Spotify has added a host of new features related to social networking websites in its latest update, v.0.4.3. The popular music streaming service now allows users to create their own profile, import friends from Facebook and track some of their listening habits. For those that use iTunes, you can also migrate your library across to Spotify and keep all of your music collection in one handy place.
Regular Spotify users will also notice a raised bar above the album artwork in the bottom left corner of the application. This adds a far simpler method for telling friends about a new track you’ve discovered; click on the Twitter icon and your profile will load up, complete with a condensed link of no more than 140 characters.
Alternatively by choosing the Facebook icon, a link to your song will be added to your feed with an optional custom message. All of the Spotify messages gathered from you and your fellow Facebook addicts congregate on the Spotify application in a feed found on the home page.
At the moment these changes are fairly minimal, but they hint at far greater ideas brewing inside the Swedish software company. In my opinion Last.fm has nailed the social networking aspect of music lovers perfectly, but with a superior streaming platform Spotify could quickly become a worthy competitor. It’s a smart move to leave the core social networking to Facebook – with arguably the largest community of users and friends, there’s no battle for Spotify to create their own fan base from scratch.
It’s a shame that they decided to only allow integration from iTunes; I know a number of people that use Windows Media Player and the Zune software, which will presumably have to wait for a later version before they can start migrating their libraries.
Spotify users should find that the update is applied automatically, otherwise you may have to do it manually through the Spotify website. If you’re not already a user of Spotify, then unfortunately you’ll have to find an invite from an existing user. It’s a strange policy, but one that is trying to promote a shift to its paid, premium service.
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