Since Spotify’s debut in the United States a little less than a year ago as a desktop app for Mac and Windows, the music discovery app has impressed users. With an easy to navigate interface and Facebook integration, Spotify made music discovery a fun, social experience. In a detailed head-to-head comparison, Spotify even managed to beat-out a long-time US favorite, Pandora.
Unfortunately, Spotify’s mobile app was only available to paid, Premium subscribers. That meant users could enjoy Spotify from their desktops as a free user, but when it came time to head out the door, users couldn’t take their Spotify library with them.
That’s all changing now that Spotify’s iPhone app is now available to free users in the US.
Free users can now pick songs, albums, artists or even playlists and create an entire radio station around them via an app update on iOS devices. Spotify’s free radio station feature offers unlimited streaming, just like Pandora’s.
In terms of interface, Spotify is still easy to navigate on your iOS device. The app has added a Radio button that will take you to the recent stations you’ve created. It also includes recommended stations, if you’re on a music discovery kick. Finally, users can now rate songs with a thumbs up or down, which will apply to the specific playlist to which you’re currently listening. The more songs you rate, the better it will guide Spotify’s song selections within the Radio playlist for you.
Free users can only skip a few songs in a row before being locked into having to listen to one straight through, as with competitor apps that abide by the provisions of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) . Ads are also still included in the free user experience, but this won’t feel any different for non-paying users who are already familiar with Spotify’s desktop app.
The Radio feature for paid and free Spotify users is a great addition to the iOS app. There’s no specific date set for an updated release on Android smartphones or for users in other countries, so non-iOS users will just have to sit tight for now (or settle for Pandora). It’s not unreasonable to believe that a comparable Android app is in the works though, making it something to look forward to hopefully in the near future.
By all accounts, Spotify’s new and free features for iOS devices are a welcome addition to the mobile music streaming market. If you’re already a mobile Pandora user though, are they enough to get you to make the switch?
