# Is spotify premium worth it?



## Manok (Aug 29, 2011)

Is there a major difference between what you get from the free version to the premium?


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## brotagonist (Jul 11, 2013)

It depends on you. Do you already have a large collection? Are you having trouble finding the music you want to hear on free services, such as You Tube, your public library's offerings (they likely subscribe to Naxos Music Library or other similar services), etc.? Do ads bother you? Etc.


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## Dustin (Mar 30, 2012)

You get better sound quality, no commercials, and mobile access(great for car) for $10 a month. So for me there's not even a question if it's worth it. I'd pay $60 a month.


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## samurai (Apr 22, 2011)

For me, the answer is an unequivocal and resounding "YES". With Spotify Premium, I have access to a great array of musical choices with no ads, and all for 5 bucks a month. One can't do much better these days.


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## GreenMamba (Oct 14, 2012)

No commercials is crucial for Classical, as they often jarringly play between movements. That being said, I dropped Spotify for Rdio. I don't know if Rdio is better, but I was annoyed w/ Spotify for some reason.


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## neoshredder (Nov 7, 2011)

Yes. It is an awesome service. Especially with Premium. You don't have to shuffle then.


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## Kevin Pearson (Aug 14, 2009)

I have to also add my YES! to the question. I have been a premium subscriber for several years and it has been worth every penny. I would drop Netflix before I would drop Spotify. Another perk to those mentioned by others is that premium gets you 320kb streaming and not 198 of the free service. Of course you have to go into the "settings" option and check the box that says "high quality" but when it comes to music I want as high a quality as I can get. Spotify has also saved me a lot of money by being able to preview before buying. It also allows me to have at my immediate use a library of music that is more vast and broad than my own library and more music than I could listen to in a lifetime. I still prefer my CD library but it's wonderful to have options. Trust me you would get a lot satisfaction by giving up a few Starbucks a month to pay for a subscription (or whatever habit you might have).

Kevin


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## Blancrocher (Jul 6, 2013)

Dustin said:


> and mobile access


I agree with all the positive recommendations so far. I love the service.

Just a couple little pieces of advice for newbies: you might want to check to see that your mobile device is compatible, as some popular older devices (like the ipod nano) don't work with spotify tracks. Also, you'll probably want to toggle the setting that controls how much storage spotify takes up on your system; and, if you find things are slowing down (another good thing about spotify is it's very fast response times), you'll want to look up how to "clear your cache."


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## Triplets (Sep 4, 2014)

I like being able to listen in the car. I have used Spotify to check out many discs that I otherwise would have purchased as impulse purchases, usually after reading a favorable review in a magazine or comments on a Forum such as TC. Frequently I satisfy my curiousity with Spotify and then I am able to resist the purchase, so the $10 /month probably pays for itself a ffew times over.


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## opus55 (Nov 9, 2010)

Triplets said:


> I like being able to listen in the car. I have used Spotify to check out many discs that I otherwise would have purchased as impulse purchases, usually after reading a favorable review in a magazine or comments on a Forum such as TC. Frequently I satisfy my curiousity with Spotify and then I am able to resist the purchase, so the $10 /month probably pays for itself a ffew times over.


I'm making the same argument for keeping Spoty Premium after my $0.99/month special is over next month. It certainly helps avoid impulse buy and has expanded my listening habits. Also, it's great to have albums available offline so you don't have to use up your precious mobile data to stream highest quality audio.

The sound quality is very acceptable to my ears.


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## Vaneyes (May 11, 2010)

I haven't used it, but I think it could be a good idea for comparative listening, if Spotify's catalog is large enough. Spotifiers at "Current Listening" have occasionally told me that the CD I recommended wasn't available on Spotify. Are there still holes in their catalog? If so, how so? Certain labels, performers, dates, etc.?:tiphat:


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## Manxfeeder (Oct 19, 2010)

I've been on their three-month trial, and I'm getting spoiled. Yesterday I had a 20-minute walk to my car in 30-degree weather, so I put my favorite R&B tracks on shuffle, and I didn't even notice the walk or the cold. I was the only guy on the streets of Nashville smiling ear to ear.


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## Weston (Jul 11, 2008)

Vaneyes said:


> I haven't used it, but I think it could be a good idea for comparative listening, if Spotify's catalog is large enough. Spotifiers at "Current Listening" have occasionally told me that the CD I recommended wasn't available on Spotify. Are there still holes in their catalog? If so, how so? Certain labels, performers, dates, etc.?:tiphat:


Yes. I still have about 50% rate of finding an item I'm looking for, usually just a specific recording. I can almost always find a work, just not the recording. It's still a pretty awesome catalog in spite of that.


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## Freischutz (Mar 6, 2014)

It's better for you, is it better for the artists?


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## Albert7 (Nov 16, 2014)

I don't like Spotify so I can't comment on this.


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## Blancrocher (Jul 6, 2013)

Weston said:


> Yes. I still have about 50% rate of finding an item I'm looking for, usually just a specific recording. I can almost always find a work, just not the recording. It's still a pretty awesome catalog in spite of that.


Spotify seems to be in ongoing negotiations with labels and artists, so things are regularly being added to and subtracted from the catalog (though it seems there are constant net gains).

A tip for new users: sometimes you have to be persistent with your searches. If a "work + artist" search turns up nothing, you might scroll through the complete catalogs for the artist and performer--I sometimes find things that way that I couldn't otherwise. Their search feature isn't perfect, but I suspect this has something to do with the slightly shifting state of their holdings I mentioned above.


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