Spotify

Last.fm and YouTube have been my online music staples for a while now, and I've always enjoyed both for the great musical flow you can acheive if you listen for long periods of time, with the suggested plays/related videos often leading to new sonic discoveries. However, after meeting with a guy from Spotify at work and having a play around with the format on both my work PC and personal macbook, I'm convinced of Spotify's great promise. Though it has a much smaller music library than the likes of MySpace music or Last.fm, the customizable nature of the application (note, Spotify is not 'web-based' in the traditional sense, and must be downloaded to your desktop) means that all your favourite tunes, divided by moods/recommendations or simply by genre is avialble instantly. Yes, it feels rather iTunes-esque, but it seems to have taken all the best bits and added what the likes of Last.fm have done so well - allowing for streaming music that is user-generated in that the third intelligence is there, so you rarely end up listening to something you don't want to hear.

In terms of an advertising medium, I think the platform has a while to come before it goes towards anything revolutionary. Yes, it's highly targeted (users are reqired to enter postcode, gender and DOB upon registration) and clever audio space linked with more traditional display-like ad space can be effective, the 'ignore' factor is prime here, as the focus is on music consumption and not any other. The free nature of Spotify means that they'll have to come up with some interesting new strategies beyond offering an ad-supported music platform.

One thing Mr. Spotify did show us that certainly impressed me was the new Spotify iPhone app. Though I'm a religious Blackberry lover, this is pretty awesome. It's converging iTunes with the iPod with the music phone, and the functionality looks impressive. Here's a video preview: