How does everyone play music these days? I must be missing something!

ripplyuk

I've recently started using Spotify's free service but it's driving me nuts. I can only shuffle play, rather than pick songs which is fine, but it keeps playing the same ones. Also, it throws in other songs which I don't want and repeats these too. Tonight I had to listen to 'Luck be a Lady' after every single song on my list! Also, it's costing a fortune in data when I'm in the car.

There must be a better way. Is there such a thing as free music streaming? I don't need heaps of music, only use it a couple of times a week and I don't mind adverts as long as it's reasonable. Everyone I've spoken to either uses one of the premium services at around £9.99 a month and has an unlimited data sim plan, or else they're doing it illegally and it all sounds far too technical for me.

I only have an old iPhone 4S which has little storage left due to all the software updates, so I've no room to download stuff. No Bluetooth in the car either so it's a right faff with all the wires. I think CD's were easier!

Any advice would be appreciated. No one else seems to have any issues with this.

Cornucopia

You have to bear in mind that the Music Industry really doesn't want you to have music for free.

That means that (legally) you only really have access to Music Radio and its modern-day equivalents like Last.FM, Spotify, etc. I quite like Last.FM for its genre/artist-related playlists, but it can still be repetitive.

In the car, I generally listen to existing CDs that have been ripped to a memory stick (I have 17Gb), or the radio.

I keep meaning to download some talking books from BBC iPlayer (and you could possibly download music radio shows that way if your in-car radio reception is tricky). Either use the iPlayer Radio client download, BBC Podcasts or get_iplayer.

bsod

ripplyuk wrote: »

There must be a better way. Is there such a thing as free music streaming?

car radio !

boliston

if i listen to music online then soundcloud is the one i use most - i quite like the ease of use and general interface, although some songs will only play the intro unless you are on the premium option - i prefer the free option which works fine most of the time. i used to like grooveshark but it no longer operates.

esuhl

I find free streaming services are great for discovering new music, when you're at home with an unlimited internet connection.

But I buy the music I like on CD. That way I can rip it to FLAC (for much better quality than MP3 and other compressed audio formats), and listen to it on my phone. I'm sure you could connect your phone to your car's stereo if you wanted.

As Cornucopia says, you could download podcasts and pre-recorded radio programmes too.

ripplyuk

Thanks for the replies but I have no idea what most of that means. I've never heard of Last.FM (is that a radio station?), or iplayer radio client download, or FLAC. I can't 'rip' anything. I did try to learn once but it always ended up as a half day frustrating drama with little results. I'm totally clueless about technical things.

It's not that I want to get music for free. If I find a song I like, I'm happy to pay for it. It would only be maybe one or two songs a month anyway. It's just hard to find songs at all if I can't browse.

There really is a gap in the market for people like me. I'd be happy to pay if I could browse music, make a list of what I want, and have someone put it into an accessible format for me.

Cornucopia

Last.FM:

Say you like U2, you'd go here: http://www.last.fm/music/U2 and click on "Play similar artists". Last.fm goes off and selects Youtube music videos to create a themed playlist i.e. lots of tracks that fit the same music genre.

Or just go direct to Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=led+zeppelin


BBC Podcasts:

Go here:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/6music/genre/music

Select, say, Lauren Laverne, and then click on one of the programs' "Download MP3" buttons. This creates an MP3 file in your Download folder, which you can play by double-clicking.

How are you connecting your iPhone in the car? Is it with just an audio cable? Maybe the trick is to buy a cheap standalone MP3 player and use that? There's loads of cheap ones on eBay, starting at about £2 (for UK-based sellers).

I'd probably suggest something like this: http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=201656109307#ht_3154wt_1271

zagubov

There's lots of sites that can play music to you like musicovery or neverendingplaylist or rubyfruitradio. Good for background music. Endless stuff out there.

Cornucopia

zagubov wrote: »

... musicovery ...

Thanks - not seen that one before, looks interesting.

zagubov

Cornucopia wrote: »

Thanks - not seen that one before, looks interesting.

And thanks for the Radio 6 podcast links. Plus there's also the free version of deezer. Not the free trial, I mean the free version (has ads but I found it OK).

googler

ripplyuk wrote: »

Thanks for the replies but I have no idea what most of that means.

I can't 'rip' anything. I did try to learn once but it always ended up as a half day frustrating drama with little results. I'm totally clueless about technical things.

Learn how to do this. Assuming you have CDs;

Rip CDs to mp3 or FLAC files.

Get mp3/FLAC player(s) for portable personal use, for car, or for household.