Why spotify?

Simon

Wot Gary said. Spotify's much nicer to use and it appears will endure. There's talk that they'll be adding CD quality stuff sometime soon. Good decision by Naim.

Why Spotify?  I think it's a case of catering for the greater demand, unfortunately for some of us, but it is a decision that I can understand.  It may seem strange to some on this forum, but many others seem happy listening to compromised sound quality to obtain higher levels of choice and convenience....at least for background listening  I did use Spotify premium for a short time, and was quite surprised at how inoffensive I found the compressed audio, and if that was all I could get, I'd still be using it now, but for internet streaming Qobuz took things to a new level for me, and I remain a huge fan of their product.  Tidal I was substantially less impressed with.

I actually do appreciate Spotify and it has given my NDX a breath of fresh air. While I am not sure about paying $10/month on the long term, I enjoy discovering the different genres and selections of music on the spotify app. So far it has been more enjoyable than anything.

I find the sound quality acceptable for general background listening and it is really a nice option to have rather than not. 

Why spotify? Because forum members posted incessantly about wanting naim to give them spotify. Now they have it, they want something else instead/more.

I guess that's only human nature.

Why Spotify?

Of course not because of the sound quality, because that is indeed seriously compromised if played on Naim kit. It's because it's vast music collection and its convenient app. Not sure about the alternative streaming services, but in my understanding Spotify has one of the largest collections.

I love classical music and read a lot of reviews. Typically from the recommended versions, half of them are available on Spotify. I make a playlist and play them blindly, and buy the performance I like best on CD or FLAC. 

Really, Spotify has changed my world.

A small price to pay, to have all the music in the world at your fingertips. It'll pay for itself by reducing the number of duff CDs you buy.

What will happen in the next few months?

Apple?

Amazon?

I see that Qobuz have just launched a premium service that allows for discounts of 24 bit albums along with streaming. Great idea.

Interesting battling going on between the MP3 is kaka contingent and those enjoying Spotify for what it is - a great way to discover new artists, genres, you name it.  

For me £10 a month is a small price to pay for all the discovery, and ...

Most new releases have dire mastering - loud and compressed - as we are all aware. I would frankly rather listen to these in MP3 than in Redbook because my highly revealing Naim system makes most new compressed offerings painful to listen to. And for that, I refuse to pay for the physical digital article.

BTW I don't have a Naim Streamer so have been enjoying Spotify for quite some time on my Squeezeboxes.

Welcome to the club boys.

I've used spotify from my PC over optical out into my NDX in my study since more than a year. Love it!

And to be honest, don't care that it's not lossless. 

Come to think of it, it's all lossy. Even CD quality is ultimately lossy - it's not the original master quality. 

+1

Dave

I suppose Naim are thinking we are dammed if we do and dammed if we don't, let's not forget that there was quite a lot of people asking for Spotify

+1

+1

It's important to remember here that listening to, and discovering music, is the most important thing.  Spotify expanded my horizons significantly, and is a great try-before-you-buy service.  Plus, there are tracks and artists that I would not necessarily spend money on, but when the mood takes me, I enjoy listening to.  In my experience Spotify provides for those moments, and however much I might in principle hate the idea of compressed audio formats, like everything else from DSD to vinyl, it still sounds better on a decent system.  However, Qobuz lossless service offers me all that Spotify did, only with much better results once you press play.....for a premium of course.  

Maybe this thread hints at the most likely reason Naim Audio chose Spotify: Muso. 

+1

Well, it's your wallet which should make your ears happy.....I would argue £10,- is a bargain for anybody who can afford Naim kit.

I see it differently. Millions of songs available any time of the day - a dream for people who love music.I often scroll through "What are you listening to..." here on the forum, see interesting music, and play it within a minute! What else do you want? It's a dream!

I travel a lot, take my iPad mini with me, logon in the hotel room and enjoy the Spotify playlists created at home... wonderful.

Maybe it's a generation thing? When I was a boy I heard a song on the radio, hoped that the DJ would mention the song title at the end, tried to remember the title and rushed to the music shope on my bike. I then tried to explain the salesman the song title (if I wasn't too shy). If I was lucky the guy would put on the LP to allow me one listen. Then the final moment came, the point of no return: should I buy this LP from my entire month's pocket money, or maybe that other one??

Oh yes, those were the days....

I have tried out Spotify and like the fact it is well integrated into the naim app. It is a fantastic catalogue for only £10 a month, however I do find the sound quality awful, even on just my UQ2. I hope spotify realise they are missing a trick and offer us all higher quality sound soon. I presume this is why Naim has only done a deal with them. 

My main question is why Naim can't offer Qobuz or Tidal integration too? Surely this would be far more beneficial to Naim users...perhaps Spotify have been watching the Apprentice and demanded exclusivity from Naim!

I am genuinely curious here. I recognise that the perception of sound is an incredibly personal and subjective experience, so, as they say MMV (Milage May Vary) but to describe Spotify's (320kbps stream) as 'awful' is really difficult to comprehend. I am not undermining your opinion, it is yours, but at the same time I would really appreciate if you could explain a little bit more why you find it that bad? 

Last night I spent about 5 hours listening to music (ND5 XS > Nait XS > Neat Motive 2). I did not do any A-B back and forth jumping between  my lossless tracks and Spotify, but simply let the music play. It was a thoroughly enjoyable experience. My face  prompted my wife to ask me 'why that smile?" I listened to my own rips (which sounded lovely) and I also listened to Spotify stream (which also sounded lovely) Did the latter have an edge over the former? I think so. Was it 'night and day', absolutely not. 

Maybe "awful" to you means something different than to me and the problem lies simply in how we perceive things and the label we chose to describe them but I am genuinely interested in understanding.

I think Alonso has a point. While I'm very much in the camp that wants to see Naim offering Qobuz or Tidal (preferably the former), I think Spotify or indeed other 320k services such as Radio 3 do sound pretty respectable. Just not the full lossless quality that I would hope Naim would offer.