use it: spotify

Source: spotify.com via Kelly on Pinterest

Have you heard of Spotify? Dan's dad introduced me to it. It's an awesome new Internet-based music application that is basically Pandora meets iTunes. You can listen to radio stations, subscribe to playlists created by other users, browse new music and top hits, or search Spotify's catalogue for a specific artist/band, song, or album. While not all artists or bands put all or even some of their music on Spotify, TONS do and most of them allow their albums to be played in their entirety. Once you've found the music you were looking for, you can listen to it, "star" it, and/or add it to a playlist you're creating. The Spotify application includes a library component, where you can store music you've imported (from other places like iTunes), bought, starred, and/or added to a playlist.

Source: spotify.com via Kelly on Pinterest

Something that is particularly neat about Spotify is how you can use it to share music with other people. Each song or playlist featured on Spotify is given a link, which can be sent to friends via a variety of mediums. Also, if you link Spotify to your Facebook account, the application will show you all your Facebook friends who also have Spotify and what they are listening to. You can also send them tracks or playlists by dragging and dropping them on the friend's name. The music will then appear in your friend's Spotify inbox (another component of the application) for your friend to discover the next time he/she is using Spotify.

Source: Uploaded by user via Kelly on Pinterest

While I haven't used the radio option on Spotify that much, I love searching for artists and listening to whole albums. Once I'm listening to an album, I can search related artists, play the artist radio to find similar music to listen to, or read the artist biography. I also really enjoy creating playlists and subscribing to playlists advertised on the brief commercials or that friends are listening to. Right now I'm loving my subscriptions to '80s Smash Hits!, Country Music Awards, Top of the Charts, and The Ultimate Holiday Playlist (as shown in the image above).

I highly recommend trying Spotify. I absolutely love it! (Note: I have the basic, free Spotify application which I use on my Mac. For information on Spotify Premium, click here. For information on Spotify Mobile, click here).

Do you use Spotify? What do you think?