can someone explain to me how music works in 2015?

[Anonymous]

I'm out of it but want to get back into music. So now I don't buy CDs, I stream music? How? I buy one of those things my phone hooks into and use Spotify? Or Pandora? Connected to Wi-Fi so I don't use up all my data?

Totally confused.

[Anonymous]

Yes--please explain!

I have tried Pandora, and also we have an iTunes music subscription now too.

What I want to be able to do is have something like a radio station suited to my tastes, not just based off one artist.

[Anonymous]

Pandora, Spotify, IheartRadio all let you listen to preset offerings or to create your own radio station. You start off by picking artists or genres you like. Then similar music will be played and you give it thumbs up or down. Basically it's free (with commercials) on wireless. Or pay a subscription and it's no commercials and you can download playlists to store play music on the go.

[Anonymous]

I'm pretty out of it too, but love Pandora. You can create radio stations for one artist and then choose the ones you want to mix together to make a more diverse station. They also have their own stations. My favorite so far is Contemporary Folk (but I'm old--51).

I use the Pandora apps on both my iPhone and iPad. They use wifi. If I'm out exercising, I usually have to use data on my phone.

[Anonymous]

iTunes is the big place to buy music, but Amazon has their own way as well.

OP - do you have an iPhone? If so, there is an iTunes Store app built in to the phone itself.

[Anonymous]

There are a bunch of on-demand streaming music services - meaning you listen to what you want, when you want. I have Spotify but they're all pretty similar (Apple Music, Rdio, Google Music All Access, etc.) Spotify has a free option with ads, they all have an ad-free version for $10 a month or so. In addition to on-demand music, they all offer radio-like playlists based off artists, your tastes, certain genres, top charts, etc. If you're a big music fan, subscribing to one of these is a no-brainer. For 10 bucks, you get to listen to virtually anything, any time - less than you used to spend on a single album. The value proposition in pretty mind-boggling. At least in terms of Spotify, you can save a large amount of music offline for listening where there's no internet or to save data - this works fine as long as your phone has some free storage.

Then there are the "radio" services like Pandora or , where you don't get to pick exactly what you hear. They're generally free with ads or paid without them. If you're not that into music, this is a fine alternative to the on-demand services.

[Anonymous]

I have Rhapsody, which is something like $70/ year and let's me download music through the program.
I don't own it, but I can play almost any album and song; the difference is you just don't own the music.
(Which is fine with me, because between switching phones, computers, etc, I've decided I just want to hear the music. Don't need to own it if I can play it everywhere.)
Then, if I need to buy a song for a project, for example, I buy it through iTunes or Amazon.

[Anonymous]

I love spotify and I have t-mobile where you can stream it all you want and it doesnt count against data.

[Anonymous]

OP here. Thanks for the replies! so basically I need to get one of these subscription services and then stream it?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Thanks for the replies! so basically I need to get one of these subscription services and then stream it?

OP, do you want to play music from your cell phone? Some things like Spotify will cost you more in cell phone usage than downloading the music to your phone.

Do you have an iPhone or an Android? Do you have a computer or tablet?

[Anonymous]

I have an iPhone, and a computer, and a tablet... but I guess I want to be able to listen to music at home, in the car, etc...

[Anonymous]

Do you have Amazon prime? Tons of free music there, and if you still want to buy CDs, it's automatically added to your library.

[Anonymous]

yes! I do have amazon prime.
technical question: can I listen with something other than my computer?

[Anonymous]

What is a Bluetooth speaker?

[Anonymous]

You can use Spotify for free. A bit more limited than a paid account and there are commercials, but it more than meets my needs. Just download the app on your phone.