Spotify is a proprietary peer-to-peer music streaming service that allows users to listen to tracks or albums on demand. The service describes itself as “A world of music. Instant, simple and free”. Spotify uses 96kbps streaming on mobile, 160kbps on desktop and 320kbps for “Premium subscribers” – all encoded in the Ogg Vorbis format. Spotify is free for those who choose to live with adverts, or at a reasonable monthly charge without them.
Spotify is a fantastic service, offering access to a huge library of music covering all different types of music such as pop, alternative, classical, techno, and rock. It is a great way of dipping into new music. The service has the support of major labels including Sony BMG, EMI, Universal, and Warner Music, as well as independent labels and distribution networks like Labrador Records, The Orchard, Alligator Records, Merlin, CD Baby, INgrooves as well as classical music labels such as Chandos, Naxos, EMI Classic, Warner Classics, Denon Essentials and many more. The breadth of music is continuing to expand at a phenomenal pace.
Spotify does not officially support Linux at the moment. However, they have developed a preview build of Spotify for Linux, which works well. As its a preview release, this version is still unsupported.
Features include:
- A well designed interface makes navigation effortless.
- Create and edit playlists.
- Discover new music.
- Share music and playlists.
- Radio feature.
- Top Lists.
- Additional functionality with large variety of apps.
- Spotify is available in Andorra, Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Colombia, Cyprus, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Malta, Mexico, Monaco, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, the Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Singapore, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Turkey, the United Kingdom, the United States, Uruguay, and a few others.
Website: www.spotify.com/uk/download/linux/
Support: Community
Developer: Spotify AB
License: Proprietary
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