Sunday, December 1, 2024

Spotify: Beatles, Zeppelin Are Still Holding Out

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So, have you tried Spotify? This is new the streaming music service aiming to take on ITunes. So far Spotify looks like a hit. You don’t download the music. You just pay to listen to it everywhere, on every device you own–computers, portable music players, etc. They’ve made deals with all the music labels to pay them for the privilege of “broadcasting” the music to us personally. It’s like custom radio. But not everyone is there. The Beatles, of course, are MIA. The group has an exclusive arrangement with Apple/ITunes. Their music isn’t even on amazon.com. No one knows when this deal expires–maybe in November on the one year anniversary? Steve Jobs must have paid a lot to get the Beatles because ITunes uses the group’s images to push everything. Go to ITunes now and see the cover of “Abbey Road.” Other groups missing from Spotify: Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Metallica, Peter Gabriel, AC DC. There are probably more. Is Spotify any good? It seems easier to use than ITunes. Also, I like that they featured Incubus’s new album on the home page. And for $4.99 a month you get the music to follow you wherever you are. This seems easier than having to upload it a cloud. Their cloud is always hovering. As Paul McCartney once sang, “There’s a shadow hanging over me.” In this case, it’s Spotify.

Roger Friedman
Roger Friedmanhttps://www.showbiz411.com
Roger Friedman began his Showbiz411 column in April 2009 after 10 years with Fox News, where he created the Fox411 column. His movie reviews are carried by Rotten Tomatoes, and he is a member of both the movie and TV branches of the Critics Choice Awards. His articles have appeared in dozens of publications over the years including New York Magazine, where he wrote the Intelligencer column in the mid 90s and covered the OJ Simpson trial, and Fox News (when it wasn't so crazy) where he covered Michael Jackson. He is also the writer and co-producer of "Only the Strong Survive," a selection of the Cannes, Sundance, and Telluride Film festivals, directed by DA Pennebaker and Chris Hegedus.

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