Zune vs. Spotify

[CJ Thunder]

Seem very simliar. Anyone have extensive use of both?

 

[jalb]

I wonder this too. I have become quite the Zune user. I am thinking of asking my wife/kids to let my pay for a Zune Pass year's worth for my birthday.

I got a Spotify invite, but I downloaded the player and I hate it. It pushes Facebook in my face, and none of my firends like my kind of music. Plus it doesn't integrate with my phone.

I dunno, I mostly wonder why Spotify gets such adoring press, but Zune is completely ignored or actively maligned, for offering an extremely similar service, but one that also integrates into your phone, MP3 player, and television? No comprendo.

 

[icstars989]

If you're a WP user, I'd say stick with Zune, seamless integration and you can keep 10 songs a month. Spotify does have a couple Million more songs than Zune though last I read. On Windows phone though, I still think Zune is and will be king.

 

[mikaelto]

yepp, zune is and will be king if you have a WP7. 15 USD is also less than 99SEK (price for spotify in Sweden) and you get to keep 10 songs. For iPhone or Android users are spotify the better choice.

 

[cdook]

I would do Zune mainly because it's better integrated into WP7. I tried using Last.fm for a month and while it was nice, it was annoying the app would quit when you respond to a text message or have to look something up.

I can't wait for Mango because from what I understand I'll be able to do Smart DJ streaming. I like listening to similar artists when trying to look for new music.

 

[patchulaz]

i'd like to bring this topic back to life. since the last comment, zune pass has dropped $5/month, bringing both services to the same $10/month, and the spotify wp7 app has been released. thoughts?

 

[jalb]

Now Zune is crappy like Spotify. Unless Nokia Music comes to the US with the same deal they get in Europe (offline play in the free version, which is the only thing that sets it apart from all these "pay for a radio" services), I'll just keep buying CD's and using Last.fm.


Edit: The reason I say it is crappy now is because with the price drop came a change in the feature set - you can no longer keep ten songs a month.

 

[ninjaap]

Now Zune is crappy like Spotify. Unless Nokia Music comes to the US with the same deal they get in Europe (offline play in the free version, which is the only thing that sets it apart from all these "pay for a radio" services), I'll just keep buying CD's and using Last.fm.


Edit: The reason I say it is crappy now is because with the price drop came a change in the feature set - you can no longer keep ten songs a month.

I actually welcome the drop in price. I don't care much for keeping songs in my HD or phone. I much rather stream or download and delete when done or tired of the songs. Most months I scramble to find songs I wanted to keep, but then eventually just started buying whatever Zune suggested. Some months I even forget to keep songs.

A month before the price drop, I cancelled my account. Now I am considering going back, but I really like the FB integration of Spotify. I love going through my FB friend's playlist and discovering new music that way. I don't make or share my own playlists, so I'm more of a consumer than contributor.

Needless to say, I still haven't decided: To Zune or Spotify?

 

[Mike-Mike]

at first I thought the loss of 10 songs a month would be a detriment, but having the $100 for a year is way worth it. I spend way more than $100 on itunes/cds/amazon in a year, so I'm saving a bundle using Zune.

 

[based_graham]

Spotify is it only streaming? can you download songs?

 

[TheWeeBear]

Spotify has the biggest track library of them all, 2 million more than Zune.

You will find tons of music not on Zune sHAYM4N.

Spotify vs the World: 10 Streaming Music Services Compared - Tested

 

[Kahuna Cowboy]

Yep. Spotify has a lot of things going on for it. I use it across all my iDevices and my WP.

 

[Vallos]

So how can a small company like Spotify have more songs than a larger company like Microsoft. What is MS doing wrong here?

Sent from my {HTC Trophy} using Board Express

 

[WPGenius]

Valid Question.....

 

[threed61]

So how can a small company like Spotify have more songs than a larger company like Microsoft. What is MS doing wrong here?

Sent from my {HTC Trophy} using Board Express

Because several major music labels are stockholders in Spotify.

 

[Vallos]

That would explain it.

Sent from my {HTC Trophy} using Board Express

 

[sumorabbit]

On my jailbroken iPhone 4, I use Grooveshark exclusively. Granted, that doesn't do me any good elsewhere since every app store/marketplace has rejected GS for obvious legal reasons.

On my Focus, I use the integrated zune. It took a while to get a hang of the desktop software, library organization and such, but eventually I got it tweaked to my taste. The zune marketplace has a great feature that I haven't seen anywhere else; it lets you pick your payment method before the purchase. Without manipulation to an apple id (for example) prior to even initiating the purchase, the bill goes to wherever the default is. But with Zune, I can click buy, then click payment method, and select from my credit card, ATT market, or my debit. Depending on my financial status, or whether or not I've paid ATT for the month and don't want to deal with the inconvenience..etc, I can choose how to pay on the spot, without the bother of leaving the marketplace to change an account's default payment method.

 

[Duvi]

I pay $15/mo for Zune and never use my 10 songs, nor do I even listen to Zune. I should either cancel my subscription or pay for the year to save.

 

[Rodolfo#WP]

I pay $15/mo for Zune and never use my 10 songs, nor do I even listen to Zune. I should either cancel my subscription or pay for the year to save.

duvi, you need a financial advisor. You can switch to a 9.95 plan, and yes, save even more with an annual plan for $100. I do use my 10 song credits and will be sticking with the $150 annual plan. I figure that at about a dollar a song, I'm paying a net $2.50 a month for the 4500 tracks I've downloaded so far on 5 devices. Daaang... I need to pinch myself regularly to confirm that I'm not dreaming.

 

[Rodolfo#WP]

Zune and thee Zune Pass work GREAT for me, but I did investigate Spotify as an option when it became more available here. Given my current understanding, Spotify has, or seems to have, at least three no-thank-you characteristics that clash with my music listening -a seriously enjoyable part of my life.

a) The service is heavily integrated with facebook. You need to provide or sign up for a fb account to install and run Spotify. That is a central part of the company's business model and software. The point is to project the spotify brand, and your listening habits to fb. You can enable a privacy feature, but it disables every six hours and each time you shut down. Even when listening with others, music listening is still an intimate not public activity for me. I share, but on my own terms, and the Zune social feature is unintrusive and fully optional.

b) Spotify only lets you play designated (by you) playlists for offline listening, rather than your entire collection of downloaded music.

c) Spotify limits you to playing your music on one device at a time.

I may have mis-read or miss-understood these characteristics, so please correct as necessary. Regardless of your preferred sources and habits, enjoy the music.