If there is one thing that most writers can agree on, it's a love for music. We like making playlists that represent our writing. We like composing our super dramatic book climaxes to appropriate movie scores. We been known to spend hours getting our musical preferences just perfect.
Spotify is a magical program that allows you to stream almost any music you want to your computer. For free. Needless to say, it can quickly become a writer's best friend. In fact, the only downside to Spotify is the fact that it's not available in every country. Hopefully this with be rectified soon, yeah?
Anyway, now that I've got Spotify, I'm not sure that I could give it up again. And if you haven't checked it out yet, here are five reasons why you definitely should:
- Spotify has a lot of music
If you want to listen to something specific, you're probably in luck, since Spotify users have access to MILLIONS of songs. Soundtracks, popular music, and local bands--the only arena in which Spotify seems to lack is the foreign music scene. - Spotify can play local files too
That's right. It can access and play anything in your Downloads, Music, or iTunes folders. That means you don't need to have multiple music programs open in order to listen to everything your heart desires. - Spotify's paid options don't suck
Not only are the Unlimited and Premium packages super cheap, but they offer things that are actually worth the price. Unlimited gets rid of the ads (which are annoying as hell), and Premium allows you to listen to your music offline. - Spotify helps you find new music
Not only is there a radio station feature similar to Pandora or last.fm, but Spotify lets you share tracks with your friends and has a Related Artists feature. Better yet, instead of scouring YouTube for music samples or buying an album you've never heard, you can check it out on Spotify. - Spotify is portable
You can access your account/playlists/favorites/etc on any computer with the Spotify client. There's an iPod app, so you can easily play music through a speaker system. And with the Premium package, you can access Spotify anywhere on your phone.
