Why You Should Stop What You're Doing and Get on Spotify

We have reached that time in the semester. Classes have kicked into high gear, professors are assigning papers left and right, and we have reached the dreaded MIDTERMS. It is easy to become overwhelmed and stressed, causing free moments to be few and far between. Here is a way to help you relax your mind a little during that rare, but sweet free time.

What is it?

Spotify is a free online streaming service where you can listen to your favorite artists, create playlists, play songs on demand, skip songs as often as you would like, and follow your friends to see what they’re listening to. There is also an option to buy Spotify Premium to avoid those annoying commercials and save songs to listen to offline. On the Spotify website, www.spotify.com, you can purchase Spotify Premium for $9.99 a month. BUT, they offer student discounts. Students can purchase Spotify premium for only $4.99 a month.

How to Make the Most of It

My favorite part of Spotify is that there are so many different features to take advantage of. The ways I use Spotify the most are:

1. Creating Playlists

I love making playlists because I listen to different types of music depending what kind of mood I am in.

The playlist that I created that I listen to the most is probably “New Stuff.” This list consists of music I like that I have either heard for the first time, or songs on the radio I want to listen to more. I find these songs by either searching through the new pre-made playlists on Spotify, or I go to http://www.billboard.com/charts/hot-100 to find the songs that are popular at the moment.

I also make playlists of the set-lists for concerts I plan on going to. This way, I’m able to be familiar with all of the songs the artist is singing and I can sing along. I listen to these playlists a lot in the months leading up to the concert to get me excited.

2. Find a Playlist that is Already Made

If you don’t feel like creating your own playlist, don’t fret. Spotify has pre-made playlists that you can listen to and download. They have playlists made for every type of mood and genre. For example, if you need to relax, Spotify has a playlist for that. If you need to get hyped up before a party, Spotify has a playlist for that as well.

One of the coolest premade playlists is “Discover Weekly”. This is where Spotify makes a new playlist each week filled with music selected specifically for you. It updates every Monday, so it is consistently showing you new music you might like that you may have never heard of.

If there is a playlist that Spotify hasn’t made, someone else probably has. You can search whatever type of playlist you are in the mood for and playlists from actual people will show up. Sometimes these are the best playlists because you know people are actually using and listening to them.

You can find the 100 best Spotify playlists to subscribe to at

http://playlists.net/charts.

3. Listening to a Certain Artist

Sometimes I am in the mood to just listen to one particular artist. A neat part about this feature is that you can listen to songs they have released throughout the years. There is an option to shuffle all of their songs, which gives you a nice mix of current songs and throwbacks.

So, if you are in the mood to listen to every song Beyoncé has ever made, this is a great feature for you to try out.

Why Choose Spotify over Pandora?

Now, you may be thinking, what makes Spotify so much better than other streaming services, like Pandora? Thanks to Diffen, found at http://www.diffen.com/difference/Pandora_vs_Spotify, we can see many differences between the two:

1. Pandora matches songs to your taste, but does not let you choose specific songs. Spotify, however, lets you choose specific songs you want to listen to.

2. Pandora offers about 1,000,000 songs where Spotify offers about 30,000,000.

3. Pandora limits the amount of songs you can skip, where Spotify lets you skip as many songs as you would like.

4. Even if you pay for Pandora, you are not able to download songs to listen offline. You can with Spotify Premium.

5. Pandora does not let you make a customized playlist, where Spotify lets you create as many as you would like.

6. Pandora only offers a desktop app for those who pay, while even the people who use the free version of Spotify can download it.

7. Pandora is only offered in the U.S., Australia, and New Zealand. Spotify is offered in over a dozen different countries.

Stay in Tune with your Friends

Another awesome feature Spotify offers is that you are able to connect to Facebook and follow what your friends are listening to. There is a bar on the side of the screen where you can see what they are currently listening to, and if you click on their profile you can see their playlists that they have chosen to make visible. You are also able to save the playlists to your library so you can easily access them whenever you would like.

For example, one of my friends made a playlist called “Songs I want to learn the Rap To,” so I will listen to that and practice my skills when I have free time. This way, if I ever hear the songs on the radio or I’m hanging out with people and they are singing along I won’t feel left out.

Why JMU Students use Spotify

I asked a few people from JMU some questions about their Spotify use. Here were their answers:

When did you first hear about Spotify?

“My roommate was using it to study finals of fall semester my sophomore year, and I’ve loved it ever since.” – Emma Branch, Junior

What made you choose Spotify over other music streaming websites?

“I like that Spotify has a HUGE selection of music, and I love the features that recommend music to you like Discover Weekly and Daily Mixes based on what you have been listening to.” – Alexa Connelly, Junior

Do you find yourself purchasing music more or streaming it on Spotify?

“I definitely stream music a lot more than I buy it.” – Saskia Beitzell, Junior

Do you prefer to make your own playlists on Spotify or find new ones that were pre-made?

“I prefer to make my own playlists.” – Haley Copeland, Freshman

How often do you use Spotify?

“Honestly every single day. In between classes, in the car, the library. And premium, go big or go home.” –

Do you use the free version of Spotify or pay for Premium?

“Free! It’s just one less thing to pay for, but I still get the service regardless of whether I pay.” – Cary-Grace Clark, Junior

Takeaway

I was not paid by Spotify to write this post, so this is just me giving my honest feedback. I have been using Spotify for over two years now and it has helped me in immense ways. If I am studying, I turn on one of my playlists with instrumental music or listen to one of Spotify’s pre-made studying playlists. When I am working out, I listen to a workout playlist. When I am just wanting to relax or when I am driving to class, I listen to the playlist full of my new music I want to learn the words to.

Being a lover of music my whole life, I have found Spotify to be the most convenient way to listen to music. I can listen to what I want, when I want. I personally purchased Spotify Premium with my student discount, so I love being able to download the songs to listen to offline. This is especially great when I’m driving so I don’t have to use up all of my data.

The main reason I love Spotify is that it is a non-expensive way for me to discover and listen to new music. Being a college student, I am not really wanting to spend a ton of money on new songs. Spotify gives me the opportunity to listen to music as many times as I want and download it to my phone to listen to whenever I want. Gone are the days where I save up my money to spend $25 for 20 songs on iTunes.

I Want to Hear from You

I want to hear what you love about Spotify. Share this post on social media and let me know what your favorite playlists are. The cool thing about Spotify is that it is different for everybody, and it adapts to whoever is listening. We all have different music tastes and have many different preferences on what we listen to and when, so let us know what you like to listen to most.