Sky Songs has been nine months in the making, and finally launches on Monday. We’ve had an early preview, and after stuffing our ears with its sonic goods can report it’s a clear challenger to Spotify. OK, it’s not free, but it does offer several features not found in Spotify’s arsenal. Read on, and see why Sky Songs could have enough tricks up its sleeve to become the new sultan of streaming.
1. Sky Songs is web-based
Spotify is a fantastic service, but it has one fatal flaw: you need to use the Spotify application to access its musical treasure trove. That means, for most people, they’re unable to use it at work. PCs and Macs that’re locked-down by corporate IT departments can’t tap into Spotify’s streaming sounds, but because Sky Songs works through any web browser, it’s always available… unless your miserly IT team block its URL.
2. Sky Songs recommends music
Spotify’s monster music library is all well and good, but the green-hued song server doesn’t do much to guide you through it. Sure, it has its own radio stations, but there’s nothing to suggest new music you’ve never heard before, and unless you’ve got musically-minded mates it’s unlikely you’ll be sent a killer playlist any time soon.
Sky Songs does the exact opposite to Spotify: when you fire up its interface you’ll see playlists created by its team of music journos. They range from introductions to new genres to topical playlists, such as memorial collections for recently deceased celebs. Sky Songs also includes a recommendation engine, powered by Gracenote, which will react to the songs you’re hearing with a decent suggestion of other tracks you might like.
3. You can choose your favourite Sky Songs
You can build playlists in Sky Songs, but you can also mark your favourite songs with a simple heart icon. Once you’ve picked a few favourites, the service will collate them for you, putting all your favourite artists in one place, as well as your most-loved genres and albums. Think of it as an auto-playlist generator, it’s much quicker than building a list of songs by hand, and means all your favourite sounds are just a couple of clicks away.
4. Sky can build a playlist as you listen
With millions of tracks at your fingertips it’s easy to get side-tracked, listening to snippets here and there without allowing a song to finish but Sky Songs has a neat system called Live Playlist. You can add tracks to its running order as it’s playing through. It’s a bit like the Enqueue system in Winamp, letting you build a playlist as you mooch through the library, or allowing party guests to add their own choices and use Sky Songs like a virtual jukebox.
Sky Songs launch date revealed
5. Sky Songs integrates with iTunes and Windows Media Player
Sky Songs doesn’t just stream music, you can use it to buy tracks to own too. They’re downloaded as DRM-free MP3 files, and will even drop into the correct place on your computer for iTunes and Windows Media Player to find them.
When you first set up your Sky Songs account, you’ll be asked which music management software you use. From then on, all your downloads will automatically appear in your existing music library, ready to be synced to your iPod, iPhone or MP3 player.
6. It offers more, for less
This is a biggie, and will certainly be the decider for some people: Spotify is already under pressure from cheaper streaming services, and Sky Songs increases the competition even more. It’s offering unlimited streaming from £6.49 a month which also gives you one £6.49 album or 10 tracks to download and keep. Compare that to Spotify’s £9.99 price tag, with no extras included.
