Led Zeppelin And The Free Spotify Mobile App

Spotify has heard the critics and has responded in kind. In an announcement at an event earlier this week in New York City, the music streaming service made a number of significant announcements that could alleviate much of the criticism that’s been leveled at it, at least for the moment.

One of the major issues with Spotify has been that you needed to be a paid subscriber in order to enjoy its mobile app. On Monday founder Daniel Ek announced that the app will now available for free not only on smartphones, but on tablets as well. The free version will still have adverts, and will add a Shuffle option that allows you to randomly play songs from within an artist’s catalog, instead of picking the exact song to play right away.

The second big announcement was that Led Zeppelin’s entire catalog will now be available on Spotify. Zep is one of the last of the major acts to withhold their music from any and all streaming services, so it’s noteworthy that the band has finally allowed this to happen.

The two announcements may sound modest on the surface, but they definitely play into a long-term strategy behind the scenes. By allowing the free version of the Spotify app on smartphones, the company can now expand it’s user base significantly, especially since its now available in 55 countries (a figure also announced at the event), many of which have more smartphone than desktop computer users. Read more on Forbes.

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Spotify Discovers Music Discovery Isn't Social

Last week Spotify introduced its updated user interface, something that users have been awaiting for some time. While this might seem all about the the features of the service, it's really a concession to the way people discover music when it comes right down to it.

If you've read Music 3.0 or attended any of my seminars, you know that there's always a section at the end called "What Next?" where I outline the coming technology and how it will affect our online lives in the near future. One of the predictions in this is section is "a new set of influencers" that people will follow to help them discover new music. In the traditional media past, that was the job of a radio DJ in the old beginning of FM days, or a selected reviewer in a music magazine. Soon that job will flow to a few trusted online sources, like Pitchfork, for instance.

Up until last week, Spotify flew in the face of that theory, figuring that music discovery was more of a social event. If you're friends liked something, chances are you would to listen as well. Their view on that has changed however. At the press conference last week, Spotify founder Daniel Ek acknowledged,

"Social has always been a very big part of what we do at Spotify. But finding people who can introduce you to music you care about has been hard. There are only a handful of people who are expert curators of music."

Ek goes on to say that these curators will be "journalists, trendsetters, and the artists themselves.....not just your friends, but really anyone on the music graph."

Yes, it's the "tastemakers" that we tend to discover music from, not our friends, at least much of the time. Ek goes on to say,

"For me, music is not social but is, in fact, the most personal cultural artifact imaginable. So when Spotify has shown me what my friends are listening to, I just realize this - I love my friends, but I hate their music."

The service will now suggest music to listeners not based on what their friends are listening to, but more on what they have listened to in the past, as well as known tastemakers. These new features are in beta testing now, and are slated to roll out at the beginning of the new year.

Seems like a step in the right direction, as long you follow the right influencer.

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Help support this blog. Any purchases made through our Amazon links help support this website with no cost to you.

You should follow me on Twitter for daily news and updates on production and the music business.

Check out my Big Picture blog for discussion on common music, engineering and production tips and tricks.