iCloud vs. Spotify

[ghsNick]

Ok, so I've been doing a lot of research and I want to use one of these services (obviously iCloud isn't available now, but when it is) for my music.

I have an iMac with 500Gb...that's definitely enough for my 70GB iTunes Library.
I am also getting an Air and iPhone (4S/5) when they become available.

I like having my music stored on my iMac...but I want to have my music available on the Air and iPhone (without storing it on them).

Spotify is $5 a month and from what I can tell it's a music player that streams unlimited music. And you can upload your current iTunes Library to it. When you upload music to it does it filter music out that hasn't been purchased by me (demos/live music/burned cds from friends) and not add to your Library? Or will it upload everything?

I can honestly say I've purchased 6000+ of my 7000+ songs and a lot of stuff are Live Shows/Demos that weren't official releases...so I'd like access to those.

But the iCloud is $25 a year for these services...but only streams music you have to other devices (correct)? And they'll replace music they don't have to 256kbps too, correct?

So I guess my issue is I'm super scared going to something new (like Spotify) but the iCloud is also going to be new...so I'll have to choose one.

Any opinions/suggestions?

 

[Panch0]

As I understand it, and this could be wrong, iCloud is a SYNC service, not a STREAM service. All (some?) of the content gets synced to each of your devices while connected to WiFi. You are actually playing local copies, not streaming from the iCloud.

Spotify Streams, but with their paid plans you can also get local copies for off-line playing.

iCloud with Match is going to limit you to the music that you have acquired and have in your iTunes Library. Spotify will stream you al of their 1.5 million song library and will allow you to copy files locally (depending on the plan you pay for). I'm not sure how those two services would interact.

I just got my invite for Spotify Free yesterday, so haven't had much time to play with it. I like the idea of not having to keep (and especially back-up) all of my media, but I'm not willing to pay for the service just to see if it works, especially the off-line listening part.

 

[ghsNick]

As I understand it, and this could be wrong, iCloud is a SYNC service, not a STREAM service. All (some?) of the content gets synced to each of your devices while connected to WiFi. You are actually playing local copies, not streaming from the iCloud.

Spotify Streams, but with their paid plans you can also get local copies for off-line playing.

iCloud with Match is going to limit you to the music that you have acquired and have in your iTunes Library. Spotify will stream you al of their 1.5 million song library and will allow you to copy files locally (depending on the plan you pay for). I'm not sure how those two services would interact.

I just got my invite for Spotify Free yesterday, so haven't had much time to play with it. I like the idea of not having to keep (and especially back-up) all of my media, but I'm not willing to pay for the service just to see if it works, especially the off-line listening part.

So for iCloud to work you must have WiFi? iCloud costs less and does documents/pictures/etctoo though, correct?

I would like Spotify...but would I still need to keep my iTunes Library? I don't see the point of having iTunes and Spotify.

I'm normally up to date with this stuff but I'm a little confused...now I know how my grandparents feel around computers lol.

 

[reubs]

They're two completely different services for different things. iCloud is a hub-like service that will route your files to your different devices. The only thing that will stay on the iCloud servers (I think) are your iOS backups and items necessary for a restore/reset of iOS devices. In other words, iCloud keeps stuff on it that belongs to YOU, the end-user.

Spotify, though, will stream just about anything to your computer (and your devices), and you can also cache files for off-line listening and for putting on your iOS devices. Unless you buy the files, though, the music still belongs to THEM, and you're getting access to those files by your subscription.

It's difficult to compare the two since they really are so different in their purpose and offering.

In the end, I think iTunes and Spotify can be complements to each other, especially since Spotify will play your local iTunes library and playlists (but I don't know if it will sync them with iTunes).

 

[Panch0]

So for iCloud to work you must have WiFi? iCloud costs less and does documents/pictures/etctoo though, correct?

I would like Spotify...but would I still need to keep my iTunes Library? I don't see the point of having iTunes and Spotify.

I'm normally up to date with this stuff but I'm a little confused...now I know how my grandparents feel around computers lol.

For iCloud to work, you need to be on a network. Part of the point is to keep your files synced across your iDevices. It doesn't sync anything over 3G - it waits for your device to connect to a WiFi netowrk and does the syncing, then when you are not connected, that files are available locally. If you have your computer connected to a wired network, that will work too.

I think they are complementary, but Spotify really seems to want to be an iTunes replacement. I think you would have to buy into the highest priced service ($25/month) for that to work.

 

[ghsNick]

For iCloud to work, you need to be on a network. Part of the point is to keep your files synced across your iDevices. It doesn't sync anything over 3G - it waits for your device to connect to a WiFi netowrk and does the syncing, then when you are not connected, that files are available locally. If you have your computer connected to a wired network, that will work too.

I think they are complementary, but Spotify really seems to want to be an iTunes replacement. I think you would have to buy into the highest priced service ($25/month) for that to work.

I thought the highest priced spotify was $25 a month.
I'm just skeptical about all this cloud crap and storing stuff in the cloud.

I don't want my info getting hacked (it seems those could be the next biggest terrorist attacks in our generation) in the cloud.

I'll probably get iCloud for synchronization. But I have all the music I need...so no neccesito spotify lol.

 

[ghsNick]

I think I have a good plan...let me know what you think.

I have A LOT of room on my iMac...soI'll keep my iTunes Library on there and update it.

I'll get Spotify and upload my iTunes Library to it and stream my iTunes from anywhere on my Air and iPhone.

It'll be $5 a month and I can access my music from anywhere.

With iCloud (correct me if I'm wrong) I will have access to my music...but I'll have to store the music I want to listen to on my Phone/Air...and the whole point I want this is to have access to these files without using any storage from these devices.

Let me know if this sounds like my best option?

 

[Thunderbyte]

I think many people don't get it, so I will try to explain:

you CANNOT upload your own music to the service. The "sync" function in Spotify simply >>shows<< the music you have in iTunes / Windows Media Player / Windows Media Library / Downloads. It will NOT upload any own music, as it is a streaming service.

So johndoejohndoes, everything you have written makes not much sense:

- The point of having iTunes AND Spotify is that you can show iTunes content in Spotify. So you have all your music in one interface and you can e.g. create playlists in which local and streaming music is combined.

- iCloud is ONLY a sync service. It will only sync what you have on your computer (and upgrade it to better quality if available in the iTunes music store). Yes, the files are synced to your mobile devices.

Concerning streaming devices, the advantage of one service can be the disadvantage of the other:

STREAMING: you have 13.000.000 songs available, but your mobile data plan will be used.

SYNCING: you only have a limited number of songs locally available, but there is no data plan being used.

 

[ghsNick]

I think many people don't get it, so I will try to explain:

you CANNOT upload your own music to the service. The "sync" function in Spotify simply >>shows<< the music you have in iTunes / Windows Media Player / Windows Media Library / Downloads. It will NOT upload any own music, as it is a streaming service.

So johndoejohndoes, everything you have written makes not much sense:

- The point of having iTunes AND Spotify is that you can show iTunes content in Spotify. So you have all your music in one interface and you can e.g. create playlists in which local and streaming music is combined.

- iCloud is ONLY a sync service. It will only sync what you have on your computer (and upgrade it to better quality if available in the iTunes music store). Yes, the files are synced to your mobile devices.

Concerning streaming devices, the advantage of one service can be the disadvantage of the other:

STREAMING: you have 13.000.000 songs available, but your mobile data plan will be used.

SYNCING: you only have a limited number of songs locally available, but there is no data plan being used.

I have unlimited data...so data won't be an issue.

I've also been looking at Amazon's Cloud and Music Beta (Google) and here's what I want.

I just want to be able to listen to my iTunes Music on my MBA and iPhone without storing the music on the devices.

Whether I have internet access and listen to it...or offline access (both have offline access, right?) I just don't want to waste 80GB of my 128GB MBA from my iTunes Library if I could access it from a cloud based storage.

Spotify allows me to access my iTunes Files from another computer (regardless if I'm online or offline) since it shows iTunes content, right?

 

[paulsalter]

- The point of having iTunes AND Spotify is that you can show iTunes content in Spotify. So you have all your music in one interface and you can e.g. create playlists in which local and streaming music is combined.

Have had spotify for quite a while now but not really used it much

After I have told spotify to show my itunes content, If I play a song that is in itunes, from the spotify app, does it play the local file or stream it from their servers

 

[chemistry76]

To stream your personal music library to your iOS device (or computer with a web browser I believe), just download the free app Audiogalaxy.

 

[fabian9]

I have unlimited data...so data won't be an issue.

I've also been looking at Amazon's Cloud and Music Beta (Google) and here's what I want.

I just want to be able to listen to my iTunes Music on my MBA and iPhone without storing the music on the devices.

Whether I have internet access and listen to it...or offline access (both have offline access, right?) I just don't want to waste 80GB of my 128GB MBA from my iTunes Library if I could access it from a cloud based storage.

Spotify allows me to access my iTunes Files from another computer (regardless if I'm online or offline) since it shows iTunes content, right?

I see your problem, I'm in the same boat really. I dont want to keep 60gb of photos and 60gb of music on my laptop. I'd like it to be available online to access from any device I own.

To answer some of your questions:
- iTunes match has offline access, so does spotify. iTunes match DOES NOT have "online access" in the sense that it doesn't offer streaming.
- spotify on your iMac will let you access songs in your iTunes library. However if you're away from your iMac and you want to access the songs in your spotify library, it won't let you stream songs that aren't available in the spotify catalogue if you're on your iPhone or air. (fairly sure about this, will try it in a second
- to use spotify on your iPhone you'll have to get the premium offer for $10/month. The unlimited offer doesn't allow you to use it on your iPhone.

Hope this helps, wil, post back about the second point.

Edit: I was right, it won't let you stream stuff that's not already in the spotify catalogue.

 

[fabian9]

To stream your personal music library to your iOS device (or computer with a web browser I believe), just download the free app Audiogalaxy.

Yep, this works quite well, just tried it out. Downside is that you always have to have the computer running… I wish I had a low power media server that I could leave on all the time. Kind of like a TimeCapsule running an iTunes server and also allowing other software like AudioGalaxy to run!