<p>Spotify has now made it’s way to the US! Those of you who’ve never used this service - it is a godsend! Basically it lets you stream music for free over an internet connection, except unlike iTunes it lets you stream entire tracks and albums, and unlike Pandora you get to pick what you listen to. It is ad supported, and users can pay small monthly fees for higher quality audio and no ads.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, like Google Plus you can only at the moment sign up with an invite!</p>
<p>It is pretty awesome. I’d note that even though you need an invite, I requested one yesterday and received it by the end of the day. I was amazed at the music that was available.</p>
<p>It is always nice to have more choices. </p>
<p>The benefit of spotify appears to be that if you have a firm understanding of what music you like and don’t like, you can select pretty much all the music you want for free. One of the downsides appears to be that if you want the service on your mobile device, you have to pay the preimum subscription price rather than getting it free. Pandora lets you get music free on your mobile device but has a more limited selection than does Spotify. </p>
<p>If Spotify can take some of the consumers from Pandora, iheartradio, itunes, and satellite radio, their business model looks like it might work. It will be fun to watch.</p>
<p>I am not sure if spotify will work for me, though. I have uploaded all of the music I have purchased to Google Music and can listen to it anywhere any time without any commercials. I have satellite radio for which I pay a subscription and I sometimes listen to Pandora. How much more music can one tolerate?</p>