Spot-on

Imagine having unlimited access to music for just £10 a month.
Better still, imagine having almost the same thing, for free!

Well now you can. Spotify is a Swedish music streaming program through which users can browse artists, albums or create playlists from a huge catalogue of music. I have been an eager user of Spotify since I heard about it a few months ago, and have so far been able to listen to about 90% of the songs I have searched for. There are a few major bands such as The Beatles, AC/DC and Metallica whose music is not available, as these artists have 'opted not to be added to Spotify' yet. However, I for one feel that I can sacrifice their music in favour of up-and-coming artists; after all, I think I've had my fair share of The Beatles' music during my Liverpudlian-fuelled childhood.

Of course, there's always a catch, and here it is. Spotify is funded by advertisements and paid subscriptions. Therefore, the standard, free version of Spotify - only available in parts of Western Europe - is occasionally interrupted by a 15 second advert. Whereas, if the user chooses to pay an unnecessary £9.99 a month, they can listen to the music 'ad-free'. Some people think that infiltrating their music with adverts is a step too far, and leap at the chance to waste £10 a month in order to get rid of them.

When I stumbled upon Spotify, I asked myself, 'Since when has anything been free?' - Apparently it's when I stop being excessively fussy, and allow a short ad to interrupt my listening every half an hour.