Spotify
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| File:Spotify client mac os x.jpg Spotify running on Mac OS X | |||||||||||||||
| Stable release |
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| Preview release |
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| Operating system | Windows / Mac OS X | ||||||||||||||
| Website | http://www.spotify.com/ | ||||||||||||||
Spotify (composed of spot and identify) is a music streaming software, which allows the multiple encrypted direct transfer of pieces of music without delay.
Mode of Operation and System Requirements
Spotify used to provide the transfer of soundfiles via internet through the combination of server-based streaming and Peer-to-Peer technology (P2P) involving the listeners themselves (also: Cloud Computing). Even with slow internet connections, there were no great delays when playing music. An internet connection of at least 256 kbit/s was recommended, as the bitrate of the stream was approximately 160 kbit/s.[6] The soundfiles could be played on demand, as if they were installed on the hard disk of the user. Songs were cached on the client computer to prevent wasting bandwidth by streaming the same songs over and over.
The content of each client's cache was summarized in an index which was sent to the Spotify stream hub upon connecting to the service. This index was then used to inform other clients about additional peers they could connect to for fetching streamed data for individual tracks being played. This was accomodated by each client, upon startup, acting as a server listening for incoming connections from other Spotify users, as well as intuitively connecting to other users to exchange cached data as appropriate. There were at it's peak no official details from the developers about how many connections and how much of a user's upstream bandwidth the Spotify client used when streaming to other users; the Spotify client offered no way for the user to configure this.
The system requirements were at least Mac OS X 10.4, Windows XP or a newer operating system. It was also possible to run the program in Linux using Wine. The cache size could be limited by the user and the memory location of cache could be chosen. At least 1GB of free space was recommended for the cache.
The user had to set up an account in order to use the software. This account could be used on several computers, but only at one computer at a time.
History
Spotify has been developed since 2006 by a developer team at Spotify AB, Stockholm, Sweden. The company Spotify was founded by Daniel Ek (former CTO of stardoll.com) and Martin Lorentzon (former CEO of TradeDoubler) in Stockholm, Sweden.
Costs and availability
Spotify was freeware and could be downloaded for free. All offered pieces of music were provided by music labels and licensed by them. However, unless the user payed a monthly cost of 99 SEK (approximately 12 USD, or £9.99GBP), there were advertisements in the client window and/or inbetween songs. When a member payed the fee, the member automatically had the status "Premium user"; this allowed the member to listen to previews and news before non-premium users.
The user had access to tracks of all major labels and numerous smaller labels, with the repertoire routinely extended through new labels. The tracks could be found via search for artists, titles, albums, genres or year of publication.
The users could set up playlists and share them, or edit them together with other users (see collaborative software or Groupware). For this purpose the playlist link could directly be dragged into an email or an Instant Messaging-window. If the recipient followed the link the playlist would be downloaded into the Spotify-client of the recipient. Like normal links the playlist links could be used everywhere, such as on websites. The same principle also worked for single tracks, which could be used via Drag and Drop on applications and websites at will.
The tracks could also be downloaded for a fee. The Peer-to-Peer-Streaming, mostly known for legal downloads, could be used legally through the Spotify Software. [citation needed]
See also
References
- ^ "Spotify: Discover music, podcasts, and playlists - Apps on Google Play". play.google.com.
- ^ "Spotify New Music and Podcasts". App Store.
- ^ "Open Source". Spotify. Retrieved 2024-11-14.
- ^ "Spotify Flathub page". Flathub.
- ^ a b "Announcing Alpha & Beta Programs". community.spotify.com. December 4, 2018.
- ^ Spotify support site: Sound quality
↑ http://www.spotify.com
↑ http://www.vimeo.com/1939731
↑ http://www.prnewswire.co.uk/cgi/news/release?id=238993