As reported yesterday, Spotify announced the release of their API and the creation of an app platform. Several partners were on board to have apps ready for the launch, including big players like Billboard, Fuse, Pitchfork, Rolling Stone, and Songkick.
Anyone can download the beta of the new Spotify platform right now over at Spotify’s preview page. After following some simple instructions, you can try out one of eleven currently available (for free) apps. But which ones are best? What do these apps do? SoundCtrl breaks it down for you.
The Billboard app makes playlists out of five of their biggest charts: Hot 100, Billboard 200, R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, Country Songs, and Rock Songs. This app is very straightforward, but practical in its simplicity. Users can subscribe to and share any of the playlists. My only complaint is that the Billboard 200 chart includes only one song from each album, instead of each album in a separate playlist, but this is a minor concern, since you can just click on the album title to hear the whole album.
Fuse describes themselves in their app as “married to expertly curated playlists,” and that’s just what this app does. The Fuse staff put together a playlist or two per day that relates to recent music news. For example, today they made a playlist of the Grammy nominees announced last night. Two days ago, they made a playlist of jail-themed songs in honor of Dr. Conrad Murray’s conviction of the involuntary manslaughter of Michael Jackson.
Pitchfork’s app breaks down playlists of recipients of their coveted “Best New Music” title, any record they’ve reviewed, or playlists of the greatest tracks of different years and eras.
Rolling Stone’s app features playlists of their album reviews that have received three stars or higher. It also features curated playlists like Rolling Stone’s 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time or Mick Jagger’s Top Reggae Songs.
Not all apps are simple playlist generators. The Last.fm app looks at your library and playing history and recommends music for you. Moodagent creates customizable playlists based around one starting song and a general mood (sensual, tender, happy, angry) selected by the user. These playlists can be saved and shared. Songkick’s app scans your playlists and gives you live show recommendations based on your location. The app even includes links to buy tickets and playlists for each artist.
TuneWiki shows users the lyrics to any song they’re listening to, as long as its in TuneWiki’s database. The lyrics highlight in real time with the song, so karaoke-minded listeners can get their fix. Now you can finally learn the lyrics to “Louie, Louie.”
In his keynote presentation, Spotify CEO Daniel Ek made it clear that these apps were just the beginning and represented a whole new world of music interaction and fan engagement. We’re excited to see what other apps will be released in the future.
