Pandora/Last.fm may be in trouble

[Uzor]

Warner went out and said they will keep supporting Spotify, so Spotify won't be affected.

[Skotty]

So they want to shut down internet music streaming, MTV doesn't play videos anymore, and the radio only plays 2 songs each from 10 different groups. And they wonder why the industry is failing?

[Absolutely Virtue]

My pandora and last.fm stations never play anything from a major label, because I don't listen to any of that fucking garbage. While there are a few decent bands on major labels, you hear that shit ALL THE TIME every where you go, so there is no real need to get it on your streaming station.

Let the major labels take their catalogs away from the streamers. I think I'll survive without Nickelback and whatever the latest idiot rapper/whore diva is popular these days.

[Callisto]

good thing all the labels I listen to aren't own by fucksticks like Warner and are all on Pandora

[Day]

Fuck this. I love my unlimited Pandora on my droid.

Fuck the record industry.

lol ......

[Ziero]

Music industry doesn't like services like Pandora.

(examples used in the article are actually Spotify and last.fm)

According to this article, most of the industry is fine, it's mainly just Warner being dicks

Unless Pandora/Last F.M./etc pays for the rights to play those songs then it's not the same. Radio stations pay for the rights to play music to (I think) two different entities, I'm fairly certain these do not.

They do

Personally, I'm of the opinion that Major Record Labels are pretty much useless now. Removing "their" songs from free streaming sites would just limit the amount of exposure and advertising they gain that help promote the songs people want to buy. If labels pulled out from free streaming music and only used premium streaming services, indy music would rise up to take it's place, get more notoriety and exposure, increasing their fan bases. While major labels wouldn't see any rise from people who buy their premium services because people only use the free stuff because it's free.

I don't know about anyone else, but I would rather donate $10 bucks a month to a free service then pay $10 bucks for a "premium" one.

[Callisto]

Personally, I'm of the opinion that Major Record Labels are pretty much useless now. Removing "their" songs from free streaming sites would just limit the amount of exposure and advertising they gain that help promote the songs people want to buy. If labels pulled out from free streaming music and only used premium streaming services, indy music would rise up to take it's place, get more notoriety and exposure, increasing their fan bases. While major labels wouldn't see any rise from people who buy their premium services because people only use the free stuff because it's free.

Pretty much this, I use Pandora because it tends to randomly throw me bands that I've never heard that I actually like since they are similar to my tastes established on the site, which I then tend to go out and pay for albums for.

I can't even say the same about the standard radio since they tend to force-feed whatever shit the labels make them anyways(which is even more bogus since they have to pay for the right to use the shit). If major labels pull out it'd be fantastic, less shitty pop/emo/bad rap music shoved in my face.

[gt_killa]

Unless Pandora/Last F.M./etc pays for the rights to play those songs then it's not the same. Radio stations pay for the rights to play music to (I think) two different entities, I'm fairly certain these do not.

I think Pandora do pay. When it first released to the iPhone, I remembered they only allow you to skip ~4-5 songs/hour/station because they said the songs were paid for.

[volcanicweather]

Not to necro too epicly but I did a search for this and nothing came up... I managed to an get an invite to Spotify via Klout because my Klout Score was high enough and wow... this service is awesome.

TONS of music, all searchable and user-rated that can be sorted by album, track length, popularity, etc. You can also create playlists and add music to them, bookmark your songs, links your account to last.fm if you want, has a HQ streaming mode, and so much more... all for free if you can tolerate a little tiny banner ad at the bottom of the page and a rare music-related ad blurb.

As someone who used Pandora for years it's not even close, Spotify totally destroys it. All the music I want (and I have fairly obscure tastes) along with no silly ads in between songs or any of the lame BS Pandora has tried to pull on their customers in the past. Mark my words, this service is going to revolutionize the way people listen to and find music online.

[Uzor]

You actually need invites for spotify in USA?

I think I have like 25 or something on my account... Didn't even know they still did invites, I had a "you have 25 invites remaining" over a year or more ago, but I haven't seen that one since they went out of beta.

[kuronosan]

It's funny, because in other countries they don't have this problem.

It's only the U.S. that has this "record industry is suffering" bullshit, because they keep wanting to cram all this shit down your throat and making all this Hip-Pop bullshit try and sound like it's credible music.

Look, I love the 80s and 90s music and I love most musical releases from the 40s clear to the mid 200x, but this crap they've been playing lately is just a rehash of all the music that was good with Kanye/Emo-homos/Rapper/Beyonce chopped on top of it.

If they gave half the independent artists out there a chance to shine on their own, music would go back to being good again. What happened to innovators like the Beatles, bands like Earth Wind & Fire, and real musicians like the Eagles?

[volcanicweather]

It just launched in the U.S., not sure if you can invite cross-continent but you can try...

[Uzor]

You forgot John Denver, Simon & Garfunkle, Janis Joplin... There's too many to count.

Edit: it says this on my account:

Your invitation tokens

If you have an invitation, you can invite friends to Spotify Free if they live in Sweden, Norway, Finland, the UK, France, Spain, The Netherlands or the US.

I have 38 invitations left, so if you want one...

[octopus]

It just launched in the U.S., not sure if you can invite cross-continent but you can try...

You can, I had someone in the UK to invite me, lol ;o

[volcanicweather]

You can, I had someone in the UK to invite me, lol ;o

That's awesome

Uzor how you like the service using it long-term? obviously my response was just based off of initial reaction...

[Uzor]

I'm not sure how it works in the US, but in Sweden it's free for the first 6 months, and after that you are limited to 10 hours a week and can't play the same song more than 5 times a day, unless you subscribe (which is really cheap; $5 for unlimited music or $10 in order to play it on your mobile phone).

It used to be entirely free in Sweden up until just a few months ago (April I believe), when they were forced to change because of the music industry. Otherwise they weren't allowed to release in the US, so screw you guys either way, I like it. Almost every store and restaurant in Sweden use Spotify to play their music, and I've actually been to a few pubs and bars that use it too... Personally I like it and have been a Premium subscriber for quite some time, as I like to listen to spotify on my phone. I don't really bother with the hastle to download music anymore since it's so easy to find on Spotify.

There's a few song Spotify don't have because the labels won't allow them to, but those you can download and add to your Spotify playlist. You can also synch those to your mobile (as well as any playlists you have) by simply being logged on to Spotify on your mobile and computer at the same time.

[kuronosan]

You forgot John Denver, Simon & Garfunkle, Janis Joplin... There's too many to count.

Edit: it says this on my account:


I have 38 invitations left, so if you want one...

Pity I can't list them all. There are way too many.

[volcanicweather]

Btw, Volcanic; I'm not sure how it works in the YS, but in Sweden it's free for the first 6 months, and after that you are limited to 10 hours a week and can't play the same song more than 5 times a day, unless you subscribe (which is really cheap; $5 for unlimited music or $10 in order to play it on your mobile phone). It used to be entirely free in Sweden up until just a few months ago (April I believe), when thet were forced to change because of the music industry. Otherwise they weren't allowed to release in the US, so screw you guys

hahaha what do you expect we ruin everything in the US, it's just what we do. The service is worth $5 easy. I sent you a PM by the way

[Sqwunk]

I'll take a spare invite if you don't mind, i'd like to check them out.

[Clemz]

What that guy said, I'd love an invite if you're willing to spare. I pretty much have Pandora running 24/7, so if this is even better than that, I'm all about it.