Next Big Sound (a/o May 16th):
If I want an artist bio, I'll go to Wikipedia.
If I want a radio service, I'll jump onto Pandora or Songza.
If I want more on an artist, I'll visit the artist site.
If I want to check tour dates, I'll hit up Jambase.
If I want a recommendation, I'll chit-chat with some friends, check out the Fader or Pitchfork, or just keep my ears open.
And if I want to hear an artist's music, I'll go to a music app like iTunes, Spotify, Rdio, or YouTube.
So who says all of these functions need to be rolled into a one gigantic, cumbersome sushi roll of a music service? Is that what music fans really want, or need?
I've heard more than the occassional complaint about an overloaded iTunes, especially from those who remember a much simpler and functional app. Personally, I've spent more than a few hours struggling with my iTunes Match collection, remembering a simpler time. And I wonder if Spotify is now stumbling into the familiar trap of overload and in-app chaos.
If you haven't tried Rdio's iPad app, it's worth a whirl. I've been using it for a few months, quietly enjoying the simplicity.
I'm tempted to say simple elegance wins here, but ironically, it's not that simple. Spotify's radio has perks, like the ability to directly add songs into a playlist for later, on-demand listening. Maybe the key is elegance: Rdio actually does a pretty good job serving up recommendations, either based on my listening, my network, or by showing the most popular songs overall. The approach has turned me onto new artists and albums in a clean, elegant, and uncluttered way.
Unfortunately, I'm enjoying Rdio on a desert island. No one's heard of Rdio, and if they have, they may or may not have an iPad (or the iPad app). By glaring contrast, Spotify has people! But it's also getting pretty noisy - and the contrast is obvious. I don't check my Spotify Inbox, I don't really care 'What's New,' and I'm bracing for another layer of unnecessary complexity, web-based or otherwise.
What I do know is that Spotify is great at delivering me the music I want, when I click play. It works. I'm not sure I need a complicated, heavy 'music OS' on top of that, especially if it's overloaded with distracting frills.
Written while listening to The Doors and Com Truise.
MAC Tuesday, September 11, 2012
I'll give you that sometimes people just want to hear the music, but very few people want to visit a different site every time they want a different piece of information regarding the same artist.
dangude Tuesday, September 11, 2012
Hey, where did you hear about this band?
An algorithm in a software application analyzed my musical preferences and then suggested that I might like them.
Nike Pigeon Tuesday, September 11, 2012
Just think that Algorithms are not connecting with people. It's just a geek fantasy that really isn't how music is discovered. Even Pandora recognized this and popularized all their recommendations instead of relying solely on attributes.
HansH Tuesday, September 11, 2012
Right MAC! Not everyone is like Paul. And because even Spotify doesn't link tot Wikipedia or the artists page I have created http://www.spoticonnect.com/
Paul if Rdio scrobbles feel free to use it ! ;)
whatever man Tuesday, September 11, 2012
Id rather go to one place to get all of that info, Who says a polished and easy to navigate one stop shop cant exist just because no ones done it right yet?
wake up Tuesday, September 11, 2012
So who says all of these functions need to be rolled into a one gigantic, cumbersome sushi roll of a music service? Is that what music fans really want, or need?
You don't get it. They do it for the search engines. Their sites are basically traffic farms for AdSense e.t.c.
Wake up already. Go to Google Search and see how many scraper sites pretend to be "music remommendation sites". Almost half of them just pull Last.fm's database and call it a day.
Darren Wednesday, September 12, 2012
Right there with you Paul - I wrote a very similar sentiment over on Music Ally back in June. Definitely prefer a less cluttered experience and a more orderly layout of my music.
eveale Wednesday, September 12, 2012
Hey. I'm out here on RDIO too.
I'm loving the ability to check out (most) new releases when I read about them. Like The Tom Tom Club new EP for example.
Spotify isn't in Canada yet, but RDIO is, and I'm loving it.
croels Wednesday, September 12, 2012
Well, the answer is pretty easy:
These extra services are a way to
1. tie-in the customer (why go anywhere else if I can find everything in one place?)
2. another revenue stream (percentage of revenues of tickets sold for ex.)
3. cross marketing with other sites (I send you users if you send me some).
So all in all, addressing this other topic dear to you: how can streaming services make money?
To reply to the title of the article: lots of people want this, including myself. I admit it would be nice if one had a choice to use core elements only and exand to see all features.
Bobby Nall Wednesday, September 12, 2012
I use Spotify every day, on my computer at work and on my iPhone in the car/gym/etc., but goddamn, I simply cannot understand how their metadata and usability can suck so badly.
In order to add songs to my "library" I had to make a "Library" playlist as a workaround. That's totally idiotic. Plus, on my iPhone, the library doesn't sync up with the one on my desktop, and that is just infuriating.
You can't sort by release date or genre or most listened or any of the myriad ways that iTunes offers. I miss that.
The worst part is the serious lack of metadata - I want info! The album release years are only sporadically correct, there is no label info, no credits, no genres, a tiny album art window, bios pulled from AMG that are usually outdated. The related artists tab is hit-or-miss, and the "recommeded" albums are a fucking joke.
This could all be fixed! It could be smart! Argh!
Metadata Wednesday, September 12, 2012
I find Spotify's metadata to be quite pathetic myself, you never know when an album was actually released... and what if you want to listen to a band's albums in order? What if you want a sense of what they were doing at a certain time? What if you don't want to be told an album was released in 2002 when it was just remastered in 2002? Pathetic usability on the spotify ap for sure.
Com Truise Wednesday, September 12, 2012
Hey I'm writing this listening to Com Truise too, and I didn't discover it through a spotify recommendation, an iTunes feature, or the radio. I just happened to see them opening for a bigger act in a non-advertised show, and it blew me away. Many of my friends are now listening to this, some who saw it via my Spotify account, and others who heard from word of (my) mouth. So I'd say that it doesn't hurt to have the social media integrated, and arguably it helps artists, but it shouldn't be the main focus. Also glad to see that Com Truise is breaking out a little bit, I kind of assumed he would remain under the radar for a while more. Great new album didn't hurt...
@yvesriesel Wednesday, September 12, 2012
Excellent.
"Don't Need a Recommendation !"
Stalker Wednesday, September 12, 2012
Saw Paul Resnikoff listening to jazz at Knickerbocker's by Wash Sq Pk.
@martinrigby Thursday, September 13, 2012
Good piece.
Pat Monday, September 17, 2012
Understand that you're writing for big music fans, and most general folk are not like you. They do enjoy recommendations and if they don't, then they don't use them.. You don't have to use every feature of a service to get value added from it. I use Excel every day, but I don't use every feature, and I don't need to write an article complaining about how Excel has too much involved with it regarding features.
What's New is great on Spotify for people who want to see what's coming out that week that they weren't hip to. For me, a few weeks back I found the Michael Jackson Thriller tribute by Easy Star All Stars that I wouldn't have known about had I not saw it on the "What's New" page. Personally, I don't use the library feature, because I know what I want to search for and I make playlists out of that.
My point is, you seem like you're complaining over nothing other than personal preferences with different services or websites. I can see your point might be to state that some things are becoming cluttered, but when in human history has that not happened?
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