Spotify Promotion Offers 3-Month Premium Subscription for $0.99 to New Customers

Call me old fashioned, but I prefer to own my music.

macintologist said:

Call me old fashioned, but I prefer to own my music.

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No, I live local music as well. I will use streaming services but that uses battery and data.

Everybody has more than one email address right?

I much prefer the selection on Rdio, even for the price difference with this promo... Rdio's crates dig deeper.

macintologist said:

Call me old fashioned, but I prefer to own my music.

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I don't think it has much to do with fashioned-ness if you will, but more to do with your listening habits. If I were to buy everything that I have listened to on Spotify I'd have spent $10,000+. That's a lifetime of spotify subscription.

penajmz said:

Everybody has more than one email address right?

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NOPE ... only 1 email address and only 1 credit card.

Traverse said:

No, I live local music as well. I will use streaming services but that uses battery and data.

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I already own sizable music library so it is more practical for me to buy few new albums or songs instead of paying recurring subscription to streaming services. But for younger folks or enthusiasts that like to listen to new music, the appeal of streaming service is very strong.

And most streaming services offer offline mode that lets you download songs, so that elevates data and battery concerns (and some carriers such as T-Mobile offers unlimited free streaming from select streaming services).

Hmmmm ... the UK offer is buy one month of premium at £9.99 and get two months free.

That's about $16 for three months of Spotify, compared to less than $1 for US consumers. Feeling more than a little ripped off here.

I'd be more enticed to pay the full $10 if they'd optimism their app for the 6+.

Should probably note that this offer is US only. Meanwhile, the offer for the UK is much worse - instead of $0.99 (£0.63) for three months, they're doing two months free when you buy one month (£9.99 for three months).

Then again, this is Spotify which charges the US $9.99/month and the UK £9.99/month, or $15.63/month (more than a 50% markup on the US price). Bloody rip-off company.

macintologist said:

Call me old fashioned, but I prefer to own my music.

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Traverse said:

No, I live local music as well. I will use streaming services but that uses battery and data.

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Download the songs you want to your device so technically you own them as long as you want and also no issue with using more battery life or data.

I'm currently a Google all access subscriber but I think this will get me to jump ship. Spotify has a somewhat better library and I don't love googles interface/app. Also for some reason when I thumbs up a song on my iphone it's not syncing that to the web or my other devices.

Love subscription. It keeps you in the loop with new albums and artist that I wouldn't have paid to discover.

Hoping Apple and Beats come with something even better.

r3loaded said:

Should probably note that this offer is US only. Meanwhile, the offer for the UK is much worse - instead of $0.99 (£0.63) for three months, they're doing two months free when you buy one month (£9.99 for three months).

Then again, this is Spotify which charges the US $9.99/month and the UK £9.99/month, or $15.63/month (more than a 50% markup on the US price). Bloody rip-off company.

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Well, any country that's not the US will get screwed thanks to the conversion. Although 9.99 doesn't include VAT, unlike the price points in UK and Europe.

Deleted.

nutmac said:

. But for younger folks or enthusiasts that like to listen to new music, the appeal of streaming service is very strong.

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That is one distinct benefit of streaming; new music. This is especially beneficial for companies that also sell music like Apple.

From a few hours of iTunes Radio at home I found three albums I liked and purchased.

MacFather said:

what happened to iTunes Radio?

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What happened to Ping?

Oh, that's right, Apple doesn't have a clue what people want when it comes to music.

It's weird that Apple was so spot on with the iPod and the iTunes Music Store, but then has completely screwed up on everything music listening related since.

macintologist said:

Call me old fashioned, but I prefer to own my music.

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as I barely make it through a whole album let alone more than once nowadays streaming is more than welcome

WordMasterRice said:

I don't think it has much to do with fashioned-ness if you will, but more to do with your listening habits. If I were to buy everything that I have listened to on Spotify I'd have spent $10,000+. That's a lifetime of spotify subscription.

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That's assuming that everyone actually buys music rather than borrowing it from friends or ripping CDs from the library.

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bushido said:

as I barely make it through a whole album let alone more than once nowadays streaming is more than welcome

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Those aren't good albums. Good music doesn't get old very quickly. A great album can be listened to countless times.

shotts56 said:

Hmmmm ... the UK offer is buy one month of premium at £9.99 and get two months free.

That's about $16 for three months of Spotify, compared to less than $1 for US consumers. Feeling more than a little ripped off here.

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Same as Canada but 9.99 Canadian is less expensive for us than 9.99 US and especially 9.99 UK. So I'm not complaining.

Seems they are all about the 9.99 price point no matter what the country.

macintologist said:

Call me old fashioned, but I prefer to own my music.

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I won't call you old fashioned, but I will say that owning music is bad for the artists that you listen to most often, and probably for you too, if you listen to more than ~7700 tracks during your life.

How it hurts you:
For $10K, you could either buy 7752 tracks, or you could listen on Spotify for 83 years. If you won't want to listen to that many tracks over that many years, then you're better off buying the tracks / albums individually. If you will be listening to that many or more, then you should get Spotify.

How it hurts your favorite artists:
If you stream a track more than 70 times in your life, you have given that artist more for that track, in streaming revenue, then you would have by having bought that track. You don't have to listen to the track very often. Just once every 14 months or so.

How it rewards artists you don't like:
If you buy a track and listen to it fewer than 70 times in your life, you have given that artist more for that track than if you had streamed it.

IE, if you get a song stuck in your head, buy it, listen to it 20 times in one day, then get sick of it and throw it away, you have given that artist the same amount no matter what, because you bought it. In contrast, the one that you listen to 200 times over several years? They get the exact same amount.

So you're not old fashioned. But you're wrong. You're rewarding people who don't deserve your money, failing to give it to the people you want to give it to, and just wasting your own money in general.

I dislike this type of 'incentive'. The purpose of this is to get your credit card on their opt out system which many people neglect and end up as loyal Spotify customers if they want it or not.

Obviously everyone can decide for themselves but there are more honest ways to attract new customers.

I have Google Music All Access, and am trying Spotify with this offer. But my question is this: how does either help me when I go to take my iPod shuffle or Nano out the door on a run?

That's what really keeps me from getting int these subscription services vs buying my music in iTunes. I know I could get an iPod Touch or use my iPhone, but that's not really a preferable option for me. I love running with the shuffle and nano.

What are all you other runners using?

macintologist said:

That's assuming that everyone actually buys music rather than borrowing it from friends or ripping CDs from the library.

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Then you don't own it. It's no different than downloading them minus the likelihood of getting caught.

JGIGS said:

Download the songs you want to your device so technically you own them as long as you want and also no issue with using more battery life or data.

I'm currently a Google all access subscriber but I think this will get me to jump ship. Spotify has a somewhat better library and I don't love googles interface/app. Also for some reason when I thumbs up a song on my iphone it's not syncing that to the web or my other devices.

Love subscription. It keeps you in the loop with new albums and artist that I wouldn't have paid to discover.

Hoping Apple and Beats come with something even better.

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I could be INCREDIBLY wrong, but those who chose to download Taylor Swift on Spotify are ***** out of luck.

ArtOfWarfare said:

For $10K, you could either buy 7752 tracks, or you could listen on Spotify for 83 years. If you won't want to listen to that many tracks over that many years, then you're better off buying the tracks / albums individually. If you will be listening to that many or more, then you should get Spotify.

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Music discovery at the full album level is extremely important to many of us, and stands up to any dollar-for-dollar math comparison. I listen to dozens of new and recently discovered albums each week - some I like, many I don't, but all with something to offer. The cost of entry for an album is too high to justify broad experimentation.

I've been passionate about music for over 30 years, with hundreds and hundreds of purchased albums (LP, cassette, CD, DVD-A, SACD, Blu-Ray Audio, etc.). But nothing has been more life-changing to my music obsession than on-demand access to deep album catalogs.

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fanchee said:

What are all you other runners using?

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I use a SPIbelt with my iPhone (and Moto X before that). Everything else I tried felt bulky or bounced around. Then a serious ultra marathon guy told me about the SPIbelt, and it really works well. When you get the fit right, the phone just vanishes into your core and you don't even notice it when running.