I was thrilled when Spotify was first introduced as two different versions; the 9,99€/month Premium and the ad-supported Free versions. I had Spotify on all the time, every day. The free version back then was a few commercials every 20-25 minutes or so, and unlimited use. As it was introduced to the U.S. market, the Free version in Europe was limited to 5 plays per track (ever) and 10 hours of play/month and the ads remained.
I understand that the initial free version with unlimited use pissed off record labels (ad revenue wasn't enough, and there were too few premium users, I guess), and I also understand that it may have been just a way to get people hooked enough to go for Premium once the use of Free was limited ridiculously. The 10 hours, that's fine by me, but 5 plays per track sucks ass tbh.
Now you have the unlimited Free version in the U.S, but my bet is that you'll soon be just as pissed off as the Europeans were when that was taken away. Because they will.
http://www.spotify.com/se/blog/archives … free-open/
Almost 10 000 replies in that blog entry.
I might soon upgrade to Premium or Unlimited, but I'm still mad at Spotify pretty much kicking their end users in the face with their customer approach.
Is it better then for the record labels that I've gone back to torrents? I'm discovering less music now, and it's a lot more work too, so I'm less inclined to find an album I'd like to buy. If I like an album, I go out and buy it (an actual physical CD). With Spotify Free in use, I bought several because I discovered them using it.
I understand that the initial free version with unlimited use pissed off record labels (ad revenue wasn't enough, and there were too few premium users, I guess), and I also understand that it may have been just a way to get people hooked enough to go for Premium once the use of Free was limited ridiculously. The 10 hours, that's fine by me, but 5 plays per track sucks ass tbh.
Now you have the unlimited Free version in the U.S, but my bet is that you'll soon be just as pissed off as the Europeans were when that was taken away. Because they will.
http://www.spotify.com/se/blog/archives … free-open/
Almost 10 000 replies in that blog entry.
I might soon upgrade to Premium or Unlimited, but I'm still mad at Spotify pretty much kicking their end users in the face with their customer approach.
Is it better then for the record labels that I've gone back to torrents? I'm discovering less music now, and it's a lot more work too, so I'm less inclined to find an album I'd like to buy. If I like an album, I go out and buy it (an actual physical CD). With Spotify Free in use, I bought several because I discovered them using it.
I need around tree fiddy.