would allow to put on my laptop. 

[Long Ball Larry 14,294]

4 hours ago, KarmaPolice said:

If you are talking about the "old" old days, no way was it only that for me.  Sure, I'd get a bunch used, but I was spending quite a bit more than that/month on music.  If you are talking about my adult self with kids a few years ago when I signed up for Spotify, then you are correct, I was probably buying a couple CDs a year tops.  

From what I understand the business model works because artists don't get jack for this compared to a huge record deal back in the day and the music companies went in on the cheap to get in on these streaming services, so there's that too.  

 

I'm still not totally clear on the details, but supposedly the major labels have some kind of stake in Spotify, which is how Spotify got them to buy in and why they were willing to give the song rights cheaper.

[Long Ball Larry 14,294]

2 hours ago, -OZ- said:

I'm not trying to argue against the value, but if I want a specific song I can get that from YouTube. If I'm on a computer I'm just not seeing the big difference between leaving YouTube on in the background vs Spotify. On the phone I completely understand why paying for Spotify would be worth it. 

 I'd really like a small stand alone Spotify player convenient for running. If they make that (and it's not that expensive) I'll subscribe.

Agree with this.  If someone is exclusively a mobile user, it is probably worth it.  I mostly use it on computer while working or surfing, so I don't feel it is necessarily worth it.  I had premium for several months and I do think it has value, just decided I didn't necessarily get the full money's worth.  Will probably go to a family plan some time in the future as my daughter is haranguing about getting premium.

[Binky The Doormat 12,808]

2 hours ago, -OZ- said:

I'm not trying to argue against the value, but if I want a specific song I can get that from YouTube. If I'm on a computer I'm just not seeing the big difference between leaving YouTube on in the background vs Spotify. On the phone I completely understand why paying for Spotify would be worth it. 

 I'd really like a small stand alone Spotify player convenient for running. If they make that (and it's not that expensive) I'll subscribe.

The commercial interruption on YouTube is getting brutal.  Plus, don't you have to keep going to individual songs (unless you go to a compilation or album)?  I still have free Spotify and lots of playlists, they have upped their commercials to the point where I am probably going to cough up the $15 family plan - we'll have 4 of us using it.  

Edited November 23, 2017 by Binky The Doormat

[Long Ball Larry 14,294]

5 minutes ago, Long Ball Larry said:

I'm still not totally clear on the details, but supposedly the major labels have some kind of stake in Spotify, which is how Spotify got them to buy in and why they were willing to give the song rights cheaper.

According to newspaper Computer Sweden, which has got hold of documents that Spotify send to the companies registration office in Luxembourg, the record companies bought the shares for 100,000 kronor (€9.700, $13.900).

The record labels are: Sony BMG (5,8 percent), Universal Music (4,8 percent), Warner Music (3,8 percent) and EMI (1,9 percent). Also Merlin holds a small stake.

[pollardsvision 3,029]

4 hours ago, Todem said:

Bingo. The artists are getting really ####ed over. 

 

But I still use it as I love music and it is an incredible value. I would spend hundreds on albums and CD’s...hundreds. I am a music junkie. I use Amazon Prime and love it.

I don't think I'd call it getting ####ed over. It just means they generally have to play live shows to make money. Not to sound like southern sports talk radio caller, but what's the harm in that. Most of us poor schlubs have to keep working to keep making money. We don't get to retire off of 6 months of good work.

[KarmaPolice 17,106]

49 minutes ago, pollardsvision said:

I don't think I'd call it getting ####ed over. It just means they generally have to play live shows to make money. Not to sound like southern sports talk radio caller, but what's the harm in that. Most of us poor schlubs have to keep working to keep making money. We don't get to retire off of 6 months of good work.

I am sure that's exactly how it works for most musical acts. 

[McJose 9,394]

14 hours ago, kutta said:

Yes. Best 10 bucks I spend every month. You can also download all the music you want for that price. It’s a bargain.

Ditto

[Mister CIA 8,355]

Jumped from Amazon Music back to Google Play this month. The first three months are free, and I can cancel anytime I want.

I can't tell any difference between it and Spotify, except that I get ad free Youtube with the Google Play plan.

[dmac37 411]

Spotify + Netflix = $ well spent!

[prosopis 1,546]

[pollardsvision 3,029]

Amazon Music Unlimited is 3 months for $0.99 right now for new subscribers (I assume Black Friday deal).

 

[audiophile 51]

On 11/23/2017 at 1:19 AM, kutta said:

Yes. Best 10 bucks I spend every month. You can also download all the music you want for that price. It’s a bargain.

Didn’t know that you can download in addition to stream with Spotify.  What is the quality/bit rate of the d/l’s?  128?  256?  CD quality?

Can one d/l unlimited songs with Amazon Prime, or do you have to subscribe to Prime Music for that?  

[Otis 13,526]

I thought so but then switched to Amazon Prime music for 8 bucks a month. It’s basically the same thing, though I did like Spotify’s curated playlists a bit more. 

[Spike 751]

I just downloaded the Spotify app on my iPhone and plan to use it when on my exercise bike.  It would be just for an hour a day.

Do I really need to do the $10/month for this or would I be better off doing the freebie version with the songs I have pulled into a playlist?

[Bull Dozier 3,585]

I listen to it all day at work, and in the car.  I've built so many playlists, transferring to another platform would be quite a pain.

[Punxsutawney Phil 900]

I don't know why anyone would pay for any music streaming service other than Google play music.  The inclusion of YouTube red gives it something none of the other services offer.  I haven't watched a YouTube pre-roll commercial in years.  It's $9.99 fo single, $15 for family.  I pay $15 and gave codes to 4 other family members.

Edited November 24, 2017 by Punxsutawney Phil

[bushdocda 3,478]

Funny this came up other night at friends house and folks there had Apple Music > Spotify due to a bigger library according to them  

Which is better if you have neither ?

[KarmaPolice 17,106]

Do the Amazon and Google options have full albums to listen to, or are they more like Pandora?

[Todem 4,895]

18 hours ago, pollardsvision said:

I don't think I'd call it getting ####ed over. It just means they generally have to play live shows to make money. Not to sound like southern sports talk radio caller, but what's the harm in that. Most of us poor schlubs have to keep working to keep making money. We don't get to retire off of 6 months of good work.

Most bands don’t rake in cash. There are tons of working musicians who made a great living as session and studio players that....well let’s just say the pay grid has plummeted. 

Only the top acts on the world can still make retirement like money. 

[Todem 4,895]

1 minute ago, KarmaPolice said:

Do the Amazon and Google options have full albums to listen to, or are they more like Pandora?

Amazon is full albums for almost anything you want. Heck just Prime music (not the unlimited additional premium service) has 10’s of thousands of albums. Unlimited has 100’s

[KarmaPolice 17,106]

3 minutes ago, Todem said:

Amazon is full albums for almost anything you want. Heck just Prime music (not the unlimited additional premium service) has 10’s of thousands of albums. Unlimited has 100’s

Gotcha.  I just personally never understood Pandora because of that, and that's why I was on Spotify.   I wanted albums, not a repeating mix.  My wife was the opposite, and still isn't fully on board with Spotify (we did the family plan a few months ago to get my son on there too).  I was just curious how other services handle that.  

[KCitons 4,164]

Not sure if I'm doing something wrong, but I added Spotify to my Roku this morning and it sucks. I don't see my library, I don't see channels. It only allows you to search by song, artist, or album. I also don't see a way to save anything for future listening?

No big deal, I was just looking for a little Christmas music to play for the wife while she puts up the Christmas tree. 

[KarmaPolice 17,106]

13 minutes ago, KCitons said:

Not sure if I'm doing something wrong, but I added Spotify to my Roku this morning and it sucks. I don't see my library, I don't see channels. It only allows you to search by song, artist, or album. I also don't see a way to save anything for future listening?

No big deal, I was just looking for a little Christmas music to play for the wife while she puts up the Christmas tree. 

I think I found what you are doing wrong.

Edited November 24, 2017 by KarmaPolice

[KCitons 4,164]

2 minutes ago, KarmaPolice said:

I think I found what you are doing wrong.

Tis the season. And a happy wife is a happy life. (if I could get the kids to leave the house for a few hours, I might get a little)

I was expecting to at least see my library available. Not sure why they make you log in with your account info. 

[Mile High 5,194]

30 minutes ago, KCitons said:

Not sure if I'm doing something wrong, but I added Spotify to my Roku this morning and it sucks. I don't see my library, I don't see channels. It only allows you to search by song, artist, or album. I also don't see a way to save anything for future listening?

No big deal, I was just looking for a little Christmas music to play for the wife while she puts up the Christmas tree. 

Same on my Roku TV.

[JoeSteeler 3,495]

7 hours ago, KCitons said:

Not sure if I'm doing something wrong, but I added Spotify to my Roku this morning and it sucks. I don't see my library, I don't see channels. It only allows you to search by song, artist, or album. I also don't see a way to save anything for future listening?

No big deal, I was just looking for a little Christmas music to play for the wife while she puts up the Christmas tree. 

Did it ask you to log in to spotify?

[KCitons 4,164]

14 minutes ago, JoeSteeler said:

Did it ask you to log in to spotify?

Yes. It wouldn't take my username, I hate to use the long (15 character) alpha numeric user code.

[Mr.Pack 2,603]

On 11/23/2017 at 0:19 AM, kutta said:

Yes. Best 10 bucks I spend every month. You can also download all the music you want for that price. It’s a bargain.

Does it download as an mp3?