What are you listening to on Lala, Spotify, last.fm and Deezer?

[A Lark Ascending]

Heard about this site on the BBC news last night. Swedish in origin, just opened out in the UK.

Listen for free if you accept adverts every 20 minutes or so; or pay £10 and get advert free. Streaming music, not downloads. Has entire albums.

I just signed up to the free service to have a look. Put Neil Young, Gerry Mulligan, Bob Brookmeyer into the search engine. Not comprehensive but lots there. I'm currently listening to the Gerry Mulligan Concert Jazz band at the Village Vanguard. It cuts out occasionally and there is some electronic background noise - not what you'd want for main listening but no worse than the glitches you get from DAB radio.

On the radio broadcast a Universal spokesperson seemed happy it could make his company money. I'm not sure how. Depends on advertising I suspect.

Even if this company doesn't work, it does suggest the future is even more radical than we've suspected. No need to actually own anything!

What will we do with our lovingly assembled record collections?

For the moment I'll use it to preview - I'm not sure I can drag myself away from the need to possess (well done capitalism!). But who knows, in time.

Interesting times indeed.

Brits might like to try:

https://www.spotify.com/en/

Apologies if the rest of the world already knows about this.

Edited April 18, 2009 by Bev Stapleton

[A Lark Ascending]

Just listened through these two in full:

The odd glitch but only 3 short adverts in two hours.

Seems like a marvellous way to preview. Certainly beats 30 second clips!

Edited February 25, 2009 by Bev Stapleton

[GA Russell]

Sounds like a British Lala.com, but Lala plans to make its money with downloads.

I'll give it a try.

[Jazzjet]

Heard about this site on the BBC news last night. Swedish in origin, just opened out in the UK.

Listen for free if you accept adverts every 20 minutes or so; or pay £10 and get advert free. Streaming music, not downloads. Has entire albums.

I just signed up to the free service to have a look. Put Neil Young, Gerry Mulligan, Bob Brookmeyer into the search engine. Not comprehensive but lots there. I'm currently listening to the Gerry Mulligan Concert Jazz band at the Village Vanguard. It cuts out occasionally and there is some electronic background noise - not what you'd want for main listening but no worse than the glitches you get from DAB radio.

On the radio broadcast a Universal spokesperson seemed happy it could make his company money. I'm not sure how. Depends on advertising I suspect.

Even if this company doesn't work, it does suggest the future is even more radical than we've suspected. No need to actually own anything!

What will we do with our lovingly assembled record collections?

For the moment I'll use it to preview - I'm not sure I can drag myself away from the need to possess (well done capitalism!). But who knows, in time.

Interesting times indeed.

Brits might like to try:

https://www.spotify.com/en/

Apologies if the rest of the world already knows about this.

I'm with you on the ownership thing. Difficult to break that desire to own ( and catalogue ). However, Spotify is surprisingly good and comprehensive. My main worry is what will happen to performance etc when the rest of the world ( mainly the US ) gets it?

[A Lark Ascending]

Sounds like a British Lala.com, but Lala plans to make its money with downloads.

I'll give it a try.

I've read about things like Rhapsody but we've had nothing like this before (that I know of). I imagine it's going to get very bloody out there in the world of music delivery (distribution seems such an old fashioned word!).

[A Lark Ascending]

I'm with you on the ownership thing. Difficult to break that desire to own ( and catalogue ). However, Spotify is surprisingly good and comprehensive. My main worry is what will happen to performance etc when the rest of the world ( mainly the US ) gets it?

My fear would be 'what if they go belly up?' How do I get access to the music? In time it will become clear if this model has a long term future.

If it settles down I'd imagine it suiting many people. And young listeners who've never known recording ownership might consider it the obvious option.

[seeline]

Rhapsody's been around for quite a few years now, but for people who don't have broadband, it's highly impractical.

I have this sneaking feeling that a lot of site developers and companies are overlooking the fact that an awful lot of people (in the US and elsewhere) are still using dialup.

[A Lark Ascending]

Rhapsody's been around for quite a few years now, but for people who don't have broadband, it's highly impractical.

I have this sneaking feeling that a lot of site developers and companies are overlooking the fact that an awful lot of people (in the US and elsewhere) are still using dialup.

How does Rhapsody work, Seeline?

[Robert J]

Dear Spotify Visitor,

Thanks for dropping by...

Here at Spotify we believe that Everyone Loves Music, that's why we aim to legally bring all the worlds music to everyone, everywhere and are currently working really hard to achieve this. With Spotify free service plus a variety of flexible subscription options to suit every lifestyle and budget you'll find we offer everything you need to get the most out of your music.

Unfortunately, due to licensing restrictions we are not yet available in your country. We understand that you are currently in Canada. If you believe we have made a mistake, we apologize and ask that you please contact us at support@spotify.com.

[A Lark Ascending]

Sorry, Robert. This seems to be a European thing at present.

Background here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spotify

[Robert J]

No problem. Servers know my IP address, but they don't give me points for living in a Commonwealth country.

[seeline]

Rhapsody's been around for quite a few years now, but for people who don't have broadband, it's highly impractical.

I have this sneaking feeling that a lot of site developers and companies are overlooking the fact that an awful lot of people (in the US and elsewhere) are still using dialup.

How does Rhapsody work, Seeline?

Not as well as it ought to, I think. Here's part of their FAQ.

When you go to "supported players," you'll see that neither the iPod or the Zune are compatible.

[Van Basten II]

Dear Spotify Visitor,

Thanks for dropping by...

Here at Spotify we believe that Everyone Loves Music, that's why we aim to legally bring all the worlds music to everyone, everywhere and are currently working really hard to achieve this. With Spotify free service plus a variety of flexible subscription options to suit every lifestyle and budget you'll find we offer everything you need to get the most out of your music.

Unfortunately, due to licensing restrictions we are not yet available in your country. We understand that you are currently in Canada. If you believe we have made a mistake, we apologize and ask that you please contact us at support@spotify.com.

Glad someone got turned off before i did

[A Lark Ascending]

Never heard this album before. I clicked into Genesis at the time of 'Nursery Cryme'. The creeping synths lost my interest and when this came out in '77/8 I was well advanced in fleeing rock (in the punk era) for jazz, classical etc.

Sounded much more enjoyable than I'd anticipated.

And previewd for zilch. Just one advert. I do hope this site prospers.

Edited February 28, 2009 by Bev Stapleton

[A Lark Ascending]

Put a playlist together from 3 different CDs of pieces by Milhaud and Ibert that I don't know. Just had nearly 2 hours of great listening.

None of the cutting out I got last week. And the interference I heard then has more to do with the medieval way I've connected the PC to the stereo!

Adverts are a bit of a jolt - the Kings of Leon advertised in the middle of a sequence of neo-classical concertos! But they only seem to appear every 30 minutes or so and only between tracks.

If this suits the record companies and beds in it's going to be a wonderful resource.

[A Lark Ascending]

Changed the thread title.

Sorry to those outside its area of operation. I'm sure something of this ilk will be along soon in your area.

[BillF]

I'll celebrate the change of thread title by letting you know I'm listening to Horace Silver's In Pursuit of the 27th Man (Blue Note), one I've never managed to hear before.

[BillF]

Clarke/Boland Big Band, More Smiles (MPS)

[papsrus]

Do you have any sense Bev of whether the catalog includes OOP or otherwise hard-to-find music? That would certainly be a draw, I'd think.

[A Lark Ascending]

Do you have any sense Bev of whether the catalog includes OOP or otherwise hard-to-find music? That would certainly be a draw, I'd think.

Not that I can see - I've checked out a few 'long lost' items like Wayne Shorter's 'Odyssey of Iska' and James Newton's 'Romance and Revolution' and nothing appears.

They seem to have most of the in print Blue Note catalogue, lots of Verve, ECM etc. For me it's a great preview source.

They seem quite ambitious, wanting to add as much as they can. There's enough there to fascinate me at present - every expansion will be a bonus.

I still want my own copies; but I can see if this really does succeed than all you'll need is to pay the modest premium and you won't need a record collection. And that might well take off with a younger generation not conditioned to owning the music they listen to like I am.

Won't address the concerns of audiophiles. But I find it far more exciting than (what was always for me) the false dawn of SACD.

[BillF]

Do you have any sense Bev of whether the catalog includes OOP or otherwise hard-to-find music? That would certainly be a draw, I'd think.

I downloaded Spotify this morning and, as far as I can tell so far, OOP or hard-to-find music doesn't seem to be their thing. There are a lot of compilation albums, which I normally never touch, but there's such a volume of stuff that I'm finding lots to listen to so far. Today I've heard Horace Silver, In Pursuit of the 27th Man, Clarke/Boland Big Band, More Smiles and Stan Getz, Complete Jazz Series 1946-1949, all new to me. Mind you, at the moment I think it's only available to us Yurpeans.

[BillF]

Jazz Couriers Featuring Ronnie Scott and Tubby Hayes, Some of My Best Friends

[David Ayers]

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This was made for me.

Thanks for the head's up.

But.... how do they expect me to get through forty albums by Stan Kenton??

Still, at least the 5,992 Ellington tracks should be more or less manageable.

Edited March 2, 2009 by David Ayers

[David Ayers]

Do you have any sense Bev of whether the catalog includes OOP or otherwise hard-to-find music? That would certainly be a draw, I'd think.

I downloaded Spotify this morning and, as far as I can tell so far, OOP or hard-to-find music doesn't seem to be their thing. There are a lot of compilation albums, which I normally never touch, but there's such a volume of stuff that I'm finding lots to listen to so far. Today I've heard Horace Silver, In Pursuit of the 27th Man, Clarke/Boland Big Band, More Smiles and Stan Getz, Complete Jazz Series 1946-1949, all new to me. Mind you, at the moment I think it's only available to us Yurpeans.

Hell, yes there are OOP titles. Take a look for Howard McGhee for example. There are also not yet re-re-issued titles - check the 2009 version of Pretty Things.

[GA Russell]

You guys have given me some ideas of things to look up on Lala.

Two weeks ago I found there one of my favorite albums from high school, Cannonball's Bossa Nova with Sergio Mendes.