Move from Last.fm to Spotify and the End of MP3

You may recall a while ago I tried out a service called Spotify that streams music to your computer. Well, since then I have had a chance to really try it out, and here are my findings.

The days of MP3 are numbered, and compact disks have taken their last breath.

Bold statement? Maybe, but I think it is true.

I have around a months worth of music in iTunes (somehow!), I have a 60gb iPod, and a 16gb iPhone. What do I listen to? … streamed music from Spotify.

Even in the car! My old iPod has been a great boon for long car journeys, especially since we bought a car with an Aux input rather than use FM transmitter.

But even that fully stuffed iPod can not compare with having a massive library of music at the touch of a button.

What about when you are outside 3g range or on a flight you say? Buy a monthly subscription to Spotify and you can have your playlists reside offline. All the benefits of mp3 files but with none of the storage, backups, filetransfer problems, and if you are bored with them you hit delete and find some new stuff.

The one big problem of course is you no longer own your music, you rent it. But really, I think that is a small thing. I can see iTunes moving to a pay as you go model where when you buy some music you can stream it or cache it offline for one price, and also go with a monthly all you can eat subscription at another.

I have even moved from Last.fm to only listening to Spotify. It’s just so convenient.

It’s the future!

Here is how I moved from Last.fm to Spotify:

  1. Install the Greasemonkey addon for Firefox.
  2. Add the spotify last.fm greasemonkey script.
  3. Go to your Last.fm loved tracks with the Greasemonkey script running.
  4. Next to each track you will see a little green musical note, click that note to be taken to the track in Spotify
  5. Add the track to your Spotify playlist

Unfortunately right now the Spotify keyboard shortcuts are a bit lacking so creating playlists can be a chore, but I am sure they will work on that.

Posted on October 7, 2009 by Chris Garrett 
Filed Under Content Licensing, Software Tools

Comments

5 Responses to “Move from Last.fm to Spotify and the End of MP3”

  1. xxdesmus on October 7th, 2009 3:39 pm

    VERY cool! I was hoping someone would release this. Thanks for the heads up!

  2. Mark on October 7th, 2009 7:54 pm

    It’s worth pointing out that Spotify is only currently available in the UK, France, Spain, Sweden, Finland and Norway, so if you live outside those territories you’ll come a cropper when you get to stage 4 of the last.fm -> Spotify instructions.

  3. Mark McGuinness on October 7th, 2009 9:08 pm

    Very cool, thanks. Only problem is most of my last.fm favourites aren’t on Spotify. Confirms my impression that Last.fm has a better choice, but like you I spend more time on Spotify these days.

  4. Jon on November 8th, 2009 7:22 pm

    Spotify isn’t everything I want it to be yet, but it’s a fantastic service. I bought a new PC in may and, while I have all my music residing on the new hard drive, I’ve yet to install a media player.

    Spotify needs an equalizer and a toolbar for easy access – the library is slowly taking care of itself.

    My only real problem is that the record labels keep removing certain albums for no apparent reason. I’ve gotten to the stage where I’ll refuse to buy any music which has been removed from spotify, on principle of not buying from someone who makes my life difficult.

  5. Any User on November 9th, 2009 6:30 am

    I liked this mp3 subscription idea 5 years ago when it was called Rhapsody.

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