To ask about Spotify?

[Bakeofffakeoff]

I don’t have a Spotify account, no idea how it works.

I’m throwing DH a surprise 40th birthday party in a couple of weeks and thought I’d join Spotify and see if there was a 40th birthday playlist I could play on the night.

I’ve just gone onto Spotify and searched 40th birthday playlist and have been playing one…even though I don't have an account?

Is this correct? Do I not have to sign up and pay whatever a month or is that only if you want to create your own playlists?

You said you joined Spotify, so you must have made an account to do that. You can play other people's playlists even if you don't pay for Spotify. You'll just get ads every so often.

You can use Spotify without playing, there are just various restrictions on what you can do. And you'll get ads.

No, sorry, I was planning on joining, I never actually did as when I went on the Spotify website I could instantly search for and play playlists….

You get ads and can only skip a certain number of songs without a account and can't make a playlist but you can listen to music and a certain amount of audio books per month.

Oh sorry. I should learn to read properly!
But if you do want to join, you might be able to do it through an existing Google account or whatever, rather than creating a separate Spotify account.

You can also usually get a trial month free, so if you do that just before the party you'll be able to play the music with no ads.

Could you play the full songs? Usually if you aren't logged in it will just play short excerpts, not the full songs.

The other option is someone that has an account is already signed in.

I use Spotify a lot. I've paid for my account, so there's no ads (which you need really for a playlist at a party). You can also make your own playlists! It's way better than random stuff, but if you go for that there'll be stuff out there too.

Thanks all! I’ll create and pay for an account (or sign up
for a free trial if there is one!)

IIRC, the first few days were a trial period when no ads appeared. Then that period ran out, and I got ads every few tracks.

I really enjoy using Spotify, wouldn't have it if it wasn't for DD but being able to download any song is pretty great and you are introduced to all sorts of other music you may have ever heard before. All for the equivalent price of a CD a month.

There seems to be a playlist for every occasion and I like the DJ option that plays songs you like and other similar ones.

Spotify is great, I wouldn't be without it. You can listen to loads of audiobooks now as well as any music you want. There are events with artists and I even got a Spotify presale code for Imagine Dragons!

You'll have to pay as you won't want adverts breaking it up. And to create your own playlist. A generic "40th birthday" one could be anything.

I thought you had to have a premium account to listen to audio books.

Maybe, I thought you got a certain amount of hours but I might be wrong.

So did I. I want to downgrade mine to the non audio book one because I don't listen to them.

Im another one who is clueless about Spotify...

Is there an extensive list of audio books, and how is the quality. I wouldn't be keen on American voices reading English or European books, for instance.

Also, how useful is it for classical music and opera? If I wanted to listen to, say, Rigoletto or Beethoven's 5th piano concerto, would there be several recordings to choose from or just one or two?

A search finds 4 versions, an audiobook and a playlist.

The audiobooks were OK, but I'm not an audiobook fan in general.

Can't say for audio books because I don't use it for that, but classical and opera is wonderful. I wouldn't be without it. You'll find several of everything. And not from random like on YouTube.

Edit to say DH says Andy Serkis reads LotR on there. So I assume audio books will be whatever audio publishers allowed. Not randoms.

I believe you get 15hrs a month with Premium. You can then pay for more.
I get my audio books from BorrowBox (via the library) and also have a Audible subscription (to get the new releases).

Audio was added to Premium as a extra to the music. I don't think you can opt out and get cheaper subscription - just the free one.

The audio books are the same as you get from any audiobook platform, they're not Spotify specific - it's just like getting a book from a library.
I've found the range pretty good. 15 hrs isn't enough for me, so I tend to flit about. I listen to a lot of books!

There are 2 levels of family account. One with audiobooks, one without.
But on 2nd look the one without is only basic accounts. Which I assume means no skipping etc.

Probably our most used subscription - me, DH, DCx2 and my parents all use our premium family account every day. I’ve never been an audiobook fan but have taken advantage of the option recently and quite enjoying it for a change.

What are the 2 different family plans? I know there is Duo and Family, but not different levels within Family.

There's family and "basic family"