Wednesday, March 27, 2013

Spotify

I am a music freak. I love all kinds of music. From pop to rock to jazz to classical to Broadway to industrial. I love it all. 

I recall memories from my childhood where I would sit in front of my dual tapedeck making mixtapes. My favorite one was industrial heavy (i.e. Ministry, Nitzer Ebb, Nine Inch Nails, Skinny Puppy) which I affectionately dubbed, "Hung Like a Horse Mix." I took great pride in making these tapes and I still have most of them today despite the fact that tapes are obsolete. 

My love for music is what led me to major in Broadcasting. Well, Mass Communications with an emphasis in Broadcasting. 

So after the whole Napster/Limewire free-for-all was over, I  longed for having whatever music I wanted at my fingertips. My CD/LP collection is overly endowed, but you can never own all the albums you ever want. 

I have spent hundreds of dollars on iTunes which I do so happily. Clean tracks with no viruses. But I still wanted more. My thirst for fabulous music is insatiable. 

So then I started playing around with Pandora. Meh. I like it, but who has all that time to thumbs up/thumbs down each track so it will be tailored to my musical tastes which run the gamut? 

Then I happened up on Spotify

Music heaven. 

Its like Napster but legal. I can make my own playlists which is awesome since I never know what musical mood I will be in that time of the day. I have a Broadway list, a Divas list, and a list called "Store" which are tracks suitable for the customers in my store. But my favorite playlist is "Jim's Jams." It has a bit of everything. 

Here is a listing of the first ten tracks to give you an idea: 

"Gunpowder and Lead" - Miranda Lambert
"Peanut Butter" - RuPaul
"Headhunter V1.0" - Front 242
"Fancy" - Reba McEntire
"Telescope" - Hayden Pantierre (from "Nashville")
"Stronger" - Kelly Clarkson
"I Will Always Love You" - Dolly Parton
"Defying Gravity" - Wicked Cast
"Dancing On My Own" - Robyn
"The Hand That Feeds" - Nine Inch Nails

The list on a whole has about 52 tracks and I am am always editing the list - adding in new ones and taking off ones that really aren't "Jams." 

I also love the fact that I can play these lists on my iPhone - for a price. A monthly charge of $10 would allow me to play them on any of my mobile devices. I have not yet committed to the Premium service yet. Like I need ANOTHER monthly service fee for something. But Betsy the wonder cube does not have a satellite radio in her and I can connect my iPhone to the car and play Spotify through my stereo. So I did get rid of one subscription. Maybe I could get the premium service, but until our economic outlook gets better I am not going to pull at that string. 

I will just enjoy the free service on my laptop and computer until that runs out which I am sure will be any day now. Until that happens I will be one happy homo who is Rocking in the Free World.  

I suggest you check it out for yourself. And let me know any playlists you create. I love to know what kinds of music gets my friends going! 

Much love, 
Jim

PS. As I was finishing this entry, "Its Not Enough" by Gravity Kills came on Spotify. As my friend, Muffy Bolding, would say, "That is completely ON TRACK! 

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