Spotify Wins the Race to My Desktop (and Heart)

Everybody and their dog is talking about Spotify today, which is understandable since it, finally, finally launched in the United States this morning.  I’ll keep this (sort of) short.

I have been holding a secret sweepstakes in my head about which much ballyhooed app would find its way to my desktop first.  Google+, which is the talk of the internets, and still, amazingly,  unavailable to Google Apps users, or Spotify, the Holy Grail of music apps.  Spotify won.

I’ve been using Spotify for a few months, and can say unequivocally that it is the best music app I have ever used.  By far.  Now that it’s officially available and I don’t have to worry about some record-label madness derailing my joy, here’s what I know.

One, Spotify is going to completely change the music game, for the better.  I simply cannot believe there is a true music fan that won’t find $5 or $10 a month a screaming bargain for what Spotify offers.  Spotify has already replaced Windows Media Player and the bloated train wreck  that is iTunes as my default music player.

Two, I have cancelled my Slacker Radio account, and may very well cancel my Pandora account.  The 6-skip an hour limitation on Pandora (even the paid accounts) is simply a deal-stopper for me.  The only thing that could ensure that I keep Pandora will be if it gets to my car quickly and cheaply.  I want to dump Sirius XM (and the annoyance that is Mojo Nixon) much more than I want to dump Pandora, so the dashboard is open for Pandora to secure its place in my paid apps lineup.

Three, unlike 99% of the apps out there, Spotify does social right.  The sharing features really add something to the experience.  As soon as I add some alt. country, country rock, classic rock and blues loving friends to my Spotify circle, music discovery will be a significant, and fun, part of the experience.

Four, while there are tons and tons of songs in Spotify’s library, there are some holes around the edges.  Particularly as it relates to less mainstream and older music.  One of the first things I did was to try to add all the alt. country songs I thumbed up via Pandora to a Spotify playlist.  I was a little surprised at how many weren’t available.  I hope the library grows like I know the user base will.

Five, as amazing as this may sound, I have not added my huge local music library to Spotify.  I have 26,000 or so (legal, non-shared) songs on my music server.  The thing is, there are probably 15,000 or so of them that I never want to hear again.  I’m afraid things would get too cluttered if I tossed my entire library into my Spotify window.  Rather, I am going to use local files to fill in some of the gaps, and use Spotify’s library as my main one.  This may change, but that’s the current plan.

I’m really stoked about Spotify.  Now, if Google will stop screwing over Google Apps users, my desktop (and heart) will be full of joy.