Spotify’s much-anticipated launch in Singapore made us want to jump right in and see what it has in store for Asia.
Upon download, the system tries to familiarize itself with the user’s impeccable taste (you were, after all, hip enough to first download Spotify) by asking you to select your favorite genres. It then rolls out a list of your Facebook friends who are already on Spotify, prompting you to “follow” them.
“Following” friends and strangers alike would grant you access to playlists they’ve created by uploading tracks from their own computers, much like on 8tracks. There are also plenty of musicians and singers whose personal tastes you might be dying to discover. We chose to follow Lana Del Rey and The XX, and by far have no regrets.
The rest is a breeze – your landing page is now potential-favorite-songs galore, with endless ear candy to delve into. You could stay entertained for hours just by checking out the Top 100 tracks lined up for each genre! From the looks of it, whether you’re a metalhead, an indie devotee or a jazz junkie, you’ll never get bored of what you can find.
What we love about the interface is that it’s straightforward yet comprehensive. They seem to have the best functions of iTunes, Pinterest, Facebook and Twitter all rolled into one and full of win! With these value-adding features, not only is Spotify a curator of newfangled tunes, it is also a source of breaking music news that’s more localized for us easterners than say, Earmilk or Pitchfork.
If this keeps up, we might just be looking at the holy grail of the music world in the near future.
To learn more about how Spotify works, you can try it for yourself!
Our verdict: The $9.90 per month subscription is a great investment, considering the number (practically unlimited) of songs you can download and listen to on your mobile devices, both on- and offline.
Tricky disclaimer: You can only play the songs you’ve downloaded through Spotify, and if you choose to end your subscription, all these songs are deleted from your library.