For this blog post, I’m going to be honest from the beginning – I have been a Spotify user since 2009 and an unlimited subscriber for the past year. As a result, I believe no other music streaming service comes close; but I’m open to change…
There are several reasons why I am attached to Spotify. First, it’s easy to use. As soon as the software loads, I immediately know how to search for music, create a playlist or listen to some of the hundred most popular tracks, apart from One Direction of course, simply because these options can be found on the left hand side. Second, I can download a variety of additional applications to my account, at no additional cost. One of my favourites is TuneWiki, which allows me and my friends to perform distinctly average karaoke before a night out. Finally, in my personal experience, having listened to a number of songs on Grooveshark, the sound quality is generally better and the application and music loads faster.
But there are issues with Spotify, the main one being that after six months with a free account, you become limited to 150 minutes of streaming per week, and can also only play an individual song a maximum of five times. Compare this to the competition, where there appears to be no audio advertisements and no restrictions on your ability to play whatever you want, even on their mobile offerings. In addition, if you’re looking to play your music offline, Grooveshark will charge you $9 per month, whilst Spotify ask for £9.99, almost double the price.
However, I won’t be moving to the other side any time soon, primarily because the future of Grooveshark is looking increasingly under threat. Four major record labels, including Universal Music Group, are suing for copyright infringement and damages of more than FIFTEEN BILLION DOLLARS! (Quite a lot of money isn’t it). Furthermore, from a personal point of view, Grooveshark is no longer developing for my current make of mobile phone, which makes their premium option completely redundant to me.
In conclusion, both Spotify and Grooveshark have their advantages and disadvantages. Both also have a wide selection of music, although if you were in awe of Taylor Swift’s performance at the Brit Awards last week, it’s the latter that you would’ve had to use. However, I have invested a lot of time in my perfect playlist on Spotify and prefer storing my music on an external piece of software. You also have to question the approach of Grooveshark, but if they’re proven innocent in court, who knows, maybe, just maybe…
By Alexander Blakey – content contributor
