Spotify users - I need your help
It’s well known that I’m a huge Spotify fan. So much so, that I’m putting my money where my mouth is and launching a site next week so that Spotify users in the UK (and globally) can share their playlists and discover new music at the same time.
What is Spotify playlist?
Well it’s basically a compilation or “mixtape” of songs that you have lovingly put together. It could be a selection of your favourite music from a certain year, that will evoke happy memories. Or maybe it’s a collection of the latest R&B songs from your favourite artists. Or it could be that you’re a huge fan of say Frank Sinatra and have compiled the essential guide to the man and his music. Anything goes, any style, any niche, any artist (s). All I ask is that you only submit a playlist if it is made up of at least 10 songs.
What I need from you
If you have some Spotify playlists already compiled then please share them here in the comments. Here’s what I’m after:
1. Spotify URL of the playlist i.e. http://open.spotify.com/user/kieron/playlist/77zouK8SJuiMnmC1j9ISf6
2. Playlist Title i.e. Kieron’s R&B Mixtape Volume 1
3. Description: This can be anything from a few words, i.e. “A compilation of the latest R&B tunes released in January 2009″ to a full track listing. Be as detailed as you want.
4. Name: Your name, as the “author” of the playlist
As an added bonus, for the first 20 people everyone that submits their playlist I will commission some custom artwork for their virtual “album cover”. Just like the one for my playlist below. A key feature of my new site will be the ability to visualise playlists through artwork. So to kick start things off I have a designer on hand ready to produce some original artwork for you free of charge.
UPDATE: Users will be able to search the site by playlist title and description so please try and make sure you are clear about the theme of your playlist. A playlist called “my favourites” or “bits and bobs” probably won’t get featured well in the search results. There are some fantastic playlist ideas below (thanks everyone) here are some of my favourites so far:
Motivational Songs - 19 uplifting songs to motivate you
Songs from Scotland - does what it says on the tin!
Jude’s Rock Ballads & Soft Rock - wow a lot of work has gone into this mega playlist!
Loudblur - a selection of Blur’s louder, rockier or punkier songs
No Nirvana - an attempt to recreate a classic BBC Late Show from 1993 called No Nirvana
Binary Beats - electronica, some hard, some soft, some loud, some easy, some old, some new
New Year’s Eve 2008 - A bunch of party type tunes which my NYE party goers kept adding to as the night went on. As you can imagine with lots of input there is a varied selection of music, but might help someones party playlist come together! (I love this playlist, obviously loads of thought has went into it)
Electrogirls - A selection of electro with female vocals
Why am I doing this?
Well I really love Spotify, I think it’s a brilliant application and I think it will change the way lots of people listen to music. So I’m building it for no other reason than I’m a huge Spotify and a huge music fan. I want to create a site where people can show off their diverse tastes in music and also discover and explore new music too. The site itself won’t have any major revenue model, I may place a few banner ads on it, if I can find relevant advertisers, but that will be all. I don’t expect this to make money, I’m doing it for fun 
Having said that, I’m taking the site very seriously, as I do with all my businesses and I aim to deliver a truly valuable destination for music fans. It will of course be free to use also. Although there are other sites out there who offer a similar service, my hope is that mine will have the edge in terms of visual appeal and usability and that it’s also the first dedicated Spotify user created site to come out of the UK. As far as I know the others are based out of Sweden, or other European countries.
Please help
So if you’re a Spotify user please leave the 4 details as listed above of your playlist in the comments box below. And after you do, please go and tell all of your friends who use Spotify to do the same. This success of this site absolutely depends on the involvement of Spotify users, without it, it simply won’t work. Even if you’r friends aren’t on Spotify, get them to join now. You don’t need an invite to join in the UK any more and its free, see here for details.
Once you have left your playlist details in the comment below, I will get to work on the “album” covers and then email them to you. Even better, if you’re of an artistic nature then please feel free to create your own. They must be static (non animated) and be 150 x 150 in size. You can contact me here and I’ll tell you how to send them to me.
I’m genuinely very excited about this project, I hope you can share my enthusiasm and help to make the site a success.
What I’m listening to right now: Sterling Simms - “I Know”
Wednesday, February 18th, 2009 at 10:46 am and is filed under Music. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
Welcome to my blog. My name is Kieron Donoghue and I am the founder of ShareMyPlaylists.com, ContentNow.co.uk and some other businesses. I thought it would be fun to blog, writing about my experiences in Internet Marketing. I'll include some personal stuff too, probably about my other passions, music and cars. Please feel free to post your comments and thoughts too.
Hi Kieron,
1 - http://open.spotify.com/user/masontech/playlist/7D2tCvnfULdAYf7lxrkJLx
2 - DIGTD Motivational Songs
3 - A compilation of songs that will life and motivate you.
4 - Andrew Mason
1 - spotify:user:thehodge:playlist:5O3baTJMtWM7nWIVoqavxP
2 - Country Music
3 - Some Country Songs From A British Perspective
4 - Dom Hodgson
Hey Kieron. It’s good to add some alternative music!
1 - http://open.spotify.com/user/chrisjohnson/playlist/68oJHGVW3WXVJcqktk7fBF
2 - Alternative / Indie Favourites
3 - A selection of the best Indie, 90’s and alternative music, including some cracking Acoustic tunes.
4 - Chris Johnson
Hi Kieron,
1 - http://open.spotify.com/user/tomsmith1984/playlist/0Wxdls9SgJf1SuDakDYJLF
2 - Toms Bit of Everything
3 - A bit of a mix…mostly music from the North
4 - Tom Smith
http://open.spotify.com/user/mattbailey811/playlist/5z04QgFHdLkRjobNULjN7m
Top 10 Manchester Bands
One song each from some of my favourite bands from Manchester.
Matt Bailey
Hi Kieron, here’s my main playlist
1 - http://open.spotify.com/user/cwarwick/playlist/7JFsfdjvmTx8m63nNsIjB6
2 - Random Rock
3 - A random selection of some of my favourite Rock bands.
4 - Carl Warwick
Cool idea.
1. spotify:user:alcarlton:playlist:0p9iEz0BYAaXuEnloXtI4l
2. Easy Stuff
3. Pretty varied selection of sonds, most with emotional reasons/history for being there.
4. Al Carlton
1 http://open.spotify.com/user/tomyeahok/playlist/7LOnFijuVmQnzpcMLhtaBk
2 found
3 music that i have found since using spotify. a bit obscure, a bit experimental. alternative.
4 Sergio Bontempi
Hey Kieron - good luck! Here’s mine:
1. http://open.spotify.com/user/dafdent/playlist/7H1FIgFNJKynmWCkYha049
2. Daf’s Location Playlist
3. A playlist with a very tenuous location based link
4. Daf Dent
Great Idea Kieron - if I can pick a list I’ll submit it soon.
In the meantime… Andrew I’m not sure Circle of Life can exist on the same playlist as Eminem - I think there is something about that in the Spotify T’s & C’s
1. http://open.spotify.com/user/fraser/playlist/5kuoEIjEMyixj01alBWlOp
2. Scotland
3. Songs from Scotland
4. Fraser Edwards
Here you go K!
1) http://open.spotify.com/user/judetdude/playlist/0LBkRxX3BvbEPXKIxmrRy9
2) Jude’s Rock Ballads & Soft Rock
3) Best cheesy rock ballads :o)
4) Jude
Erm, I didn’t realise it was that long!
1) http://open.spotify.com/user/harry.jones/playlist/0USdZUHdOdkZA7To1dVNgD
2) loudblur
3) A selection of Blur’s louder, rockier or punkier songs
4) Harry
Thought about the same - but dont really have time (couldnt see where I could make money really!)
Anyway:
http://open.spotify.com/user/stevenmather/playlist/34HMQo4xERXbIYn8dRhGDx
2) top 40
3) top 40 singles
4) steven
Hey Kieron,
Here’s an attempt to recreate a classic Late Show from 1993 called No Nirvana. It’s missing a Sugar track - “Helpless”.
http://open.spotify.com/user/jimmoran/playlist/4fKIpsL7wC1Qy2TZNBK94L
Thanks Jim, do you have a title for your playlist?
And in the correct format ( I never read instructions)
1) http://open.spotify.com/user/jimmoran/playlist/4fKIpsL7wC1Qy2TZNBK94L
2) No Nirvana
3) An an attempt to recreate a classic BBC Late Show from 1993 called No Nirvana
4) Jim Moran
spotify:user:xfactor:playlist:3j8cAbLMxQkzigmNw6rvE1
2) A little bit of Trip-Hop Volume 1
3) Introduction to Massive Attack, Tricky, Portishead and Faithless
4) DaveK
sorry, should the playlist be: http://open.spotify.com/user/xfactor/playlist/3j8cAbLMxQkzigmNw6rvE1
you can have this playlists that took me over a hour to make as long as you dont mind my url as the username, infact i recommend you do the same for your site,
spotify:user:spotifyplaylists.co.uk:playlist:3UNm4ml7AYISoFnpt0v0MW
from what i can tell the spotify playlist users tend to upload there playlists across all the playlists sites, a bit like them torrent uploaders that i would know nothing about as i dont condone or use such sites.
also if your going to let users upload the covers be careful, ive already had my first goatse and tubgirl pics uploaded,
i forgot to mention that the playlists i submitted was
number1s from 99 to 09 its the highest rated playlists on my site.
features westlife from 99 right up to lily allans fear
1. http://open.spotify.com/user/petercolesdc/playlist/0Ld7JJivX7cj8IxqAgXIQf
2. I can haz playlist
3. Songs I like in a list, how convenient
4. Pete Coles
1. http://open.spotify.com/user/jessnathan/playlist/5qJIJ3MZaeyNPVGJcUA26b
2. A little bit of everything
3. You name it, I got it
4. DinkyDoo
1. http://open.spotify.com/user/vengo/playlist/38T24xwa5hG4PMuXZdZOv2
2. Binary Beats
3. Electronica, some hard, some soft, some loud, some easy, some old, some new.
4. WiredFire (Ven)
1. http://open.spotify.com/user/loquax/playlist/0HsOOPU0lfnzMYgH7WUmcM
2. Quacking Tunes!
3. Katherine Jenkins, Duffy, Tom Jones, Shaggy, Elvis, House of Pain…. erm it’s a bit of a mix (it was either this or the one with Mylie Cyrus)
4. Loquax
Hope not too late and can fit another 1 in
1 - http://open.spotify.com/user/max99/playlist/5tGTk5wKms3YDEOPLA5jYX
2 - Max’s Latest RnB & Popular Tracks
3 - A selection of some new RnB songs and new upcoming artists as well as a few classic RnB tunes.
4 - Max Bramwell
1 - http://open.spotify.com/user/fenner/playlist/33WNdnW2vd8IxAqr6LSV68
2 - NYE 2008
3 - A bunch of party type tunes which my NYE party goers kept adding to as the night went on. As you can imagine with lots of input there is a varied selection of music, but might help someones party playlist come together!
4 - Rich’s Party Goers (oo err haha)
1 - http://open.spotify.com/user/hadikanan/playlist/60exRhWriqqiv8uud7Oxyb
2 - Despair
3 - For down days when all feels lost
4 - Hadi
1. http://open.spotify.com/user/bfg_9000/playlist/4qIxXqIt7eBOkOOCzGQmIx
2. BFG’s Rocking Random Radio : Part 1
3. A collection of Random tracks that Make BFG happy - if BFG is happy, then you have nothing to worry about
4. BFG 9000
1. http://open.spotify.com/user/sdhunter/playlist/7xPLSfUHpBrjGZocjybO59
2. bigsteveo’s Rap Mix 1
3. Good rap tunes that help me work.
4. Bigsteveo
1.http://open.spotify.com/user/hubejr/playlist/1hzQxYPgASEl1Wg8c8kaUl
2. Late night
3. Electronica, some hard, some soft, some loud, some easy, some old, some new.
4. Freddy
1. http://open.spotify.com/user/joopster/playlist/4HILF4VYCA5Rvz4Zbdhm96
2. A Right Old Mix
3. Messed up music taste, Messed up mind
4. Joopster
1. http://open.spotify.com/user/diablos/playlist/4Q2Rsu9eJRts78M4tcbct5
2. 80’s-Now Collection
3. Mix up, mainly rock and pop but some japanese, some rap, some heavy rock, some electro.
4. Craig Parker
—
I love spotify too, good luck on this one.
Kieron,
Thanks for posting about Spotify, I have not yet created a play list but am now a fan, I was unaware of this service until you blogged about it - now I can listen to all my favourite tunes whilst working….
stupid question probably, but can’t figure out how to find the url to my playlist… :-0 doh
never mind, just found it - well hidden
http://open.spotify.com/user/herog/playlist/1fQiJSR2aRwOoye5vrp6m2
Thanks Hero. Can I have your playlist title and a description too please?
Cheers!
I knew I had forgotten something!
1. http://open.spotify.com/user/herog/playlist/1fQiJSR2aRwOoye5vrp6m2
2. Hero’s ultimate collection
3. favourite songs from favourite artists - who needs RnB!
4. Hero Grigoraki
1. http://open.spotify.com/user/nshearing/playlist/4Rf3eAA4RUC7YtafyEpWta
2. Electro Girls
3. A selection of electro with female vocals.
4. Nick Shearing
Sorry I am late!
1. http://open.spotify.com/user/seoidiot/playlist/0oV6Wd17OA5T2DnM9LzYgp
2. SEOidiot’s Funky Mix
3. Some soul and funky stuff
4. SEOidiot
1. http://open.spotify.com/user/loquax/playlist/1nomcCBSwEKU0cdvzg1alO
2. Oggy Oggy Oggy
3. A top selection of tunes from Wales
4. Loquax
1. http://open.spotify.com/user/loquax/playlist/0PwyetWx6BnQ5unzqes52B
2. Duck Music
3. Tracks with the word duck in the title… seriously… and some aren’t bad ;o)
4. Loquax
Hi Kieron, there are loads of sites that let users track their Spotify playlists: most are pretty basic (and most don’t even have a search!) - what will make your site special? Will it have searchable genre tags for example? You say you will restrict playlists to a minimum of 10 tracks - what bugs me more is playlists that go on and on and on and on and … hundreds of tracks, whole albums slung in there with no thought to an overall feel or theme.
Cheers, and best wishes with this venture!
@afront
Hi, yes the site will be fully searchable. It will be UK based too, the others I have seen are out of Sweden etc. and therefore the music is more targetted to their native countries.
I’m not restricting playlists to 10 tracks either, it was just a suggestion, we have some already with 7 or 8 tracks and that’s cool as they are good playlists.
I understand your frustrations on playlists that go on and on and on, and also appear too random with no real thought given to putting them together. I think of a playlist as a DJ set where you need to set the tone, the mood and take people on a “journey” from song to song, matching the theme, tempo etc. However I’m also aware that I’m a music geek and that not everyone thinks like me, lol. As you can see from the playlists I have highlighted in my post though, there are some really thoughtful contributions so far and show that people are willing to put some real effort into putting them together.
My site will have a “Featured Playlists” slot where I will showcase the best playlists where I think the users have put thought and attention to detail into their work. For instance I’m listening to this playlist now, submitted by a blog reader and absolutely loving it, good job WiredFire!
http://open.spotify.com/user/vengo/playlist/38T24xwa5hG4PMuXZdZOv2
1. spotify:user:judetdude:playlist:79wD2Xr8nMgQci1eTOK083
2. Guilty Pleasures - Cheese
3. Tunes that you know you love, but wouldn’t usually admit to unless drunk or under really painful torture involving electrodes… :o)
4. Jude
Note the subtitle- i’ve got a whole heap of lists in the pipeline!
Thanks for the reply Kieron. I enjoyed hearing a little bit more about your plans and motivation. I’ve no problem with long DJ sets - I know what you mean, these can be fantastic musical journeys - I just don’t care for playlists that are just a pile of albums dumped together.
WiredFire’s playlist is great (I think I probably own at least one CD for all of the bands featured). Also loving the Electrogirls playlist.
@afront
Hi Kieron
Great idea - and thanks for putting us onto spotify
1. http://open.spotify.com/user/fergusburns/playlist/5AJooVGNKWGM8Mb100Bmon
2. Fergus’ Afternoon Groove
3. Mix n’match of rock and mainstream
4. Fergus Burns
Enjoy !!
Hi Kieron, I just wanted to give some positive feedback on the site build you have committed to.
It is this altruistic behaviour that leads to change and propels the ‘big players’ of the industry to get creative and delivery applications that give the end user real value for their buck.
If you can allow the community to rate one another rather than you rating might help scale the application.
Keep up the good work its very much appreciated.
Thanks for your comments Dillridge. And yes the users on the site will be able to rate each others playlists and vote for their favourite. After all, it would be all R&B playlists if the ratings were up to me
spotify:user:helenmarie:playlist:2Lw6xO52UIasH7eOSm5h0c
Old Skool Tunes
Some big hits to remind you of the days of good music (if you are around 30 that is, give or take a few years)
Helen Southgate
1. http://open.spotify.com/user/nasal69/playlist/2ZYokqxKId2SRxNkVyxBHx
2. Super Cheese Ballad Mix
3. An eclectic mix of ballads and love songs from 80’s power ballads to contemporary pop.
4. Neil McDermott
Hi Kieron,
Good idea! I have been pinching all of the play lists from this post! Mine is below:
1) spotify:user:tracca:playlist:2XHSB714566VszweeEp7M2
2) Rock out
3) Collection of rock songs from the present and days of yore
4) David McDermott
http://open.spotify.com/user/jonathan/playlist/4NFrjG8hAPWKJGW0SzM9T8
the goodies
an eclectic mix of stuff that got my little feet tapping
Johnny Forster
http://open.spotify.com/user/thehodge/playlist/1NVUmMzJI83uqMAJu4SboO
Comedy Collection
a selection of some of the comedy songs, parodies and clips that make me chuckle
TheHodge
http://open.spotify.com/user/mattbailey811/playlist/1dKEKSXfNkWBHTLwnB6RGj
Songs to cheer you up or calm you down
A collection of oft overlooked tunes from the 90s and 00s. A mixture of chilled out dance and rocking guitar tunes including Saint Etienne, Air, Bentley Rhythm Ace, Graham Coxon and the Chemical Brothers
Matt Bailey
Top bombing Matt! Love all the above bands. I’m just gutted we can’t get Spotify out here in Oz.
I remember going to see B.R.A. in Brighton and they had a power cut. They went acoustic and entertained the crowd by flipping cigarettes into each others mouths, having a chat and getting people to do party tricks. Top stuff.
Anyway - back as you were! K - for me I’d limit the number of tracks too - why not make it your top tens? It’s a USP and makes things a lot tighter and meaningful I reckon…
Ok, been meaning to add to this since you posted. So, here we go:
http://open.spotify.com/user/partickbateman/playlist/0izrZtveFeN8wYJpPhND5S
Rari-treats
Some old indie/electro gems mixed in with some newer ones.
Richie Kelly
Ps - also check out blip.fm for more free music goodness: http://blip.fm/
1. http://open.spotify.com/user/stephenwest/playlist/5iCT9fkiOq6GMa0QyOn4j1
2. Just Chilled
3. Some of my favourite laid-back electronica etc, couldn’t find some stuff on Spotify so is heavily William Orbit/Leftfield I’m afraid!
4. Stephen West
http://open.spotify.com/user/mattbailey811/playlist/652hqrlh4ZUjGSqO8UzsWp
Low energy guitar music
Mainly UK focussed indie/guitar music from some of my favourite bands like Get Cape, Wear Cape, Fly, Arcade Fire and The Flaming Lips.
Matt Bailey
It would be great to be able to view the tracklists on your web site.
I too am a great fan of spotify as such and yes Binary Beats is the best choice I can think of!
As mentioned above by Gav, I’d also love to join in the audible fun but alas, it seems us poor sods stuck in the Australian sunshine don’t have it all our own way. Even although it states the list of countries where it’s available in their FAQs, I took the liberty of emailing Spotify support in the off chance they could offer something more concrete with regards launch date in OZ. My reply came within a few days and was as follows;
———-
Hello Steven!
We still don’t know if or when our free service will be launched in Australia. We’re working hard to launch in more countries but we don’t have a date yet for that.
But yes, Spotify premium is available in Australia.
http://www.spotify.com/en/products/premium/
———-
So there you have it my fellow Aussies and expats. Put your hand in your pocket or wait patiently.
Hi Kieron,
Great idea, here’s my playlist, details as follow:
1) http://open.spotify.com/user/dpaul/playlist/3dRT869DvBG8Ar5Hzogb3p
2) A Right Mixed Bag!
3) A mixed playlist of mainly 70’s; 80’s Blues, Rock, Soft Rock and some hidden gems!
4) Paul Dwyer
I’m a great fan of spotify as such and yes Binary Beats is the best choice I can think of! But Would it still have the reputation it had in the past?
hi here are some of my fave reggae tunes ahttp://open.spotify.com/user/bentrafford/playlist/2HyDi8quBBZzyjqAJAOVF5re