Spotify recently announced an embeddable play button that will work on blogs, websites, and tumblr. This will allow any registered Spotify users to play music through their Spotify without having to leave the current webpage (even non-premium Spotify users will have access to these play buttons). This is another change in modern music consumption.
I can turn on my computer each morning and listen to pretty much any song I want to, using completely legal means. No longer do I find many people downloading tons of music illegally, instead they are signing up for services like Spotify and getting all of the music they want, without having to take up any space on their computer.
The Spotify integration with Facebook is also a great way to find out what music your friends are listening to and see what songs or bands are popular at the moment. The hot new thing at the moment is the band fun. because of their popular single “We Are Young”. It seems like everyone I know now loves this song. New songs can become popular on Spotify before they become popular in other mainstream forms of media. This is completely different than any other time in music. A little known band can now become popular with one song that takes Spotify by storm.
As Spotify continues to evolve, so will musical consumption. I’m interested in seeing where the future takes us but there is a downside to Spotify. A lot of people will now only create playlists with the popular songs from bands, neglecting the songs that go unnoticed; no one is listening to an entire album anymore. Why listen to an album when you can just listen to the most popular song from a bunch of different bands and singers? With the rise of Spotify’s popularity, what does this mean for musicians? Will it become acceptable to create singles and eliminate albums completely? Will this course of action increase the price of albums or decrease the collector’s value?
About Justin Maas
I think integrating embeddable Spotify play buttons on all web pages has to be a good thing. Forget the fact you can now play your favourite Spotify music without having to leave your current web page for a minute – sharing via Spotify has to be one of the most valuable aspects of social sharing I’ve seen this year. By allowing users to publicise their Spotify playlists on Facebook and Co… musicians are getting free publicity and endorsement from their fans and it doesn’t even cost them a penny! From reminding you just how much you love that song you’ve not heard for years to introducing you to new bands and artists, Spotify sharing is is here to change the face of music syndication forever.