Spotify

In lesson 2 we described how you can enjoy virtually all the world's music in your computer or mobile using Spotify. Elvis, Rolling Stones, Coldplay, Bowie or Cliff Richard ­– the choice is endless! Spotify is the new way to listen to music. Forget CDs. Spotify lets you listen to music wherever you want, whenever you want. Enjoy it through your headset when out for a walk, or through the speakers of your home audio system cranked as loud as you want.

What is Spotify?

Spotify is a so-called streaming service which means you listen to music "streaming" over the Internet instead of buying albums. You can use it for free, or pay a monthly fee for more features. Either way, Spotify lets you listen to just about any music out there using both your smartphone and your computer. To use Spotify, you first need to create an account using either of these devices.

Get Spotify for free via your mobile

Open the "Play Store" app on your smartphone (“App Store” if you have an iPhone) and download the Spotify app just as you would any other app.

1. Once the app has been downloaded, tap "Open". This will take you directly into the Spotify app. There you can choose if you want to log in or sign up.
2. Select "SIGN UP"
3. If you have a Facebook account, you can choose to sign up and log in with the same account. Otherwise, enter your e-mail address and other requested informaton, and then tap “SIGN UP”.

Personal playlists

On Spotify you can find practically all your favourite artists and songs and create your own lists of the music you want to listen to. For instance, perhaps you would like to organize all the songs from three different artists into a single list? Or all your favourite hits from the summer of ‘69? And for the holiday season, why not save all your favourite Christmas music in another list? The possibilities, like the songs you can listen to, are endless!

To create a list, you must first find a song. On your smartphone, do as follows:

1. Log in to Spotify with your username and password.
2. Tap the menu icon appearing as three horizontal bars.
3. Now you’ve come to the menu!
4. To find a song or artist, tap “Search”
5. Enter what you’re looking for – artist, song or album.
6. Tap the icon appearing as three dots to add the song to a playlist or to create a completely new list.
7. To add more songs, simply repeat the steps above.

You can always find the lists you’ve saved by tapping the menu icon (three bars) and selecting "Your Library".

How to play a song

Tap “Search” to find a song or artist you want to listen to. Once you’ve found the song you want, just tap it and enjoy.

Playlists and suggestions to you

On Spotify you’ll find all kinds of playlists that other listeners have saved, or that Spotify recommends just for you. That’s the great thing about Spotify – it helps you to discover new music that you didn’t even know existed. Spotify can recommend playlists based on your mood, whom your favourite artists are, the activities you enjoy, etc.

Shuffle (random playback)

When listening to a playlist or an entire album, you can choose if you want the songs to play in the order they’re listed, or if you want Spotify to randomly select the order (Shuffle). To choose the latter, just tap the green "Shuffle Play" button that appears after selecting a playlist or album. This is a great feature that’s especially useful during a dinner party or any other party.

Premium or free version?

If you want to be able to use all the features that Spotify offers and avoid the occasional ads, you need to get the Premium version, which costs £9.99/month. You can try Premium free for a limited time before you decide, and you may end your subscription at any time. There are no additional costs. If you choose to use the free version of Spotify on your smartphone, you will have to put up with some advertising and you won’t be able to use features like listening to specific songs on demand, or skipping songs as often as you want. With the Premium version there’s no advertising, sound quality is better, and you can listen to precisely the music you want.

Activate Spotify Premium via your mobile:

With the app installed on your smartphone you can activate your free trial of Spotify Premium to decide whether or not you want to pay for full functionality.

1. Start the Spotify app.
2. In the menu field at the bottom of the screen, tap “Your Library”.
3. Tap “GO PREMIUM” and read the details of the offer.
4. Tap “START MY TRIAL” to activate.