It’s Friday night, around 8 p.m., and preparation for the night out has commenced. Three, six, nine, damn so fine. Move it so you can sock it to me one mo time, I sing to myself as I mentally prepare for my big night on Brighton. My phone, which has (obviously) been ringing off the hook with the night’s plan, begins to chime again. It’s a friend, one who usually would not be calling me this early in the night.
“Kayla.” Yes? “What are you doing right now? Are you throwing down? Are you having a party? Your Spotify is blowin’ up right now.”
Plagued, yet again, by the Spotify “view-and-judge-what-your-friends-are-listening-to” option of the popular music-sharing site. Little does Joe know that I am actually sitting in my bed, fresh from a shower, decked in my signature fuzzy, white bathrobe, with my hair dripping wet and wrapped up in a towel, glasses on, and snuggled in my bed.
This, my friends, is why Spotify is the next form of social networking. Between attempting to guess what a peer is doing based on his or her current music selection to following and discovering music preferences, Spotify has the ability to facilitate the sharing of music, as well as guess a friend’s mood based on his or her musical preferences.
Alongside the obvious perks of having a Spotify account, however, there are even more obvious glitches that its creators overlooked. And, being a “Spotify Pro” myself—which, we shall quantify as having the “healthy amount” of 50 followers—I give you “Kayla’s Official List of Pros and Cons of being a Spotify User.”
PRO 1: Spotify has a feature that shows whatever song you and your friends are currently listening to in a news feed of sorts on the side of your Spotify player. This is great for discovering new music.
CON 1: Great, now everyone can see that I’ve listened to “What Makes You Beautiful” by One Direction eight times in a row.
PRO 2: Not having to pay $1.29 per iTunes song—Spotify users have access to a massive catalogue of songs and don’t have to pay a cent for it …
CON 2 : … Unless you have a premium account that excludes you from annoying advertisements. Then you have to pay $10 a month.
PRO 3: Listening to every and any song you want, of any genre, from any artist.
CON 3: Except for artists like Taylor Swift, who took her music off of Spotify so that no one could play her tracks on repeat while sobbing and staring longingly out the window, letting out a deep sigh and taking yet another pull of that vino to the face. Thanks a lot, Taylor.
PRO 4: There’s a feature that allows you to direct message certain songs to friends so that they can take a listen. This option also allows you to insert a personalized message a la “Oh my gosh, remember that time we did that thing with those people and listened to this song? Yeah, good times” or “This is the song I listened to when (insert evil ex-boyfriend’s name here) dumped me. It should make you feel great, too!”
CON 4: Like, you couldn’t have just texted me that?
PRO 5: The playlists—say no more. Spotify’s like iTunes, only you can share it with other people. The sleepy playlist, the pregame list, the crap-I-actually-have-to-go-to-the-gym-and-workout-for-the-first-time-in-three-weeks playlist; and the ugh-when-is-he-just-going-to-text-me-back-and-appreciate-me-as-a-person playlist (not to be confused with its Girl-power hits of the ’90s counterpart). The lists (and possibilities) are endless. Plus, it makes you feel like you’re a musical prodigy when your playlist that you spent more hours on than your homework has upwards of 15 followers. You think I have good taste in music? How cute.
CON 5: There isn’t really a con to this—only when your Macy Gray is played immediately after your Blink 182. Then again, should they even be in the same playlist?.
PRO 6: The collaborative playlist. There is a selection when creating a playlist that you can add your friends so that they can add the songs that they like and want to hear to the playlist as well. This is the perfect solution to the weekly Saturday night pregame bicker about which song to scream and pound your foot to “Mr. Brightside,” obviously.
CON 6: No Roz, we don’t want Wicked and Rent showtunes on the pregame playlist.
From sharing music to the collaborative listening, Spotify has managed to create a new form of social media. The playlists, the features, the endless selection of music has helped the creators of Spotify facilitate an enjoyable listening experience while creating that social element that musical sharing has been known for.
Despite its flaws and seemingly annoying elements, Spotify has proved to be the best and most user-friendly music sharing platform. It’s allowed me to discover music I never would have heard, share songs, and preoccupy myself while doing hours of homework and writing. It’s even upped my already booming social life—“Are you having a party? Your Spotify is blowin’ up right now.” Yeah, sure. Why not?
Featured Courtesy of Columbia Records
