Since Spotify’s original release on October 7th, 2008, it has grown to be one of the largest music-distribution websites of it’s kind. Based in Sweden, Spotify works much like a DJ at a party; you can listen to whatever song comes on next, or you can request to hear a certain song or artist. This is what makes the software so great. Spotify allows you to look up and listen to an artist’s entire album before you buy it, allowing you to search all of the music you want without the consequence of having to pay for it. The unlimited feature of Spotify allows you to branch out your musical tastes, and not listen to the same five bands over and over again because you bought their CDs.
The above article talks about Spotify’s recent merge with Facebook at the F8 Conference. Spotify broke the 10 million member mark on September 15th 2010 and has been growing steadily since that point. Prior to July 2011, Spotify was only available in Europe. Since then, it has been released in the US and Denmark, in addition to several European countries. Facebook’s F8 Conference was held on September 22nd, 2011, and during this conference, Spotify and Facebook signed a merger agreement. The agreement stated that all Spotify users must own a Facebook account in order to continue using Spotify. This recent change created two sides on the matter: those in favor of the change, and those who use other social networks who were severely opposed.
The merge made the two networks virtually seamless. Facebook now includes a synchronization feature that allows you to use your previously stated interests to browse music selections similar to ones you have already liked. Also, users who choose to share their interests who are also Facebook friends will appear in a window on the Spotify app. This allows you to not only browse your own interests, but also see what your friends are listening to at the time, allowing you to branch out your musical taste and find new bands to listen to. As both a Spotify and a Facebook user, I am in favor of the change. It not only synchronizes the two networks, but allows you to use one log-in for two social networks.
Since the merge on September 22nd, Spotify has gained over 1 million members. That’s almost 170,000 new members each day. But, with the changes came privacy issues. As a default, the Spotify app will post your recent listening habits on your Facebook wall for all of your friends to see. Most people don’t realize that the feature is easily disabled, and quickly jump to the conclusion that their privacy is being breached. As the author of the article puts it, “if you don’t want your Facebook friends to know that you occasionally listen to the Spice Girls: disable the Facebook notification option in your Spotify player.”
As a fan of the recent changes and an avid listener to music, it’s nice to see such a great concept being synchronized in the social media that we use everyday.
-Patrick Rowe
Awesome article Pat. I have to agree with you Spotify is one of the best programs available today for music listeners. I like that you incorporated infor about Spotify as well as it's merge with Facebook.
ReplyDelete^^^
ReplyDeleteComment by Paul Poremski
Great article! I like that you started your post with background information on Spotify instead of just going straight into a summary of the article. I think you did a good job of summarizing the main points of the article. I like that you finish the post with your own thoughts on the Spotify merger with Facebook, but I think you could've included more of your own opinions.
ReplyDeleteCatherine Giunta