The Award Winning News Publication of Mercy College

The Impact

The Award Winning News Publication of Mercy College

The Impact

The Award Winning News Publication of Mercy College

The Impact

Spotify, Please Stay Free

Dear Music,

Sometimes I really do not want to buy an album for one song, and I do not want to spend $1.29 on one song on ITunes. Why do you want to take away the chance to enjoy free music? Why is everything about money with you. You remind me of a money hungry woman (or man, do not want to be considered sexist here). Please allow me to continue to listen to music for free. I don’t care about a few commercials, just do not ask me for money or limit my time with the music. I really love you music, do not try to ruin our relationship.

Love, Me.

My sad attempt to reason with music. Even though music does not have enough say. It’s all about these money hungry people. What happened to peace, love and happiness? What happened to the beauty of music being made for pleasure instead of money?

Well, to move on to what this is about. Spotify. The new outlet to listen to music. It has agreed to extend the free music offer for a few more months. Originally is was supposed to start limiting non-paying users to ten hours per month. Excuse me, what am I supposed to do with ten hours a month? I waste ten hours of music in a day.

The best part about Spotify is that you could listen to albums for free or pick and choose what songs you want to listen to and create a playlist. No more buying albums or just one song.  (defy the man!)

Well moving along, the Spotify market in the USA has been doing exceptionally well that the company is extending the offer to us good Americans. Sad to say that in Europe (where Spotify originated) they are limited to five free tracks and then are forced to spend money.

There is always Pandora, another music playing outlet. The difference between the two is that Pandora allows you to create a station of your favorite song or band but you’ll have to listen to everything else before you get to what you want.

Pandora is not bad, it’s been a great friend to me. It allows to me discover new music, which is a plus in my book. But sometimes I just want to hear what I want to hear. No extra. That’s when Spotify comes in.

Pandora is also free. It used to limit to amount of hours a month, but it found a way to cover the cost so non-paying users could just listen for as long as they want. Commercials. After every six songs, a commercial comes on. One commercial. I can deal with that. It’s better then listening to the radio and listening to five minutes of commercials before you can hear a song. On Pandora, it’s a thirty second commercial and you are back to the music.

Very lovely.

If you are a huge music lover like myself, I suggest downloading both apps on your smartphone. You will not regret it.

Hopefully Spotify finds a way to continue to let users listen for free. I do not want to add another expense to my useless expenses. (I already have to pay for Netflix and Hulu Plus, I do not want to add Spotify).

According to The Next Web where the original article came out, Spotify is currently in talks with record labels to license their portfolios in order to provide the free content.

“Our agreements with the labels differ from market to market. We’re working hard to bring these improvements to the entire service, so watch this space,” Spotify added, in the article from The Next Web.

We do not want to completely steal their music, we have good consciences right? Am I alone on this?

Spotify Premium offers unlimited music with out commercials, music on your mobile phone (on or offline), it sounds better (I’m not sure how it can sounds better by paying for it) and exclusive content (chances to win tickets and other things).

Um, I can do without “exclusive content”. I still want to know how paying for it can make it sound better. Even if you do not pay for it, you can listen to music on your phone on or offline. Commercials I can deal with.

So please, pretty please, continue to be free for forever, Spotify.

Leave a Comment
More to Discover
About the Contributor
Rebecca Espinosa
Rebecca Espinosa, Staff Writer
Rebecca Espinosa is a senior media studies major. She has been a staff writer for the Impact but was then promoted to Online Editor. She loves to write all kinds of stories and keeping up on current events. She wants to get a internship at Maxim magazine or CBS. After college she wants to work for Maxim and continue in school to get her masters in journalism. Contact [email protected]

Comments (0)

All The Impact Picks Reader Picks Sort: Newest