Spotify Rocks!!

So just as I quasi-predicted a few blogs ago, my love for Pinterest has somewhat fallen by the way side...
But I now have a new love and it goes by the name Spotify - only this time I don't think I'm going to fall out of love so easily (don't worry Pinterest I still think you're great I just haven't had much need for you of late).

EXCEPT that I'm trying to spice this blog up with a little bit of music c/o Spotify and I can't seem to get their 'Spotify Play Button' feature to work - can anyone help me???? Does it have something to do with the fact I'm using Blogger??? Spotify appear to be affiliated with Tumblr but there is nothing to say that it won't work with other blog hosting programs. Hm...

But it's ok Spotify cause you've redeemed yourself with pretty quickly with the 'Clean up your MP3s' feature i.e. your collaboration with Gracenote. How good is this!!! I am horrified every time I look at the list of songs I have in iTunes - and now those days can be a thing of the past - I'm a little bit excited right now!!

So now to the point of this blog (sorry I promise I had every intention of getting to the point quickly this time round but I keep finding new things I want to talk about).

Point no. 1 - Spotify and Advertising
Despite their best efforts to convince companies to advertise with them http://www.spotify.com/au/work-with-us/advertisers/ they're not really selling it for me. Yes Spotify is popular and it can offer all of the great little targeting techniques that a lot of other social media can offer but from what I can see all you get is a banner ad when you login, albeit a big banner ad smack bang at eye level, but still just a banner ad. Their partnerships on the other hand seem to offer a more attractive marketing opportunity because it gives companies the opportunity to associate Spotify with their brand and that means some of Spotify's great image can rub off on the brand. Apps are another good way that companies can leverage off Spotify's success but these only appear to be good for companies/brands that are either music related and/or working in the digital realm.

Point no. 2 - Spotify and Artists
Unless your the Beatles and Led Zeppelin (not on Spotify), an artist would be crazy not to want their music on Spotify. On second thoughts I think the Beatles and Led Zeppelin are crazy too - they may not need any help in getting their music heard (or extra cash for that matter) but unlike music piracy, they'll continue to get the royalties they so rightly deserve for their music. Now back to everyone else - Spotify offers a really easy to use platform for people to access and listen to music, all the while paying royalties every time a song is played.  Furthermore, the ability to post songs on Facebook, share music with friends and follow friends on Spotify means people are spreading the word about an artist's music i.e.the holy grail of eWOM that all brands (and that inc.artists too) strive for. Features such as Top Lists, Related Artists, Artist Radio and some of the available Apps all help in getting an artist's music heard.

So I guess the verdict is Nay for non-music related brands and Yay for music related brands. What do you think - Yay or Nay??