Spotify is an audio streaming service that allows users to listen to music, create playlists, use third-party selections, listen to podcasts, watch videos, discover new styles and artists, all with free and subscription plans. Available on iOS and Android computers and phones, the service has more than 83 million subscribers and a monthly average of 100 million users across all platforms. Next, you will better understand what Spotify and how it works.
Launched in 2008 and available today in 65 countries, it is the dominant streaming market when it comes to music. According to official data, the collection has more than 35 million songs, organized in the most varied ways in more than 2 billion playlists created by users over the years.
Spotify allows free streaming of more than 35 million songs on cell phones, computers, Internet browsers and even video game consoles Photo: Kellen Bull / dnetc
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Spotify is a service that allows you to stream audio over the internet. In short, a way to enjoy music without having to download and load files with you, taking up space on your device. The downside of this approach is the dependency on internet connectivity for the service to work (subscribers can download to listen without the need for internet, but in any case, the connection will be necessary to obtain the file).
Unlike Netflix, Spotify can be used for free: all you have to do is associate your Facebook account with the service, or create a new account with a valid email. In the free model, you can use playlists, discover content and listen to the music available on the platform.
The big difference for the paid modality, called Spotify Premium, is the absence of advertising. Free Spotify users must live with ads played between songs, while premium subscribers do not hear advertising.
Another more sterile difference between the two forms of access is the way in which Spotify free allows the user to interact with the music. In the free modality, the platform ends up restricting the means by which the user can consume the service: only through pre-defined playlists or with the shuffle activated, without being able to skip several tracks in sequence. There are also location restrictions, some types of content are not accessible for free plans in some countries.
Spotify allows music download for subscribers Photo: Melissa Cruz / dnetc
Spotify pays royalties to artists who assign their music to the service's collection. The account that establishes how much money each musician will receive can vary depending on a number of factors, but, in general, the calculation starts from the number of times the content is heard by a user. Mathematics also considers the total number of songs heard within a given period. However, copyright issues and other factors can end up directly affecting how much each one receives.
One of the most interesting aspects of Spotify is the service's ability to discover your tastes over time, through artificial intelligence. So the more you use it, the more accurate Spotify becomes in the task of suggesting new music for you. In the end, the service may end up becoming an important source in the discovery of new sounds, artists and rhythms that you might not otherwise hear. To access the resource, just use the Discover option.
The most common way to interact with Spotify and discover its potential through playlists. You just have to find a portion of your favorite music in the search and add them to your list to listen to whenever you want.
You can also find playlists created by your friends to find out what they’re listening to. Another cool way to interact with the list engine is to find playlists made by artists.
Present on cell phone, PC and even video game
Spotify can be used in several different devices Photo: Thssius Veloso / dnetc
Spotify can be used on a number of different devices, including smartphones, PCs (via app or browser), video game consoles and devices like Chromecast. If the device has Bluetooth, it also makes it possible to transmit music wirelessly.
Simultaneous use on more than one device may be restricted to users of the free modality.
Maximum of 3,333 songs downloaded
Spotify Premium allows the subscriber to download music to listen without needing an internet connection, but it is important to remember that this feature is not the same thing as downloading an mp3 file.
The music downloaded from Spotify only works in the application's player and cannot be copied and played on another device. The current limit is 3,333 downloaded songs that can be synchronized with up to three different devices.
Sound quality may end up impacting data consumption Photo: Divulgao
There are only three options for audio quality in Spotify: normal, with Ogg Vorbis files with a 96 kb / s sample; high, which uses the same format, but at a higher quality of 160 kbps; and the extreme, where the quality jumps to 320 kb / s.
The first two normal and high can be used by participants of the free plan. It is worth remembering, however, that heavier files use more internet and device space. The 320 kb / s format, with higher quality, reserved for subscribers.
According to Spotify, listening to an hour of music in normal quality requires around 50 MB. High quality fans use 1 GB every 24 hours of streaming music. In turn, the extreme standard requires 1 GB every seven hours (on average).
The most economical official estimate using the standard 96 kb / s format, so realize that an hour of Spotify will spend around 50 MB of your data plan. With 160 kbps files, 24 hours of music translates to a consumption close to 1 GB.
As you may have understood, Spotify can be used for free, or else in a paid mode. Currently, Premium costs R $ 16.90 per month. But there are some points to consider in this account.
The first is that there are cheaper schemes, such as a plan for university students, which costs R $ 8.50. PlayStation 4 players can subscribe for two months for the price of R $ 2.99, using the official platform app for the console.
There is also the family plan, which jumps to R $ 26.90, but entitles you to six subscriptions within the same monthly package.
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