What is Spotify?

The big news for Sonos owners last week was the Australian release of Spotify. So what exactly does this mean to the end user?

Advances in technology, improved download speeds and the increasing popularity of torrent sites have lead to an increase in music piracy in recent years. Now there is a solution to music piracy, music streaming sites. These sites offer a range of different products ranging from free accounts with ads to premium ad-free subscription services. These sites offer a legitimate way of having a large music collection at your fingertips whilst also ensuring that artists are paid for their efforts.

Australian consumers now have a large number of choices when it comes to music streaming services. Sonos features deep integration with Spotify and Rdio, with several more compatible services soon to be released in the Australian market in the coming months. All of these services offer a massive collection of music that is available at your fingertips, all of which can be streamed directly through your computer, mobile device or Sonos system.

But which one do you choose?

In order to use any of these services on your Sonos system you will require a premium account, but which service is the best?

Spotify offer a premium account for AU$11.99 per month, in return you receive access to 16 million tracks across all of your devices (mobile, computer and Sonos). As a Spotify premium user sound quality is increased from the standard 160kb/s to 320kb/s. Spotify also features social integration, sharing your musical taste and preferences with your friends on Facebook.

Rdio‘s premium account is available for $12.90 per month. Rdio offers access to over 15 million songs; these are available to stream on mobile, desktop and Sonos devices.

Both of these services offer different means of discovering new music and following the music tastes of friends. With no contracts and with both services offering trial accounts, it is possible to switch between the services to find the product that best suits your needs.

To find out more about installing a Sonos wireless music system in your house or office call 1300 369 451 to speak to one of our audio visual consultants.