The Wiki Man

6 June 2009

Rory Sutherland's fortnightly column on technology and the web

It’s called Spotify. I don’t know why. And I have no idea how it can make money for the people who have invested in it. But this is the internet we are talking about, where all of us can enjoy good things for years while it falls to other people to work out how to make money from them.

So, if you live in Britain (or Sweden, Norway, Finland, France or Spain), don’t waste any time reading the rest of this article — go along to www.spotify.com and download the free version now. Those who first want to know what it does may want to sit down now, since you’re in for a surprise.

What the Spotify software allows you to do, and quite legally, is to use your PC to listen to almost any music you like — on demand, instantly and free. In theory the whole thing is supported by advertisements, but these seem so unobtrusive as to be almost subliminal.

I’ve had this software on my laptop for months. So you’re probably wondering why I haven’t told you about it before. This is because, when Spotify first came out, I liked everything about it except for its selection of music.

Those of you who know me only as a writer on gadgetry may have assumed my love of modernity extends to my cultural tastes. Quite the opposite. If you find me downloading a film, it’s probably in black and white. My favourite online radio station plays baroque music. And the main British bands you’ll find on my iPod are Harry Roy’s, Ray Noble’s and Lew Stone’s. So, when I first found Spotify’s early catalogue full of modern dross sung by Mancunians in anoraks, I rather lost interest.

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