Hello,
I watched the classic movie "Where The Red Fern Grows" with two of my kids tonight.
It ends with this tear jerking quote. "But someday if God is willing I'd like to go back and walk again in the hills I knew as a boy and I'd like to touch the heart that's carved in an old sycamore tree that says Dan and Ann and I'll look for that sacred spot by the river where the red fern grows." (That quote gets me every time.)
IMHO this is one of the greatest endings in the history of movies. Although I'm now 44 years old and knew how this movie ends, it still makes me cry. That's the magical ability of such great storytelling.
If you've never seen this movie, check it out. Also watch it with people you love.
The wait for Spotify continues. This past Thursday morning I first went to spotify.com and submitted my e-mail address. You either have to get an access code from a friend or Spotify itself to start listening to their much hyped website. That activation code hasn't come yet. I've googled my way around the internet and I've found websites that promise ways to get Spotify. For instance, a website called Klout allegedly was giving out the code. It seems there was such a great demand that the demand crashed Klout's website. There's also a lot of BS to go through to get the invite code from Klout. For me it wasn't worth it.
There are websites that say they can give access to joining Spotify for free. None of those methods have worked for me, most of the information on those websites is terribly out of date. Chevrolet and their new Sonic car are giving out free activation codes within 72 hours allegedly. I signed up for that promotion Saturday night. I'll see how effective that is. I had to agree that I will let someone from Spotify and Chevrolet contact me. I've become very good at saying "no" and caller ID is a life saver. Also readwriteweb.com had 300 invites available, but those went very quickly. In addition a band named the Black Angels are doing a free show sponsored by Spotify. At their concert Spotify is giving out activation codes. The show is Monday night at Mercury Lounge in New York somewhere, Brooklyn? (I'm listening to music on napster.com from The Black Angels right now. They are okay.)
I understand that Spotify is trying to create urgency and excitement about their USA launch. They are very successful at that. But how well will this strategy look a year from now? Right now they could be pissing off those who would be their biggest fans later. And even though the free version of Spotify sounds cool, there are still a lot of restrictions on it. Since I haven't been able to use Spotify yet, all I can go by is word of mouth. Or in this case word of internet. Some of the early free activation codes were for unlimited music. However most of the free activation codes are for very limited amount of music. I've read both 2.5 hours a week and 20 hours a month. I don't know how correct either of those numbers are.
All of Spotify reviews I've read have been extremely favorable. It's competitors: After I listened to Pandora for several hours I was burned out. That's been my experience every time I've listened to Pandora. It's great for the first few hours. Many people love it's music genome idea. While that may have some advantages, I think that is also Pandora's biggest weakness. I did discover a great song by Reliant K called "Sadie Hawkins Dance". However the band is only okay. They have two or three good original songs. But most of their good songs are covers. I quite like their cover of Justin Bieber's "Baby". They rock that song.
I also have a membership to napster.com. It's pretty cool and it only costs me $5 a month. It has saved me more money from buying crappy music that comes heavily hyped. Most of those band suck, as hype is a trick to cover up crap. For instance, I wish I'd had a membership before I bought Mars Volta "Frances The Mute". It would have only taken me a couple of minutes to know that I didn't buy that CD. It's very rare I want to listen to a song or band etc at napster.com that it doesn't have. Example: the only Def Leppard music they have is the new live CD "Mirror Ball".
I will keep you updated with my Spotify experience, or as of right now lack of Spotify experience. I'd love to hear what kind of experience you have had with Spotify so far or your frustrations if you are also shut out.
themusicaddict
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