Spotify: Testing | Fee | Overview of Supported Devices

Is Bedrock still up to date?

Large music catalogs, radio, audio books, and podcasts-Spotify offers a wide range of content Music services has been a market leader in the streaming media industry for many years. We clarified whether this is reasonable in the test.

Spotify is an active fossil in the music streaming market. The music service started in 2006 and has been an undisputed market leader for many years. More than 50 million songs, radio dramas, audio books and podcasts-the content is extensive and extensive The music service has about 124 million paying users and 271 million active users, so it is far ahead of the competition in Apple Music or Amazon Music. But can Spotify do things that other services cannot?

The most important information at a glance

• Over 50 million songs
• Various music, podcasts, audio books and radio dramas
• Exclusive Podcast Works
• Broad platform support
• Free to use

Fees and packages

The widespread use of Spotify is definitely based on free tariffs. Over the years, music services have provided free basic tariffs through advertising. Users can listen to their favorite music here without paying for it. However, logically, there are some restrictions because Spotify is of course interested in selling its premium subscription.

For example, a single song can only be played in a playlist in random mode on mobile phones and tablets, while direct playback can be played on the desktop. In addition, you can skip up to six titles per hour. There are also advertisements and lower audio quality. The audio quality in the web player is up to 128 kb per second, and the audio quality in the Spotify application is 160 kbps per second. There is also no offline mode, and music can only be streamed on Spotify Free.

If you want to address these limitations, please use the Spotify Premium rate. This does not require advertising, while providing higher audio quality, and the audio rate in the network player is up to 256 KB per second. In the application, you can hear 320 kb per second. If you use Spotify Connect, you can also listen to music, podcasts and Co. at 320 kb per second. In addition, all restrictions of Spotify Free have been removed. Premium subscriptions cost 9.99 euros per user, and students receive a 50% discount on monthly fees for up to four years.

For families, Spotify provides family rates. A total of six people can use it in parallel. Families can create a public playlist at this price, the so-called family portfolio. There is also an option to prohibit inappropriate content. You can try all premium rates in the form of a trial subscription within the first 30 days. If you do n’t like advanced tariffs, you can simply switch back to Spotify Free.

Use Spotify Family Subscription with friends

Users between friends and acquaintances also use family tariffs. Spotify clearly states this in its general terms and conditions. it says:To use the Premium Family subscription, the main user and up to five (5) sub-account holders must be family members living at the same address."In addition:" The following actions are not allowed under any circumstances: … passing the password to others or using the username and password of others."I don't know if these rules will be canceled if ignored.

Current promotion

Spotify has repeatedly attracted new customers by extending the trial period. Usually, you can use the service for free for about three months instead of the usual 30 days. Premium plan users can save the most money by subscribing to a one-year subscription. With a coupon card (for example through Penny Card World), you can get Spotify Premium for 12 months at a price of 99 euros (instead of 119.88 euros).

Telekom StreamOn and Vodafone Music Pass options also include Spotify. This means that the amount of data not included in the tariff is used for mobile streaming. This is not the case with other providers. When streaming over a mobile network, you will be charged for the amount of surfing-how much depends on the quality selected. talk about it later.

Spotify runs on these devices

Spotify also emphasizes its market position through extensive device support. In addition to applications for tablets and smartphones, there are software for macOS, Windows, Linux, Windows Mobile, Chromebook and Amazon devices, for example via Alexa controls. In addition, Spotify can also be used as a web player in an Internet browser.

There are almost no devices and no Spotify application, as shown in the following table:

Spotify on smart speakers

However, not all devices have the same function. There will be significant differences when using Spotify on smart speakers! Owners of Google Home speakers can control services through voice even without a premium subscription. Voice control can also be used with Amazon ’s smart speakers, but requires a paid subscription.

Voice assistants Bixby and Siri can also be used with streaming services, but only on devices with the Spotify app installed. Not applicable to smart speakers of two manufacturers.

Spotify Connect

With Spotify Connect, the music service provides additional functions for more than 300 products from about 80 hardware manufacturers. With Spotify Connect, you do n’t need to stream music to other devices via Bluetooth, but call it directly from the server and play it at 320 kb per second. The smartphone is only used as a remote control. You can select the appropriate device (such as a smart speaker) and control music in the app. Compatible devices will be marked accordingly in the Spotify app. Spotify Connect usually requires a paid subscription, but Sonos speaker owners can also use the feature for free. All important information about Spotify Connect and how to use it can be read in the linked article.

Music selection and play your own song

Spotify currently offers about 50 million songs in total, and its music catalog is similar to other providers on the market, adding about 40,000 songs per day. Napster and Apple Music have a total of 60 million tracks, which provides more services than the Swedish service. The quotes are still comparable and there is no big gap in the music catalog. You will also find all well-known artists on Spotify. Even unknown musicians have appeared in music catalogs, such as the Munich rap band Square Square. But of course, like other providers, you will not find underground artists like rapper Kadafi or rap crew Defined Print.

If you find a gap in music, you can fill the gap by adding locally stored songs and albums. However, this is not satisfactory compared to other music services (such as Apple Music or Deezer or Google Play Music). Adding your own music is actually very troublesome and complicated. First, you must open the Spotify software on your PC, activate it in the "Local Files" setting, and then add the corresponding source directory. Then, individual songs must be added to the playlist. Now, the song has been uploaded. Then, you must download the corresponding playlist on your smartphone or tablet before you can access the content-unnecessarily complicated. Tip: If you switch to Spotify from another music service, you can use SongShift to transfer the playlist to Spotify.

Audiobooks and radio dramas

Spotify not only provides music, but also provides audiobooks and radio programs. These can be found in the "Search" category. However, there is no separation between the two areas. In the "Audiobooks" section, the radio dramas and audiobooks in the new version are colorful, and in "Children", the radio dramas are mixed with children's songs and Co. The offer is as extensive as other services. For children and young people, Benjamin Blümchen, Bibi and Tina or TKKG are about three. Various audio books can be found on Spotify. However, since audiobooks are usually sold on other platforms, you usually cannot find the latest titles.

Our dissatisfaction with the entire area is visual renovation and lack of classification. There are playlists on the topics "Youth", "Crime and Thriller", and other content in the audio books, but there is no main category at all, and users can view all audio books in a specific category. This works better in radio dramas because there are playlists for certain radio drama series, such as five friends or Sherlock Holmes. Then find various plots in it. However, there are some tips on how to better find radio dramas and audiobooks and display certain publishers ’charts or content. The reason it works is because it has a search function. However, we found this to be an unnecessary step and not very intuitive, especially for new users.

podcast

Podcasts play a central role in Spotify, and the categories are cleaner in music services. You can find all known national and international podcasts. On the one hand, these categories are divided into various categories, on the other hand, podcast playlists based on certain topics (such as "interesting facts and information" or "human abyss"). In addition, Spotify also produces exclusive podcasts, the most famous in Germany is definitely "Fest und Fleuschig" by Jan Böhmermann and Olli Schulz. In the podcast area, Spotify can score and will not miss anything.

Music video

There is no classic music video on Spotify. So far, there are only so-called "canvases" on Android and iOS devices, which can be activated or deactivated. These are mini videos of three to eight seconds, and they can be looped. According to customer service, this feature is not currently activated for all users.

Sound quality

Spotify uses the AAC format for music streams and streams of different quality levels. The free rate for desktop computers is 128 KB per second in network players, PC software and applications, and 160 kbps per second in PC players. In premium charging, a 256 kb per second network player can provide higher audio quality, but it is still limited compared to mobile devices and computer applications. You can only get the highest quality outside of the web player.

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In the mobile application, the quality at the highest setting is even higher, reaching 320 kb per second. Here, Spotify relies on the same quality as Tidal to obtain premium tariffs. Direct comparison found no difference. Music services can also be transmitted via Spotify Connect on selected devices (such as speakers or game consoles) at 320 kb per second. Therefore, if you are not using Spotify in the application, you can get the best available sound quality from a supported external playback device.

The audio quality is good enough for "ordinary" speakers or headphones. Those who seek music streaming for high-quality equipment can enjoy Deezer and Tidal ’s lossless tariffs and better. Spotify does not provide a product in contrast to this.

Average data consumption per song

• Normal (94 bits / sec): about 2 megabytes
• High (160 KB per second): approximately 3.5 megabytes
• Very high (320 KB per second): about 5 megabytes

Operation and additional functions

Spotify has a uniform appearance between devices. However, compared to desktop software, there are fewer categories to choose from for mobile applications. The homepage, search and library can be found on smartphones and phones, and there is also a "Radio" category on the computer, which contains various artist playlists, and direct access to "Recently Listened", podcasts or favorite albums and songs Regional and Co. Overall, the difference is almost no big, Spotify is easy to use on all platforms.

The sub-menus on each page give you access to many sub-functions, such as saving music, saving it in a playlist or sharing it with other users. Search can quickly provide results and even avoid spelling errors. Overall, this operation can be performed perfectly and quickly. The structure of each artist page is reasonable. In addition to short biographies, you can also find popular songs, newly released albums, features, albums, or matching artist playlists. In addition, you can also find concert dates or current offers, such as band printed T-shirts.

Equalizer

The app also includes a 6-band equalizer, and you can adjust the music to your liking. There are various presets, such as "Classic", "Pop" or "Speech Enhancement", in addition, you can of course adjust the equalizer yourself. Equalizers can also be used on podcasts. There is also a separate switch that you can use to activate or deactivate it.

More sound functions

In addition to the equalizer, there are other settings for the best listening pleasure. For example, you can manually set the cross-fade function to fade songs in and out within a set time period. The "Automix" function can be used for seamless transitions. In addition, you can activate automatic volume adjustment in which all audio tracks are played at the same volume.

Offline mode

Spotify Premium plan subscribers can also easily download and listen to music offline. This can be done quickly and easily. On the corresponding playlist, album, you will find the corresponding download symbol. For a single song, you must bypass the playlist. Once they are created, they can be downloaded-unfortunately, it cannot work in any other way.

Data protector

In the settings of the Spotify application, you will find the "Data Protection Program" option. This can be used to reduce data consumption during the journey. On the one hand, this is achieved by reducing the sound quality (Spotify cannot provide exact information), on the other hand, no cover image is loaded.

Block inappropriate content

Inappropriate content may also be blocked in the settings of the music platform. This applies especially to music marked as "explicit", which means it may contain swear words.

lyrics

Spotify can be used in conjunction with the Genius song database and provides lyrics for selected songs and playlists. However, the number is still clear and only applies to known titles. The lyrics here are suitable for music, you can sing or read together.

Recommendation systems and social networks

Spotify provides a lot of music and podcast recommendations for users and competitions. On the homepage, among other things, you can find lists that are played according to mood, commuting at home, podcasts to smell at home, popular artists or albums, and more. Overall, the choices are wide, and the entire process is derived from very personal recommendations.

Spotify learns what you like from your music preferences and provides other content for your area on the homepage, such as "your novelty", your own mixing tape in your own listening history, etc. In addition, you can also follow artists and creators of playlists and get information about new content. The streaming service has its own social network. Users can establish a network with others on the platform and share their favorite songs, albums or playlists with others. You can also connect to Facebook.

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You can learn more about music files by artist, song or playlist radio station. It is based on an algorithm that will deliver similar music to what has been heard, and can also be provided in the form of a genre radio station. In the test, it worked reliably and performed well. Of course, sometimes there will be songs that do not necessarily match your own musical tastes. You can mark songs with your heart so that Spotify can understand your favorite tracks and improve music suggestions. We explained in the linked instructions how to discover new music in Spotify.

Spotify Lite

The "Spotify Lite" app is only available to Android users. The application is aimed at customers who have a small amount of data, an older mobile phone or a poor internet connection. The application was initially very small, only about 10 megabytes. In comparison, about 90 MB in regular applications. In the settings of Spotify Lite, you can set the maximum consumption, until then, the application will always notify you-there is almost no data. In addition, Spotify promises that the Lite version can work even with a very slow connection speed, and can play music reliably.

Within the scope of the function, you must accept some limitations of Spotify Lite. Overall, there are fewer suggested music, so users should use the integrated search function and only search for other content. Offline mode is still missing. Overall, the method is exemplary, and the restrictions are manageable. Spotify Lite has a special method and targets a very small number of customer groups, at least in Germany. In other countries (such as developing countries), the situation may be different.

Spotify for artists

With Spotify for Artists, there is a separate area for artists who want to provide music on Spotify. These tools especially have various tools, such as song statistics or analysis tools, which can be used to check the target population. In addition, there is a large and detailed help section where artists can find information on how to best market themselves and their music on Spotify. According to the SoundBetter website, Spotify pays artists $ 0.0032 per stream, or about $ 0.0029.

Advantages compared to other services

What is the difference between Spotify and other services? What are the advantages? We list the unique selling points of the platform below.

• Extensive music, radio dramas, audio books and podcasts
• Exclusive original podcast shows, such as "Fest und Fluschig"
• Very broad platform support