Spotify Revisited

Whilst doing a bit of blog maintenance I came across a very early post on Spotify that champions it as a Radio DJ killer. This post however was hidden away amidst some mumblings about how it was the first blog post i'd written and so wasn't quite sure what to 'tell the world'.
However on closer inspection I think it's worth of it's own post now so before it gets hidden amongst more mumblings here it is.

Compared with many other websites Spotify is user friendly, easy navigation when searching for artists, tracks and albums due to the size of database and details of results listed allows us to find that perfect track with a relatively small amount of information. The programme records history of previous searches, which saves time when you next logon and users can also que songs which saves time downloading tracks. We are able to personalise playlists and gain instant access to different genres. The question however is why do we want to do that, after all radio DJs have been around for years and they know the industry, are they not better equipped to decide what we listen to on a professional basis? Are we in fact criticising their profession by believing that we can do better ourselves? Or is taste a good enough reason to substitute professional DJs with a program like Spotify?

The second area that we benefit from by using Spotify is the fact that there is a free option. In order to build an extensive catalogue like the one on Spotify would cost hundreds of thousands, if not millions of pounds were we still buying CDs or Vinyl. Now it is at hand whenever we want it. Some would argue that CDs are still bought and that many people still have stacks of CDs in their lounge however I believe I have the answer to this status that came from ownership of CDs and Vinyl. It is a fading trend that has occurred due to the way we access media from multiple channels.

In the past the radio DJs would play the songs and if you wanted to listen to them ‘On-Demand’ you would have to purchase the single or album on whatever medium (CD/Vinyl/Tape/Minidisc) was available. This meant that those with the larger collections would display them in prominent places in order to show their dedication to the music industry or particular artists and would be able to revel at having the latest tracks at hand.

However with the introduction of websites such as YouTube and Last.fm, interactive TV, dedicated music channels and and Spotify to name a few the need to own music has diminished. It is so easy to play your favourite tracks whenever you want without purchasing them that there is no status involved in owning a large music collection as we now have a global music collection where we can share playlists in an instant and be our own DJ, for ourselves or others. It makes you wonder what will happen to the music industry if we all stop buying music, it could be up to advertising to replace the revenue from sales.