Linn Owners

Spotify Connect Free? Good way to find new music for buyers?

timster

Linnguist
Wammer
Oct 9, 2018
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Wiltshire, UK
HiFi Trade?
  1. No
I asked on the development forum, but may as well do same here. Apparently Spotify Connect is now available for (some) free users (see here: https://www.theverge.com/2018/11/7/18071464/spotify-connect-free-tier-ad-supported-premium). As I am one, I reckon it would be a good addition to Linn's Spotify Connect integration.

Reason being, I have been trialing Qobuz Studio but have found I really don't make enough use of it to justify the cost, and I prefer to have my own library anyway, which then doubles it when I buy what I like. So perhaps HiEnd subscription streaming isn't for me. MP3 for discovery seems to make more sense.

So, I was thinking. For the same outlay, rather than pay £25pm (equivalent to 2 HiRes/3 CDs, which is round about my average new music spend) change to Qobuz Premium (mp3) to find new stuff, and continue to buy anything I like (but only 1 or 2 a month for the £15 difference). But then I thought, I have a free spotify account, and I think they have a larger selection (I could be wrong) but anyway, the Linn Spotify Connect integration makes Spotify Premium on a par with Qobuz Premium. 50/50. BUT, Spotify have an offer until 31st Dec for Premium for 99ppm for 3 months. Yeah. So I may as well do that.

And then I read that Connect is now available to free subscribers IF Linn make use of the latest SDK - hence the above question/request. That would make the whole £25pm budget for new music available :)

Thoughts? I have yet to try Connect, but are there any drawbacks? Is it fairly straightforward to play from a tablet from the Spotify web player (it's Windows, so no app as far as I can see)? I presume it doesn't actually stream from the tablet to the DS, but tells the cloud to direct the stream directly to it?

 
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HansBertil

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Oct 13, 2018
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Bertil
HiFi Trade?
  1. No
My first thought is that you maybe mean Spotify Premium in your second sentence. /HB 

 

HansBertil

Wammer
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Oct 13, 2018
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AKA
Bertil
HiFi Trade?
  1. No
Nope. Connect is available for free users according to the article. Hence the question to Linn.
Sorry, my bad. I’m using Tidal myself but have been playing Spotify Connect all Christmas at my sisters, and she is a Premium user apparently. Spotify Connect works well On her MDSM. And yes, my view is that the tablet acts as a control point.

For myself I find streaming services good for finding new music but buy every now and then the CD since some material suddenly can’t be found anymore on Tidal. /HB 

 

timster

Linnguist
Wammer
Oct 9, 2018
2,955
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Wiltshire, UK
HiFi Trade?
  1. No
Well, not a great start. Took the 99p Premium offer so now I have at least 3 months. But, turned on my DSM, selected Spotify. The DSM does not appear in the app as a device. All the DSM has on the display is Spotify and the stopped icon.

The guide says the "speaker" has to be on the same WiFi network, but obviously the DSM is hard wired. So why doesn't it appear in the Spotify app? Any ideas?

 

timster

Linnguist
Wammer
Oct 9, 2018
2,955
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148
Wiltshire, UK
HiFi Trade?
  1. No
Sorry, my bad. I’m using Tidal myself but have been playing Spotify Connect all Christmas at my sisters, and she is a Premium user apparently. Spotify Connect works well On her MDSM. And yes, my view is that the tablet acts as a control point.

For myself I find streaming services good for finding new music but buy every now and then the CD since some material suddenly can’t be found anymore on Tidal. /HB 
Hence streaming at mp3 (cheaper, or even for free hopefully!) makes more sense. I always buy downloads from Qobuz these days. Apart from a 99p CD found in a charity shop just yesterday, I can't remember the time before that I last bought one.

 

timster

Linnguist
Wammer
Oct 9, 2018
2,955
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Wiltshire, UK
HiFi Trade?
  1. No
My bad this time! Works a treat (ish). Needed to reboot the DSM for some reason, but it usually does the trick.

First impression is, I think if the free version doesn't become available for the DS, I'll stick with Qobuz Premium instead of Spotify once the offer period ends. Having to control the DS with 2 apps isn;t great for one thing, plus when I fund something I like it's far more convenient to favourite it in Qobuz ready to buy.

If the free version does happen though it's very much 50/50.

 

HansBertil

Wammer
Wammer
Oct 13, 2018
918
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113
Sweden
AKA
Bertil
HiFi Trade?
  1. No
The magic reboot thing... Yes, the benefit with for instance Tidal is that one can mix locally stored material with Tidal ditto in the same playlist. Not possible with Spotify. One benefit though with Spotify is that you can change the volume with the tablet hard buttons (at least on iPad). Not that it outweigh the drawbacks. /HB 

 

axe

Newbie
Wammer
Aug 7, 2018
52
41
38
Portsmouth
HiFi Trade?
  1. No
I'm a long term Spotify user and whilst I wish they'd offer higher quality than 320kbps vogg I have no other complaints (sounds pretty good via my DS). Their AI for suggesting new music based on your historical listening is great.

Also, if you're with Vodafone you can get Spotify premium included in your tarrif. Look up red entertainment. I pay £20 per month for my mobile tarrif, £9.99 of which I'd be paying for Spotify anyway.

 

timster

Linnguist
Wammer
Oct 9, 2018
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Wiltshire, UK
HiFi Trade?
  1. No
Thanks axe. I'm a luddite when it comes to phones. I just have a tesco monthly plan that includes data I never use for less than a tenner a month. And vodaphone coverage in my area is woeful.

If Spotify Connect for free subscribers does get included with Linn I will probably only do that. I have 3 months to try it with Premium, I'll see how I get on. But the convenience of Qobuz Premium integrated into Kazoo is a big plus in comparison, whether it's worth a tenner is the question.

 

timster

Linnguist
Wammer
Oct 9, 2018
2,955
2,458
148
Wiltshire, UK
HiFi Trade?
  1. No
I've decided I don't like Spotify, if only because I don't like the navigation in the app, it's not intuitive and far too easy to accidentally start playing a whole bunch of stuff, neither is control of Connect on our DSMs any good. Volume control is very blocky for one thing And why the hell can't you clear the queue? I've got a whole load of stuff in the up next that I don't want.

Back to [1].

 

Matteo

Matteo
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Oct 10, 2018
408
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83
Milano, Italia
AKA
Matteo
HiFi Trade?
  1. No
I'm a long term Spotify user and whilst I wish they'd offer higher quality than 320kbps vogg I have no other complaints (sounds pretty good via my DS). Their AI for suggesting new music based on your historical listening is great.

Also, if you're with Vodafone you can get Spotify premium included in your tarrif. Look up red entertainment. I pay £20 per month for my mobile tarrif, £9.99 of which I'd be paying for Spotify anyway.
I pay € 5,95 per month for Fastweb with 20 Gb

 

Matteo

Matteo
Wammer
Oct 10, 2018
408
256
83
Milano, Italia
AKA
Matteo
HiFi Trade?
  1. No
I've decided I don't like Spotify, if only because I don't like the navigation in the app, it's not intuitive and far too easy to accidentally start playing a whole bunch of stuff, neither is control of Connect on our DSMs any good. Volume control is very blocky for one thing And why the hell can't you clear the queue? I've got a whole load of stuff in the up next that I don't want.

Back to [1].
After some years of use, I found Spotify (Premium) good only via desktop and awful via streamer / phone / tablet / car radio.

Very useful for discovering new music and before buying a vinyl though.

 

timster

Linnguist
Wammer
Oct 9, 2018
2,955
2,458
148
Wiltshire, UK
HiFi Trade?
  1. No
After some years of use, I found Spotify (Premium) good only via desktop and awful via streamer / phone / tablet / car radio.

Very useful for discovering new music and before buying a vinyl though.
Agree with the discovering. May as well stick with Spotify free albeit with ads for that.

 

Joanna Keeper

Newbie
New Wammer
Feb 13, 2020
1
0
0
You can try MusConv to transfer your music.

I have used a tool MusConv to transfer all my Spotify playlists to Apple Music without any hassle. It has free and paid versions so you may try it.

 

Pedro2

Pedro2
Wammer
Sep 9, 2018
779
609
113
High Peak
AKA
Peter
HiFi Trade?
  1. No
We’re avid Spotify users here. Find the iPhone app easy to navigate  once you’re used to it and we have loads of playlists built over several years. 
 

The catalogue is probably the best around and sound quality great through the Linn. Don’t particularly like the interface on a MacBook, however.

 

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