Joe Belfiore: Spotify for Windows Phone 8 coming out of beta today [Update]

Spotify rocks, Xbox Music sucks. That's the advantage.

Really nailed the pros and cons there....

That's purely a matter of opinion.  I already pay for Xbox Music Pass.  Why would I pay for Spotify?  Particularly when there are other better free or ad-supported options that I can use in addition?  As far as I'm concerned, this is "meh".

+920

Different platforms, with Spotify you can travel with no problem not like the 2 week limit of Xbox, and finally the social features

1. Much better desktop client. The Xbox music app is a mess, even the updated version on 8.1 beta.
2. Platform agnostic service that works everywhere, from ipad to windows to android.
3. Much better music deiscovery. Creating radios based on artist in Spotify still surprises me with great tunes.
4. Using apps to check out new music, events, etc.
5. Social aspect: following friends and artists, sharing is easier and you're certain that people will be able to listen to waht you're sharing because of the service is available on all platforms.

Disagree on music discovery, you cannot browse genres or all recent releases on Spotify.

I'd rather have apps, radio and the "you might like this" stuff than have those genre charts!  I'm an EDM fan, and the charts on Xbox are horrific and horrible!Tried using them a few times then gave up.

I'm not talking about charts, I'm talking about seeing every album in every genre in a weekly release manner, so I can see for myself if I like it, not some computer telling me. Then again, I listen to some really obscure music, so results probably vary with computers.

Subscribing to playlists. Activity (e.g. Kontor is very active there). Much better back end (stream is very stable and responsive). 
And finally: YES, YOU CAN ADD SONGS TO EXISTING PLAYLISTS. That overly sophisticated and terribly difficult to code feature is still lacking in XBox music for WP8 (understandable, who would actually EVER want to add songs to an existing playlist?).
 

More choice to those who don't like either Xbox music or Spotify.

In lots of cases, Spotify has a significantly better catalog, better web player, and more complete featureset. I think Xbox music will eventually catch up. (I have a sub to both svcs, trying out Xbox music after the web player release)

Nice Mac OS X client, web application, and i like the apps and the social aspect! You have an client for all platforms (not for linux but you still have a webclient)

there is also a client for linux :-)  https://www.spotify.com/de/download/previews/

Sweet!

The update is available in Sweden!

Nice! How is it? Can you upload some Screenshots for us?

From first view it's a lot better and faster, but only time will tell ;)

Unfortunately I'm at work, but it looks the same and it's alot faster and it runs smoother.

* Updated with Spotify's new logo
* Ability to seek a song, although it doesn't look that good.
* Support for more languages - I am norwegian and have gotten a norwegian interface.
* Faster and smoother, but no other UI changes as I can see.
 
If you want it now, go to Spotify on the online Windows Phone Store and click install again. You will then get the updated app.

Awesome!! Im using Spotify right now :) i have never had issues with the beta so im looking forward to this.

It was still in Beta? Jesus..

Thats what I thoght. Snails

Do we finally get free streaming like on ios and android? Or do we still need a premium account to even log in to the thing.

iOS and Android has free streaming? I was under the impression that a Premium account was required for all mobile devices.

There was never free streaming on iOS or Android. No mobile devices (except for laptops) have free streaming available. It's a paid feature. iOS/Android have the free Spotify Radio app. 

Radio has always been free. I use Google All Access on my HTC One. Like a stereo concert, honestly. Dem speakas.

Just got it in Norway. Looks nice

And they have fixed the one bug I knew about: it crashed before when entering a playlist with a Norwegian alphabet character in the title.

Spotify works with Sonos, XBOX Music does not. Before XBOX Music supports Sonos it is not relevant in my house.

XBOX Music works with Windows RT, Spotify doesn't.

Hmm,play.spotify.com Works on my Surface RT

Damn, I know that I should sleep more..

Thanks! I didnt know of The web player. On my surface RT The Spotify web Version is smoother than the native Xbox music version! I find that somewhat annoying/irritating

isnt it just a 2 day trial on mobile and then u need to pay for premium to use it?
 
thats kinda stupid. i would rather take the free app with advertisements

Spotify allows you to choose the music played, no other music streamer allows you to do this via mobile for free.

And of course you'd rather listen to other peoples music for free rather than pay for the service. That doesn't go to say the current model is 'stupid'. It could very well mean though that you likely are.

Finally! Been waiting for this since February :D
Edit: performance is great so far! ( it used to suck *** honestly) Im so happy :)

Already available for download. No Last.fm scrobbling or WhatsApp sharing support, tho.

I've been desperately waiting for this update. I use Spotify daily in my car and it was completely bugged and hardly useable. Now it seems a lot quicker to load and has a seek bar!

The crappy textured background is finally gone!! Yes!

It has never been a textured background... just a light yellow one, and that's still there.

Umm Why dont you compare these two links with pictures of beta and the link with wp store's current pictures. The background has changed. and its white.
Beta:
http://www.wpcentral.com/spotify-beta-windows-phone-8-now-live-store
New:
http://www.windowsphone.com/en-us/store/app/spotify/10f2995d-1f82-4203-b...

Not available in India

yep got it too.

UK that is!

Got it also! Here in the Netherlands much faster and finally can scrub through the music :) and toast notifications now only whatsapp and I'm a proud WP owner

The update is available in The Netherlands

Question is whether it's caught up even slightly with the iOS and Android versions. Quick test, does it have last.fm scrobbling integration?

Nope it has not, look at it as a stability and performance fix

I have a lot of different devices and Spotify works on all of them and has the best quality. Only thing that bugs me is that there is no Def Leppard on Spotify!

I guess you'll be High and Dry On Through the Night

Update available in finland also. Just downloaded it!

Still no important changes.
Neither Radio has been implemented which is very important in my eyes nor the app got more stable. Even the Logo has been changed and scrubbing is now possible.
The app still crashes, looks horrible and has a very very bad user experience and workflow. This is one of the worst and also most importrant apps on Windows Phone, which is a very very bad combination.
Maybe I should create a design suggestion for the wp8 app and send it to Spotify...

Here, here on all your points. Disappointing.

Do that... The 7.8-version isn't impressive

Nothing changed...

Just kidding^^ it's finally in German and scrubbing is quite ok, but the radio feature still misses.

I prefer Xbox Music, its portfolio is impressive.

No radio feature , no care

Got it in the UK. Perfomance is a hell of a lot better. Just heading out for a 5-hour car journey, so will be able to give it a good test today.

Got it in Finland, it's super-fast and smoother than any app!! And it's in Finnish now

+It works much faster
+It looks better
+Added scrubbing
 
-Not fast enough
-Freezes between songs
-No last.fm support
-No radio
-Can't add artists to queue

Apparently this guy is just wasting his time on the team. Users are desperately waiting for updates that will hopefully overcome the nonsense limitations on the phone, like no option for attaching multiple documents in emails, "other" storage problem, not being able to install apps on SD cards, not being able to download any type of file in IE.. THE LIST JUST GOES ON! I love my Lumia 820 but I'm really disappointed and frustrated.

Big improvement from the beta! Although now the radio streaming still needs to be added. But overall a welcome update!

Wth is scrubbing?

Fast forward/reverse in a track.

MUCH faster. There's also offline playlist management in settings that tells you how much space your offline music is taking up as well as any pending downloads from offline playlists.

+ Welcome update yes, speed is a lot better now. Like the ofline management. Lets hope the offline lists work now.
- The userinterface is still a mess. Bottom play buttons on the application bar?! Why do I need 2-3 klicks to get into my playlistst. Lats played would be exelent to place on the main screen. 
- Try this little experiemnt.: Start playing a list, use the buttons on your headphones and double click to get to the next track, do that a couple of times and it will break for sure. 
- And as other said, add the radio stuff and while your at it, thow in discovery instead of the totally irelevant results in "What's new"

For God's sake, I want Whatsapp update. Why it's taking so long. Just remove the ridiculous music streaming >.

It is about darn time! It was one of the worst apps I've ever used.

Music is being slowly murdered . . . ugh.

Do explain...

I'm sorry to be vague buddy.
I had to find the articles again. I read them a while back when I was all distraught over the whole digital age of Music. It's really destroyed the notion of Music as a true "art". As I've read from others who agree (and can put it in better words than me), due to the "convenience of digital music services, it has become nothing more than a "commodity" to some. Music is often picked out as "single" instead of a full work of art (the album). Hence the large drop in physical media (also a lost/losing art). I am but 22, yet I've come to truly love Music with a deep passion.
When I say Music is being murdered, I mean the true "art" of it (sorry for not being specific. It's just so sad that people hardly know the works of they're "favorite" artist beyond a few singles. And don't get me started on people who defend piracy . . .
Do read! Food for thought:
http://venturebeat.com/2013/02/28/thom-yorke-apple-google/
http://forums.wpcentral.com/xbox-music/232210-who-loves-xbox-music-why.html
http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2011/feb/20/pop-music-business-digital-revolution

Yorke, one of my music idols has a good point and so do you In Limbo. I consider Spotify and other music streaming as a great way to discover new artists, and of course listening to what I feel like. This digitalizing and making everything available for piracy on the net is really bad. The SACD-format, which is one of the best way to enjoy music in high quality, is for instance cracked already. Digital is convenient but shouldn't not make valuable music, art cheap.

Thanks for getting me buddy.

I get what you're saying and mostly agree with you. However, you should remember that most people are not like you (and me). They don't have that much pation for music. I mostly listen to albums. In fact that's what I like about the Xbox music app, you can download a whole album easily without having to add it to a playlist. Listening to an album is a whole different experience than listening to a playlist on shuffle. It's a journey, and at the end you get the same feeling like at the end of a movie. But most people don't care, and I dont think they ever cared in the past. So I dont think music is being murdered, it's just the way things are. When people listen to music through their shitty iPhone earbuds to crappy mp3s, music is secondary for them. It's a sad situation, but I learned to get over it a few years ago. I learned that art isn't for everyone. Only few people know how to savor it...
Sorry for rambling but I had to say this somewhere :P

Rambling or not, I appreciate every bit of it. You make a great point (one that you and I have likely heard before): Not everyone appreciates music as much as some other. Especially this younger generation (I know I'm young too, lol). Whatever the case, thanks.
I guess this makes two Radiohead fans (if it wasn't obvious I was).

I used to use Facebook login and thereby use Spotify for free in my older mobile...but in WP8 app this option doesn't work..we need to have a premium account

Still no free radio.

(Haven't read the comments yet but) FINALLY we can fast forward tracks!

App is superior to the beta version. Open super fast, loads super, fast, can played stared music, can scrub track. Wish the sharing method for social media could improve. Overall a great improvement. 4.5/5. IMO

No radio=fail

Is the Windows Phone 7 version of Spotify no longer published on the Marketplace?

Got it here in sportsmans paradise!

My biggest pet peeve is not being able to return to the list view of a playlist once I return to the app. Changing tracks in album view is so damn slow. Or have I just not figured it out yet?

Not available in India :-(

I have it and still don't know why I'm keeping it on my phone. Never used it and still looking for a compelling reason to.

Overall a welcome improvement and good to see that someone is still maintaining the app (since customer service couldn't clarify on that). BUT: When (dis)connecting bluetooth devices like headphones the app still crashes in the background, which is really annyoing. E.g. if you're in the car and have ur phone in the pocket, u can't resume since the app crashed in the background. This is really weird, since, if you open Spotify again on the phone, you can see that it actually persists its current state and opens with the song you played last and even remembers the state of the song.

Installed... Then uninstalled.
Between Pandora (that's free for a year w/ my phone), Xbox Music and my own extensive collection, I can do without paying Spotify.

What I did not like about Spotify on IOS or Android (and want to know if they have fixed): Playlist based navigation. I hate the playlists. You can't sort them automatically. They are not alphabetized. I like a player that lets me sort music by artist or album. If they have fixed that then I would be interested in going back; if they have not fixed that then I prefer Xbox music.

Good to see Spotify team still improving this app. Would love to see Radio function for WP8 still like for other mobile platforms. Would like to be able to manage Playlists offline...can't Rename list, Delete or Move songs. Still crashes when using with INRX, Runtastic, and Bluetooth headsets. Streaming unstable at times (even with strong signal or WiFi) still. Big gripe: NO CACHE FLUSH...Shuffle function in Playlists plays the same order of songs no matter what day you use the app...it is truly NOT random. Unable to play Starred songs from list. Love the Scrubbing function!

Yes, so much better now. Still some improvement needed but it's fixed all my major annoyances in the one go. Need another update of this quality and the app will be very close to perfect. Right now it's 4 stars. 

Not available in Canada, of course.  We give the US all our actors and musicians, and the CRTC lets us have nothing in return...

I can't believe the WP spotify app is still lacking the free radio feature like on iOS and android

Just hope Spotify will get around to releasing a Windows 8 app as well pretty soon!

Rambling or not, I appreciate every bit of it. You make a great point (one that you and I have likely heard before): Not everyone appreciates music as much as some other. Especially this younger generation (I know I'm young too, lol). Whatever the case, thanks.
I guess this makes two Radiohead fans (if it wasn't obvious I was).

I'm on the Swedish Marketplace now and it has been bumped from 2.0 to 2.0.4933.0.
So far people have noticed:
-It is way faster to both start the app and use it
-The app does not crash anymore
-You can now forward and rewind songs by sliding on a bar (just like on Android of iOS)
-You can now Queue songs
-Offline mode works perfectly now without crashes or bugs
-New logo/tile
-Refreshed album covers(don't know about that one)
-More languges
People are saying that the ONLY thing missing is the Radio function. Can't wait until i get my 920 now :)