By Tracey Dowdy
When we moved back to Virginia after five years in Canada, one of the things that eased the pain of saying goodbye to poutine and ketchup chips was access to sites like Amazon Prime, Hulu, Netflix, and Spotify. Of course Canada has Amazon, Netflix and Spotify, but the content is different and like everything else ‘Merican, well, your content libraries are bigger.
Spotify in particular has been a welcome addition – who wouldn’t love rolling through Spotify’s catalog of over 30 million songs, available through free or paid subscriptions? One of my favorite features is “Discover Weekly” – a customized list based on your listening preferences that gets updated every Monday. I’m guaranteed to pick up at least 2 or 3 songs a week to add to my playlists.
Spotify’s launched back in 2008, but even if you’ve been using it for a while these tips and tricks can help you make the most of the service.
1. If you don’t want the world to know your secret life as a diehard Belieber, make your listening activity and playlists private.
- In desktop preferences, un-check “Publish my activity on Spotify”
- Make individual playlists private by right-clicking the title and selecting “Make Secret”
- Start a temporary private session under the main Spotify window on the desktop
2. Read lyrics in real time as a song plays so you can avoid “momming up” the lyrics and you’ll discover Taylor Swift isn’t actually singing about her list of “Starbucks lovers” in Blank Space.
3. If you use the paid version, you can import songs from iTunes and other places on your computer directly into Spotify. This is particularly useful for artists like Taylor Swift whose music isn’t available through the service. Tracks will be displayed under the Local Files tab under “Your Music” in the Spotify app.
4. Make your playlists collaborative by clicking the “…” icon next to “Following.” You’ll get a notification any time the list is edited by another Belieber, I mean another user. Ahem.
5. Get specific with Advanced Search. Go beyond searching by artist, genre, album or title and use common search parameters AND, NOT, OR. E.g. “Simon AND Garfunkel”, “Simon OR Garfunkel” or “Simon NOT Garfunkel.”
6. Easily recover a playlist you deleted. Not that that’s ever happened to anyone I know. Simply login to your account on Spotify’s website and select “Recover Playlists.”
7. Use “touch preview” to sample an album or playlists. Tap and hold the cursor over the album or playlist to explore, quite literally, without having lifted a finger.
8. Use your phone as a remote control to play music from another computer or your speakers. The technology also works with newer TV’s and some speakers like those from Sonos.
9. Organize your playlists into folders. On the desktop, go to “File” and then “New Playlist Folder” and sort and label away.
Tracey Dowdy is a freelance writer based just outside Washington DC. After years working for non-profits and charities, she now freelances, edits and researches on subjects ranging from family and education to history and trends in technology. Follow Tracey on Twitter.
Pandora is the granddaddy of them all. Launched back in 2000, Pandora has a relatively small catalog at only a million songs. Users choose a song and Pandora then creates a playlist of music from similar artists or genres.
Pandora may be the granddaddy but Spotify is the undisputed front-runner of streaming services, with 60 million subscribers, a catalog of over 20 million songs, and service in 58 countries.
Deezer started in France back in 2007 and though it has 16 million users in 182 countries it’s just coming into its own in the American market.
iHeart Radio is the only completely free streaming service in the mix, with the catch being it acts like a radio station in that you can choose a basic genre but you have no input on what plays. The upside is that it’s ad-free and the music is free. If you’re a “set it and forget it” kind of listener, iHeart radio is a great option and, with a catalog of 15 million songs, there’s little risk of getting tired of a particular song, which is a common complaint with traditional radio.
Rdio is arguably Spotify’s biggest competitor at this stage of the game, with a catalog of over 20 million songs, a user friendly interface, a strong social media element, and unlimited access through any browser or desktop. Couple that with features like Top Charts, Newest Releases or Heavy Rotation and the option of a family subscription and it’s easy to see why Rdio’s popularity is steadily growing.
iTunes Radio is limited to Apple products or iTunes supported platforms but boasts a catalog of 26 million tracks. Like Pandora and iHeart radio, you have little control over specific song choices and playlists are created based on your preferences for artist, song or genre.