Spotify Saves the Day (And Your Reputation)

By Shea Garner

Those serious about music would most likely be ashamed to have SisQó’s “Thong Song” embedded in their iTunes library. While that could certainly deliver a blow to one’s musical prestige, it doesn’t take away from the fact that it delivers a few laughs when hanging with friends.

Enter Spotify; an easy way to access almost any song of your choosing without damaging your musical reputation. Spotify hosts millions of tracks from your favorite (and least favorite) artists, available for free streaming and sharing with other Spotify users.

Much like a social network, without the embarrassing photo tags, Spotify allows you to share music with your friends, see what they are listening to, and build playlists that merge with your current iTunes library. It even links with Facebook, allowing all of your buddies to see that you’re getting your sex on to “Too Close” by Next. Girl, I know you like it.

Spotify comes highly recommended and is possibly the best way to stream music on the Internet aside from cracked YouTube videos. To make your decision a bit easier, JERK breaks down Spotify’s three options.

Spotify: The basic version is free to everyone and allows access to millions of streaming tracks, all available on instant demand. However, the listener must endure a short advertisement after every few songs.

Spotify Unlimited: Access all of the tracks in the basic version with no advertisements for $5/month.

Spotify Premium: Enjoy all the benefits of Spotify Unlimited plus enjoy Spotify on your iPod or cell. Premium also allows users to download playlists for offline listening, all for $9.99/month.

What are your thoughts on streaming music? Is Spotify your preferred method? Let us know in the comments section below.