Want to be able to stream stuff without the adverts – these two look like the best two mainstream offerings. Also want the option to stream to a Sonos system to be purchased later in the year, and I know both integrate nicely.

Questions are:
1) Which has the most complete music catalogue?
2) Which has the best UI, search and functionality?
3) Are either of them ever likely to be iPod compatible – ie Napster To Go Service? (think I know the answer to that but no harm in asking)

One thing I struggle with is that I can’t be assed to spend lots of time trying to find suitable radio stations or listening to the radio other than Radio 2 (no need to comment on that thanks), so whichever I go for needs to include the facility to suggest similar stuff to something I’ve found and like.

All comments and suggestions appreciated

On an iTouch (or symbian phone, or android) you can run spotify, and either stream or save tracks for offline listening.

IA, that’s very interesting. Am about to invest in an iPod Touch to replace my old classic. I didn’t think any of the services would integrate with the iPod because of Apple’s propietary nature. With Spotify on the iPod Touch can you play stuff offline provided the Spotify/Napster subscription is valid?

Have you tried Grooveshark?

Free version seems pretty good, no intrusive ads a la Spotify and it seems to have a pretty decent catalogue and a pretty straightforward UI.

There’s a VIP version as well but I’m not sure what you get over and above the free version. Can’t comment on i-pod compatibility either though you can buy tracks (not sure where from though).

Also doesn’t require registration or any software installation – works in any flash-enabled browser.

Thanks Stuart but I’m a mainstream type of guy so want to stick with what seem to be the big players and I want to guarantee 100% compatibility with Sonos and the main mobile devices like iPod and Android machines. Happy to pay £5 or £10 per month for the privelege

Cool.

C’mon guys, help me out here. There must hundreds of you who are deeply into music and using Spotify and/or Napster

Spotify on the iPod Touch can you play stuff offline provided the Spotify/Napster subscription is valid?

Yeah, though you have to play it through the spotify app, not the ipod app. You select certain playlists to be available offline, and they’re downloaded to the ipod. You don’t get the mp3s to do what you will with.

I don’t know about napster, not used it.

Thanks IA – sounds perfect.

Anyone else any comments, especially on Napster which seems to be pretty good value at half the price of Spotify. Trouble is you can’t really see what’s on Napster, or the library without signing up for it.

Does Spotify have more holes in the album availability, especially the newer stuff?

I have spotify premium. It works great on the computer and on my mobile. (Iphone) Having some playlists work offline is really useful. For me its well worth the £10 a month. Don’t know about napster.

Can’t comment on Napster.
I’ve been using Spotify since its wider release in the uk. Signed up for 6 months to the premium. Spotify is fully compatable with Ipod and Android via a proprietary app. I would consider its catalogue very good with the exception of the biggest bands; beatles, led zepplin, pink floyd and a few others but there are some alternatives to these via cover bands and version by the artist on there own ie Plant & Page for led zep stuff. spotify will also allow you to add your own stored collection to your playlists and will stream/download them your your PMP for upto 30days offline before you have to log in again.
Sonos now has nearly full compatability to Spotify.
Also, a big plus for me on premium was that spoify steams at 320Kb/sec, near CD quality. Lots of info on the website.

You’ve kind of confirmed what I thought about the artist availability. Bit of a pain but I guess I can live with that.

Definitely like the 320kbps on Spotify.

Still no-one able to comment on Napster before I push the £9.99 Spotify button?

You can stream any version of Spotify (free, unlimited, premium) to your mobile. Some Google developers made a thing that encodes whatever is being played through your soundcard as an internet radio stream. You copy the .dll to your Spotify directory, set Spotify playing and then tune your phone to your PCs internet address. The only downside to this over the premium Spotify is that you have to listen to whats playing on the PC and there are no offline playlists. Fine for me though, when I’m in the kitchen and there’s no room for a laptop. Stick the iPod in its dock and away I go.

There are instructions on the web if you look for “Spotify streaming”.

Napster will disable music once your subscription is up so you only rent it while you pay. There’s a lot on there, but there’s also lots of gaps in less mainstream music. Such as finding 3 tracks from an album instead of the whole lot. I noticed Napster slowed my laptop down as other users also download from you.

I cancelled and use grooveshark and lastfm, both are very awesome but do not enable you to keep the music when not online. They do offer a playlist save function so you can go back to previously searches, grooveshark never jars with me but lastfm sometimes has to “think”.

OK, thanks. Spotify premium it is

Also, you can always just pay for a month of spotify for a tenner, try it out on your computer and if you don’t like it you’ve only spent a tenner? (or use it for free to check what’s there) TBH I think you’ll probably like it, most do!

IA, thanks – good point. I will probably do that, although I have been using the free version for a while so have a good idea of the interface and the library, both of which seem pretty good even though I haven’t started using playlists etc.

Seems that the Spotify model is way ahead of Napster as you can play around with it for free before committing