From being a temple music downloader, how has Spotify made me pay to listen to music?

In the summer of third grade, as a reward for being a good student, my parents gave me my first technology gift - an MP3 player. It has a capacity of up to . 256MB (MB, not GB) - a terrible number at the time of that year and features nothing special. However, the feeling of being carried with me and enjoying my favorite tunes anytime, anywhere is really like.

Naturally, to be able to listen to music, there is a stage that I or anyone who owns such machines will have to do, which is to go online and download music. At that time, the Internet was not as popular as it is today, mobile devices were not able to stream music directly from services like today. Therefore, I will have to 'search' on unknown websites, most of them have .info, .tk, .go.to, .kiss.to . to download.

Finding a free, fast and full music download site is difficult, but finding a 'kind' music file is a difficult process. Download one song but come up with another song, if you hear half of the song, you will suddenly get amputated, or throughout the whole song, there will be a whispering advertisement 'You're listening to music at the website .' The most popular topic. But also, requiring music files must be high quality MP3, or full ID3 Tag about singers, albums is too expensive. MP3 128Kbps, even 64Kbps is okay, the song of the Unknown Artist singer of the Unknown Album album is okay . as long as good listening.

As time went by, I grew up and paralleled that, the financial conditions were better. From that cheap Chinese MP3 player, I gradually came up with the iPod Nano, iPod Touch and later smartphones. The device keeps getting better, but one thing does not change over time: I still download copyrighted music at unknown websites.

Everything changed in early 2011, when I accidentally invited a foreign friend to use Spotify. At the moment, Spotify is a very popular service, but in 2011 very few people knew about it, especially in Vietnam. The user community is almost nonexistent, plus a few troubles because this service is created for European countries (for example, having to know how to use VPN when in Vietnam) makes me face many difficulties.

Yet, after 7 years, I'm still loyal to Spotify, although it hasn't officially entered Vietnam yet. 7 years was also the time when I stopped downloading illegal music. Many of my friends do the same: despite a series of obstacles (especially on how to pay), they still find every possible way to use and pay for this service.

So what is it about Spotify that has made me and so many others so tired of it?

Instant

Music is accompanied by emotions, and emotions always come suddenly without waiting for anyone. Therefore, music must also immediately mix into emotions. If before, when I wanted to listen to a song, it would take me tens of minutes to find a quality music file and then lose all emotions, now with Spotify, I can access more than 40 million songs. and find the right song I'm looking for after a few seconds.

The streaming speed is also personally appreciated by me. Choose a song and just 2 seconds later, the music has surfaced. Remember, Spotify is still a foreign service and has not been optimized for network infrastructure in Vietnam. Even in less-than-ideal situations like fiber-optic disconnection, Spotify still offers fairly stable streaming speeds and is much faster than rival Apple Music.

In addition, in order to achieve this instant, Spotify has invested heavily in its applications on different platforms. Besides the largest platform is mobile, Spotify also has desktop applications (Windows / Mac / Linux), consoles (PS4 / Xbox One), Smart TV, smart speakers (Amazon Alexa / Google Home) and of course is the whole web. No matter which device you use, chances are Spotify will support it, allowing you to quickly access this music store. And, with the Spotify Connect feature, you can even control music playing in one device through another (for example, controlling music playing on a PC with a smartphone).

Another aspect that cannot be ignored when considering the quick element is the speed of updating new music. Because it is a copyright music service and works with major record labels, the majority of popular songs on the market appear almost instantly on Spotify. Of course, there are some exceptions like Taylor Swift or Vietnamese songs (because Spotify has not yet entered our country), but basically I think you will not be disappointed.

Quality

Users can fully trust the quality that Spotify offers. In addition to not having problems such as interrupted songs, incorrect information . the major advantage of mainstream digital music services is sound quality. When paid, users will be able to listen and download songs with the equivalent quality of 320Kbps MP3, while using the free package is 160Kbps, still enough to satisfy the majority of users.

Turning to the content element, besides exploiting existing songs, Spotify also collaborated with artists to create exclusive recordings exclusively for this service, called Spotify Sessions. Beyond the boundaries of music, Spotify also has a large number of podcasts, audiobooks of various genres to cater to all needs of users.

Connect

As mentioned above, there is a very close working relationship between Spotify and the artist. And, this makes it possible for users to enjoy experiences that no other service has, such as listening to playlists created and shared by the artist itself. This is a win-win situation where fans can learn and follow more about the artist, and vice versa, the artist has the opportunity to engage with his fans more.

Even not only limited to artists, because Spotify is also very flexible in sharing, many large individuals and organizations also use it as a channel to connect with their audience. A prime example is former US President Barack Obama choosing Spotify to share playlists of his favorite songs, not Apple Music.

However, there is another more practical aspect, that is the connection between us and the people we know. Thanks to the ability to integrate into Facebook, Spotify allows users to see what their friends are listening to, and from there you can listen with, judge the mood . or tying up things you can think of. Naturally, you can also protect your privacy and disable this feature if you want.

Personal

Everyone will have a different style of music, so the same song by the same artist but the lover, the hate is very normal. The task of a software like Spotify is not to force users to listen to things they don't like, but at the same time to evoke new things that may cause them to change. And this is also the point where Spotify is very strong.

The main screen of Spotify always displays the playlists that users may be interested in, based on events around them. For example, since this is the occasion to welcome the new year, exciting new year playlists will be placed on top. But, during the day it may be, and when night comes, light playlists that help users focus on work or have a deep sleep will be prioritized.

Spotify is designed to encourage users to always find new things. The Radio feature allows users to select a song, album, playlist or genre, and Spotify will use its algorithm to automatically play songs with the same theme. Even without the user having to specify, this feature will automatically be activated every time a playlist ends.

Every Monday, Spotify sends users a private playlist called 'Discover Weekly'. This is a playlist for each user (that is, no one is alike), a selection of songs that you may like, algorithmically selected based on what you hear. Similarly, every Friday, another playlist called 'Release Radar' will also be sent to you by Spotify, a collection of new songs from your favorite artists.

Above are the ways Spotify encourages users to listen to new songs, and in case the user wants to actively explore, they can also visit the 'Discover' section to see suggestions about albums, or singers they might like. There is also an 'Related Artists' section on every page of an artist, showing a list of similar artists.

Feeling great

Remember the feeling when you first bought your favorite item with the money you made, not your parents' money? Paying for music is the same, except that it's a lot better. Parents can voluntarily give us money to spend, but no artist will give us our artwork - only we are stealing it from the artist himself. And, that feeling, when we start paying for music, when we finally get 'reimbursed,' that's wonderful.

However, do not think that paying for music is an obligation that you must follow. In today's digital age, artists see online music services as an effective tool to engage listeners, rather than their main source of income. If only relying on Spotify and music streaming services, artists would probably have been 'retired' long ago.

But it is the popularity that artists have gained from putting their music products on music streaming services at "cheaply for free" has made them have more fans, which has transformed into concerts with high ticket prices but still crowded, or million dollar advertising contracts with big brands. This is their main source of income. So, do not be sad if for some reason you are not ready to spend money on music.

Instead of worrying about unrealistic things, perhaps think a little more realistically: People only pay for things that benefit themselves. Paying for Spotify or any other music service is obviously a way for you to support the artist, but more importantly, it brings a lot of benefits to yourself. From the convenience, speed and quality it provides, to knowing new songs that you would normally never have time to explore by yourself, this is truly an investment. It is very valuable, especially considering the role of music in human life.

Speaking of the role of music, you may consider it a recreational pastime. But, to me, and I believe that so many others, music can be considered a friend. A loyal friend who will never respond, a friend who will always welcome and sympathize with us whether happy or sad. If you're willing to spend money on coffee, travel, and 'buy' happy moments with your friends, I believe you will be willing to do the same with music.

As to the end of this article and express my appreciation for the magic of music and its influence on life, I would like to quote a passage from a song from a group I love so much and inspired me a lot, it's ABBA and 'Thank You For The Music'.

Thank you for the music, the songs I'm singing

Thanks for all the joy they're bringing

Who can live without it, I ask in all honesty

What would life be?

Without a song or a dance what are we?

So I say thank you for the music

For giving it to me