Spotify is a DRM-based streaming music service originating from Sweden that lets you listen to all your favorite artists and labels without having to own the music itself. This service was launched in late 2008 and grew immensely in popularity, with about 10 million users by the end of 2010. Spotify is available in the US, the UK and most of Europe, and offers a convenient catalog with a huge range of songs and artists.
Spotify Record Labels
The service works with some of the biggest record labels around, including Universal Music Group, Sony Music, EMI and Warner Music. The service also accepts songs from independent artists and labels, including those in countries where the service itself is not currently available. The number of different labels that Spotify works with means that consumers get to enjoy all their favorite artists, not just a few.
Genres On Spotify
The Spotify service also provides music in plenty of different genres, ensuring that there’s always something for everyone. While there are plenty of big hits from the current Top 40, you’ll also be able to find plenty of lesser-known bands. That includes independent artists, classical music, R&B, fusion genres and many more. As of July 2011, Spotify offered access to over 15 million songs, making it one of the most comprehensive services out there.
The service adds 10,000 new tracks every day. It would take more than eighty years for one person to listen to the whole Spotify catalog, even if they kept their music playing around the clock. If an artist isn’t available, it’s either because that artist requested not to be included in the catalog or because of regional licensing problems. Most users will be able to find just about anything they need in the Spotify catalog.
Finding Spotify Music
One of the reasons that users can find whatever they’re looking for in Spotify is the service’s convenient search options. It’s easy to look through the entire catalog using just a few different methods. You can browse by artist, record label, album, playlist or genre. You can also use standard text searching methods to find individual artists, specific songs or whole albums. While there’s a lot of music to go through in the Spotify catalog, you don’t need to spend too much time finding what you need.
Catalog Limitations
While the Spotify catalog offers a wide range of music from many different artists and recording labels, it’s not all-encompassing. There are a few musicians who have exclusive agreements with other services that don’t allow them to put their music on Spotify. Other artists don’t allow use of their work by any streaming site, though they’ll be available soon if they ever change their minds.
In a few other cases, some existing contracts meant that an artist’s work can be heard in one country, but may be unavailable in others. This usually happens when the artist has divided up the rights to the music between two or more recording labels, each of which serves its own region. The music can be available in all regions only after Spotify arranges deals with all the labels. Fortunately, this service is rapidly creating new agreements with recording labels, so region-based rights problems are expected to be a lot less common in the future.
The Spotify music catalog offers a wide variety of different artists, labels and their music, conveniently accessible from just about any Web browser. Instead of trying to remember to transfer songs or feeling like you can only listen to music in one place, why not try out Spotify, instead. This streaming service will provide your favorite songs and plenty of new ones, and it works wherever you can get access to a wireless connection. If you’re tired of dealing with a media player or you want to check out new music without having to purchase it first, the Spotify catalog could be the answer to your problems.
