5-MINUTE EXPERT
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SOUND GARDENS
AMAZON MUSIC UNLIMITED ■ Cost? $9.99/month; $7.99/month or $79.99/year for Amazon Prime members ■ How many songs? 60 million ■ Can you upload music you own? No. But music purchased through Amazon is added to your library, so if Prince’s estate has second thoughts, you can just buy Sign ‘O’ the Times and get the MP3s back that way. Yeah, it’s not ideal. ■ Why bother? When you factor in the Amazon Prime member discount, it’s the cheapest service out there. And hi-def streaming is available at $12.99/month for Prime members or $14.99/month—a big savings over HD champ Tidal.
MUSIC STREAMING SERVICES CAN CONNECT YOU TO YOUR FAVORITE MUSIC WHEREVER YOU GO. WHICH ONE’S BEST FOR YOU? BY GEOFF CARTER wedish music streaming service Spotify launched in the United States in July 2011. Before that, the amount of music you could carry with you was limited to the memory of your iPod—and, coincidentally, to you remembering to take your iPod out of your gym clothes before dropping them in the wash. Spotify, with its millions of songs (50 million, at last count), completely changed all that. It not only negated consumer need to purchase music players like iPods, but the need to purchase music itself. Seconds after signing up, Spotify spills an avalanche of songs into your lap. Just as soon as you learn of the existence of a new Haim record, you can listen to it—without commercials even, if you pay a monthly fee. ¶ The long-term impact of services like Spotify on the business of recorded music is still unfolding. (There’s an ongoing question of artist compensation, for one thing, but we won’t go into all that now, except to say that all artists deserve to earn at least a living wage from their work.) And from a consumer standpoint, these streaming services aren’t yet perfect. They compress audio files, skimp on liner notes and album art, and, in some cases— due to licensing issues, label disputes or the reticence of individual artists—omit songs, albums or entire label catalogs. ¶ Still, we’re very close to a sonic utopia. How can a music fan hope to build a complete sound library in the cloud, one that not only includes otherwise omitted tracks but also favorite bootlegs and rarities? Amazingly, certain streaming services are taking steps to help realize that crazy dream. Here’s the current breakdown.
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APPLE MUSIC ■ Cost? $9.99/month; $99/year ■ How many songs? 60 million ■ Can you upload music you own? Yes, up to 100,000 songs. ■ Why bother? Service-only exclusive albums and tracks. Beats 1 radio and iHeart Radio streaming channels. And if you’re deep into Apple’s walled garden, you’re probably already a subscriber.
