Do You: Spotify

(this is neither a paid nor endorsed advertisement on behalf of Spotify.  All opinions are of my own, however goofy or convoluted they may be.)

I only recently was introduced to Spotify - a music streaming service - thanks to hosting a company party and needing to get a fun playlist set up.  My coworker populated a playlist of fun songs, and that was that.

But I started discovering it a bit further in the last month, digging further and further into its features and seeing that really, it has a lot more to offer those of us who are more of the curious type.

My music collection is limited - we're talking top 40 radio limited.  When my friends are gathered at a happy hour and talking about a hip new artist coming to town they want to go see, my eyes glaze over.  If that artist hasn't been heard by millions yet, they aren't on my radar.  I'm handicapped that way.  And the worst part, is that I didn't even realize this was going on.

Well, I guess that isn't true - my hairstylist was always going to hip clubs talking about DJ's coming into town and I had no clue who they were.  And of course there were the up and coming hipster artists I also knew nothing about being talked about by my friends.  But besides those blatant clues, I really didn't know I was being left in the dark.

Until Spotify.

I downloaded their streaming software to my desktop - easy peasy.  Then I started adding songs I knew from the radio - but this was my fatal mistake.  Don't do that.

Instead, I clicked the "Browse" button - my twitchy, curious fingers drew me to that section.  And that's when it all happened.  It was like the angels cried out - and opened a doorway to new music I had never discovered before.

I browsed by the Top Lists (no need to deviate too far from my Top 40 genre) and I just started scrolling.  There were top tracks from the US, UK, 1995 - all kinds.   And then I tried out "Genres and Moods" - hey, there's music playlists if I'm working, want to wake-up, want to go to sleep. All kinds of playlists.

What I really like about all of it - it pushes me two steps out of my comfort levels without pushing me off a cliff.  If a song pops up and I'm really not getting into it, all I do is press skip.  No commitments, no hurt feelings, no drama.  

I have discovered some great artists - or artists I've already listened to, but only their popular single, and now I like their entire album.  

If you are like me, and don't go outside your music comfort zone - give Spotify a try. I haven't tried the paid subscription, but I don't have any issues with the commercials (its like 2 an hour - less than most services).  So really, I've been happy with it so far.  If you use the service, what do you think?