spotify vs napster vs lastfm etc etc

Chat Forum

spotify vs napster vs lastfm etc etc

30 posts & 14 voices | Started 4 months ago by sadexpunk | Latest reply from sadexpunk

Tags:

No tags yet.

sadexpunk - Member

got my squeezebox up and running now, and am ready to start exploring the apps on it. so a few questions for those that use them if you dont mind.
firstly, everyone seems to have spotify these days. im leaning towards that over napster due to sound quality (according to google anyway). am i right to do this? im happy to pay a tenner a month for higher quality streaming. i dont fully understand it tho.
i have this vision that im listening to 6 music say, i like a track, so make a note of it, find it on spotify later, maybe play the whole album to try it. i like it.....then what? find it on amazon? can i keep a download of it? it seemed to suggest with napster you could have a few downloads per month. is this the same with spotify?
again, i dont mind paying for tracks that i like. i know with the iphone/pod/itunes system, you just go to itunes store and buy tracks for pence. is this the same with spotify or is it streaming only?

next, ive looked at lastfm which suggested a free account. i signed up, but then when i decided to look at suggestions for my music tastes, it wanted me to buy a subscription to something. im loathe to do this for something i dont know whether id like or get any use out of.

the other apps available such as radioio, mp3 music locker, skyfm, shoutcast, radionomy etc..... anyone use any of these and can comment on their worth?

thanks

Posted 4 months ago #
rj - Member

Spotify doesn't let you keep permanent copies, but if you're paying a tenner a month you can download the phone app that lets you have offline copies that you can listen to for as long as you keekp paying. There's also an option to buy (through another site), but I've never felt the need to use it. I use it in much the way you suggest, find something I like the sound of, look it up on Spotify and download it to my phone in offline mode to listen to in the car.
Lastfm is good for finding new music similar to the stuff you like. There's now a Lastfm app within Spotify, so not a lot of point in having them both.

Posted 4 months ago #
The Flying Ox - Member

I use Spotify and only have one minor issue with it.

First off though, it's great. Streaming over wifi can be 256kbps, and iirc offline downloads are 320kbps. My ears don't notice any difference between stuff on Spotify versus stuff on CD anyway. That's through a fairly hefty sound system too. There are oodles of tracks, all of which can be stored on your PC/phone for offline listening too.

The niggle I have is that you have to connect your device to the internet to re-sync your offline music every now and again. I find on occasion that parts of an album or playlist will be greyed-out because "this song is currently unavailable in your area". Not a massive problem, cos there's generally another version somwhere that can be substituted for the unavailable one.

Not tried any of the other services, but I'm happy with my £9.99 a month.

Posted 4 months ago #
TandemJeremy - Member

I use spotify and its great but the sound quality is poor and obviously so. Sounds OK on its own but compare it to a CDa dn the difference is obvious.

Still a big fan of spotify tho

Posted 4 months ago #
Drac - Moderator

I use napster it works really well with a squeezebox and on the package I have I get 15 credits per quarter of downloads. So I can have something to keep permanent to add onto my iPhone or iPod.

Posted 4 months ago #
the-muffin-man - Member

I pay the £5 a month option for spotify as I don't need offline content.

I listen to stuff through Spotify for a few months then only if I really like an album do I get the physical CD from Amazon. And a few months after an album has been released its often a lot cheaper to buy the cd than a download.

Sound quality wise I couldn't tell much difference between the higher bitrate and normal bitrate (I used to have Spotify premium). CDs sound a lot better though.

Posted 4 months ago #
sadexpunk - Member

Spotify doesn't let you keep permanent copies, but if you're paying a tenner a month you can download the phone app that lets you have offline copies that you can listen to for as long as you keekp paying.

im confused after reading this page which suggests if i pay the tenner, the songs are mine. have a look at the 'high quality listening' section.

The niggle I have is that you have to connect your device to the internet to re-sync your offline music every now and again. I find on occasion that parts of an album or playlist will be greyed-out because "this song is currently unavailable in your area"

bit confused by this really. if the songs are mine, they should be on my pc to play through squeezebox in my music folder say. if theyre not mine, i download to a temp folder or something? on my phone? laptop? and if theyre only available sometimes, that implies theyre still out in the ether somewhere rather than physically on my pc/phone?

thanks

Posted 4 months ago #
The Flying Ox - Member

You download them in some encrypted format to a Spotify folder on your PC/phone and can only play them through the Spotify app. After maybe 90 days, you have to re-sync them. Sometimes during that 90 days, Spotify changes whether or not some songs are available in the UK. What songs are available varies from country to country though. Stuff that was greyed out in the UK was suddenly available again when I synced in Jakarta the following day.

Posted 4 months ago #
oxnop - Member

I use napster on my sonos system and it's ace. Sooooo easy to use and integrates brilliantly with sonos (not sure about SB)

Since setting the system up and signing up to Napster I haven't used my iTunes or CD collection, we've (me and her indoors) have found loads of great new (and not so new) music.

Highly recommended

Posted 4 months ago #
sadexpunk - Member

flying ox, have you seen that link i put on my last post? is it just misleading then?

am i right in thinking spotify is better quality streaming than napster?

im thinking that the downloads could be the deal breaker. if it really is just listening to stuff, then im sort of happy enough with 6 music. im always hearing stuff on there that jogs a memory and makes me look up old stuff.

cheers

Posted 4 months ago #
The Flying Ox - Member

Sorry sadexpunk. Can't see the link cos Spotify is blocked at work

Dunno if the terms have changed since I signed up, but I certainly don't "own" the music I download. I can listen to it as and when I want, as many times as I want, but if Spotify decide to limit the availability of that music in whatever country I am in, then it's gone the next time I re-sync my playlists.

As I say, I rarely find it a major problem because there's usually another version of the song I can replace it with, and albums can be rebuilt from compilation albums.

I think Spotify streaming is better than Napster though. Minimum of 160kbps on Spotify vs 128kbps on Napster.

Posted 4 months ago #
sadexpunk - Member

ok thanks mate. just for your information, ill cut and paste the wording on the site.

High-quality listening

MP3s purchased from Spotify are DRM-free and of high-quality at 320kbps*. Burn them to an audio CD, sync them to an MP3 player or make a backup – they are yours to enjoy as you please.

also, if i dont actually 'own' my downloads, where are you chaps generally buying downloads from? did i hear right that amazon sells downloads? anywhere run a similar sort of system to itunes? or do i just need to buy the cd and rip it? or *cough* torrents?

ta

Posted 4 months ago #
The Flying Ox - Member

Ahh. The music you're on about there are mp3s from the Spotify shop. You buy and download them from the shop at 320kbps and they're yours, just as if you'd bought them from iTunes, or Amazon, or wherever.

I don't use the Spotify shop, just the streaming/offline listening service.

Posted 4 months ago #
BoardinBob - Member

Spotify premium subscriber. Absolutely fantastic service. Best £10 a month I spend.

Posted 4 months ago #
chvck - Member

I've been looking at using one of these services. I'm worried about how much data they consume. I have quite a hefty usage allowance a month through my ISP but I work from home so a large chunk of that gets used anyway. Could anyone tell me how much data say a 320kbps 5 minute track would use?

Posted 4 months ago #
sadexpunk - Member

ah right, spotify shop. never heard of it, thats the sort of thing im interested in then. do i need to be a premium subscriber to take advantage of that then? or can anyone buy from there?
id still prob go for premium for the 320 bit quality tho.

for those that use the streaming, im interested in what makes you think of what to search for to play? stuff you just heard on radio? music papers? im sat here thinking if i had it now id search for er...... dunno too much out there and id need a bit of motivation or something to put a song in my head. or does spotify recommend stuff the same as youve been listening to lately?

ta

Posted 4 months ago #
messiah - Member

Which is best for obscure music?

itunes boils my piss as much of what I want is not available.

Posted 4 months ago #
TandemJeremy - Member

spotify is not bad but there is stuff missing - ask me for a something obscure and I can see if its there for you.

Posted 4 months ago #
The Flying Ox - Member

for those that use the streaming, im interested in what makes you think of what to search for to play?

I just use the radio function mostly. There's also a "related artists" wordcloud under anything you listen to, which is how I've recently ended up with Apex, 16 Bit Lolitas, Oakey's Goa Mix, etc.

Posted 4 months ago #
BoardinBob - Member

for those that use the streaming, im interested in what makes you think of what to search for to play? stuff you just heard on radio? music papers? im sat here thinking if i had it now id search for er...... dunno too much out there and id need a bit of motivation or something to put a song in my head. or does spotify recommend stuff the same as youve been listening to lately?

Spotify has a "similar artists" suggestion list, through which I've found tons of good stuff. You can also search by record label too, so for example I'm really into Bella Union stuff at the moment so I can search by that label and see everyone that's signed to it and is available on Spotify.

Posted 4 months ago #
rj - Member

The LastFM and Pitchfork apps for Spotify are good for finding new stuff.

Posted 4 months ago #
messiah - Member

TandemJeremy
spotify is not bad but there is stuff missing - ask me for a something obscure and I can see if its there for you.

It was a few months ago I was searching. I'll have a look and see if I can remember what it was.

Posted 4 months ago #
t_i_m - Member

Which is best for obscure music?

There doesn't appear to be much to choose between Napster and Spotify. I've been a subscriber to both. I guess it also depends on the genre of obscure music. Mine was largely around 90's electronica. Napster was marginally better, but not by much. Ended up going with Spotify purely down to service reliability* and the Spotify mobile app$

*The Napster streaming services went down over xmas/new year a year ago.
$Napster now has a similar mobile app. I haven't used it.

Posted 4 months ago #
retro83 - Member

TandemJeremy - Member

I use spotify and its great but the sound quality is poor and obviously so. Sounds OK on its own but compare it to a CDa dn the difference is obvious.

Still a big fan of spotify tho

Is that the premium service? I understand the free one has only half the bit rate of the paid one (vorbis q5 compared to q9).

Posted 4 months ago #
Lifer - Member

I have Spotify unlimited (£5/month) and haven't plugged in my iTunes HDD for a few months now.

Posted 4 months ago #
stevew - Member

Spotify for me, not tried Napster but hear it is just about the same. Have the £4.99 version as I don't take stuff offline.

There are a few omisisons though, just trying to think of a few (can't access at work) - Beatles, Metalica, Led Zep, some others too but not really found too many and none of which I can't cover pretty well with my CD collection anywho.

I remember from the OP's previous thread on setting up his system that he has an aversion to Apple but just to say that I do get a few drop outs from the Spotify App where it needs to be reopened again - usually near to the begining of a sessions play. Some days does it, others its fine, imagine there will be a version update to fix it at some stage.

Posted 4 months ago #
sadexpunk - Member

Just a quick update. Had a couple of days playing now, and its great. Got spotify, and it offered chance of 30 days free premium, so taken them up on it to see how I get on. So I'm sat on the settee playing 6 music, my flacs from the laptop, and now spotify too, using my phone as a remote. Happy bunny at the moment

Thanks for all your input.

Posted 4 months ago #
TandemJeremy - Member

retro83

Is that the premium service? I understand the free one has only half the bit rate of the paid one (vorbis q5 compared to q9).

The £5 a month one Unlimited?

Posted 4 months ago #
retro83 - Member

TandemJeremy - Member

retro83

Is that the premium service? I understand the free one has only half the bit rate of the paid one (vorbis q5 compared to q9).

The £5 a month one Unlimited?

Think that should be the top quality one assuming you've ticked the high bitrate box in the preferences window.

http://www.spotify.com/uk/blog/archives/2009/06/25/bumping-up-the-bitrate/

Good enough for me anyway, though my hifi is all pretty low end (cambridge audio, eltax, etc).

Posted 4 months ago #
sadexpunk - Member

As I understand it its only the 10 quid version that has the higher quality sound.

Posted 4 months ago #