I quickly opted for the $10 a month premium Spotify and since then it has completely replaced my iTunes--I can't even remember the last time I have opened iTunes. With this service, I have complete access to any album or artist or song I can think of at any time on my iPhone. The songs that I have 'starred' for later listening can be synced on to my phone through my network, to be used in 'Offline Mode'. This means I can listen to my 'Starred Songs' (702 tracks at the moment) when my phone doesn't get any reception, like on an airplane. It's really awesome.
This following tutorial is meant to educate people on how revolutionary Spotify can be for discovering music. It always shocks me when I ask people if they have Spotify and they say "No, I don't know what that is" or "Ya, but I don't understand it". I have been given these answers by so many people that I felt it was a neccesity for me to write an article on what exactly you can do with Spotify to optimize your usage of the program and understand how easy and fun it can be for even the most computer illiterate to share and discover music.
1: MAIN
---What's New: this tab is similar to the main screen of an iTunes store, Spotify uses what music you listen to and recommends albums and songs based on this
---People: this tab is linked with number 3, SOCIAL, and is linked with your Facebook account. Click on this tab and you can add people to your favorites to see what kind of music you are listening too.
---Inbox: here is where you receive songs from your friends that they have sent to you. To send a song to a friend, simply drag the song to the person in the sidebar (designated as 3 on the picture). The small red number 2 next to my Inbox indicates I have two songs waiting for listening.
---Play Queue: this tab creates a playlist a la iTunes 'Smart Playlist'
---Devices: by connecting your iPod, iPhone, or Android device to your computer you can sync your ENTIRE music libraries on your device into your Spotify for listening through Spotify whenever you like. I have synced all 14,759 songs from my iTunes onto my Spotify and can listen to it through Spotify whenever I like.
2: APPS
This section is a new feature to Spotify, introduced in January 2012. Occasionally, I'll review Apps to let you know when something cool is introduced. Spotify is a web-developer's dream with so many options in terms of web integration (It would be really, really cool if Spotify had a blogger widget). The top three apps I currently use the most are:
1) Rolling Stones Recommends: this app is made by Rolling Stones Magazine and it curates the music that is found within its pages for digital listening. It is pretty cool how seamlessly it adheres to both Spotify and the magazine's format. As you can see in the main shot I have this app up on my main viewer. I am listening to their "Songs of 2011 Playlist".
2) ShareMyPlaylists: anyone can set up an account at ShareMyPlaylists and submit playlists that you think people will appreciate. You can also access other user's playlist submissions. This app is amazing in terms of how much music there is to find. A sampling of some of the top user playlists: 'Indie-Electro Mix', 'Celebrating Black History Month', 'Around the World in 80 Songs', 'NME's 50 Greatest Guitar Solos'. As you can see there is a ton of variety and the playlists are constantly changing.
3) Pitchfork: Their app is awesome because it is divided up into album reviews, song reviews and playlists. Pitchfork has extremely good taste in music and I go to this app to see what songs are up and coming.
3: SOCIAL
As you can see, I have divided this into two different sections.
Where the upper arrow points, I have added my favorite people. They have linked their Spotify account with Facebook and I can send them songs whenever I feel like it. It is fun to share music with friends and see what they think of what you are listening too.
The bottom arrow points to the Spotify Social queue. It is a real-time, scrolling list of songs that people who have linked their Spotify account to their Facebook may opt to use.
You may send songs to either the top or bottom list by just dragging a song to the person.
If you wish to remain unknown in your music listening (yes we can see you listening to Paris Hilton) you can turn off your sharing of what songs you are listening to in your Spotify settings. This can be achieved by just going to 'Preferences' and unchecking the boxes for 'Share What I am listening to on Spotify Social' or 'Share what I am listening to on Facebook'. It is as simple as that.
4: COLLECTION
The Collection is located right beneath the APPS section and can be found by scrolling down.
---Library: This is where your imported iTunes library is located. Yes, you can listen to every song you downloaded into iTunes on Spotify.
---Local Files: This is awesome. Songs that you drag from your 'Library' into 'Local Files' when your 'Device' is connected will be synced for offline listening. You can listen to your iTunes library vicariously through Spotify ; ).
---Starred: Here is the collection of songs that you have saved for furthur listening. Whether you find it through the 'What's New' tab, an App, or just searching the massive Spotify library, all you need to do is Star the song (the star is right next to the song name) and you can find it here in this tab.
---Playlists: Here is where all of your imported iTunes playlists and your own self-created Spotify playlists are. It is easy to sort music with the playlist function and you can share your own playlists on the previously mentioned app, ShareMyPlaylists.
That is all for the tutorial on how to begin using Spotify. I hope that you will download it and try it out. If you have a smartphone, I encourage you to try the one-month premium trial (it is free). You will find that Spotify is the best thing to happen to your music library since iTunes.
---Written by Karl Ryan