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Spotify newbie...

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I have never (to my knowledge) used Spotify, Apple-car-play, android auto (if that is what it is called) or any of the streaming services. (I guess) I've used Slacker to listen to radio stations and music that I put on flash drives before the V10 update. So, I don't even know how to begin the process of using Spotify. I went to the Spotify website and looked for a listing of what is offered at whatever price points Spotify listed "Premium" but I didn't get a clear idea of what it will offer me.

Queston 0: What does Spotify offer me for free, and what do I get (in addition) from enhancements such as Premium (just in case there are others)?

#1: Assuming I want Spotify, how do I install, activate it?

#2: I looked at the Spotify website and saw that there is "Premium". What does Spotify Premium offer that "basic" (or whatever its called) does not and what are the costs involved?

#3: I want to control what I listen to as far as genre and specific titles is concerned, but I want the option of having a random mix of my tunes or play lists. How do I handle this? (Yeah, I'm a real newbie to this stuff)

#4: I've been to the Spotify website, but it hasn't answered my questions. Is there a (or more than one) website that will present the options to me and tell me what I get with each option, how to set the options up and what they will cost?

Thank you for any help,
Mark
 
What does Spotify offer me for free, and what do I get (in addition) from enhancements such as Premium (just in case there are others)?

For free, Spotify gives you Slacker- or Pandora-like self-selected music streaming, with ads. You cannot link a free Spotify account with your car, but you can with your phone and get that to your car with Bluetooth.

With Premium, you get, in no particular order: the ability to use your car's built-in Spotify support and networking, no ads, the ability to create your own playlists and specifically play any song, the ability to skip songs an unlimited number of times, and the option of higher-bitrate audio streams.

#1: Assuming I want Spotify, how do I install, activate it?

It's already installed once you have V10 firmware in your car. To activate it, log in with your Spotify account once you have the Spotify Premium upgrade.

#2: I looked at the Spotify website and saw that there is "Premium". What does Spotify Premium offer that "basic" (or whatever its called) does not and what are the costs involved?

Most if this was asked and answered in Question Zero above, but the cost is generally US$9.99 per month

#3: I want to control what I listen to as far as genre and specific titles is concerned, but I want the option of having a random mix of my tunes or play lists. How do I handle this?

Spotify lets you both play playlists in a specific order, play albums start-to-end, or shuffle the order of albums or playlists. You can also select an artist, album, playlist, or song and create a "radio" station based on it, and it will randomly throw new songs it things are similar at you. This generally does a passable job, but can sometimes give you some acoustic whiplash in a manner that (in my experience) Google Music does not. It's less bad about this than Slacker or Pandora though.

If you want to play songs from a playlist or album in a random order, just tap the 'shuffle' icon in your Spotify player, be it on the car's MFD, your phone, or wherever.
 
IMO, Spotify has the biggest library of songs comparing to all the other streaming services. And Spotify Premium Family package for $14.99 a month is one of the best deal if you have more than 1 person listening to streaming music in the family.

I can't compare to Apple Music as I have not used it, but Spotify's library is vastly superior to Slacker, moderately superior to Pandora, and moderately inferior to Google Music.

Thanks for the information - much appreciated !!!
 
I have never (to my knowledge) used Spotify, Apple-car-play, android auto (if that is what it is called) or any of the streaming services. (I guess) I've used Slacker to listen to radio stations and music that I put on flash drives before the V10 update. So, I don't even know how to begin the process of using Spotify. I went to the Spotify website and looked for a listing of what is offered at whatever price points Spotify listed "Premium" but I didn't get a clear idea of what it will offer me.

Queston 0: What does Spotify offer me for free, and what do I get (in addition) from enhancements such as Premium (just in case there are others)?
Did you read their FAQ at all? You'll find that information in the link below. Also, you'll need Premium to be able access Spotify using the Tesla app.

What subscriptions do you offer? - Spotify
1: Assuming I want Spotify, how do I install, activate it?
You just sign in to Tesla's app. There are of course also apps for iPhones, Android and Windows/Mac computers, as well as a web player.
#3: I want to control what I listen to as far as genre and specific titles is concerned, but I want the option of having a random mix of my tunes or play lists. How do I handle this? (Yeah, I'm a real newbie to this stuff)
This is easily possible. In Spotify you can create playlists, save albums to your library, and browse for any song you want within their huge library.

But where Spotify really shines is in discovering new music. Other users have shared millions of playlists; very often you can search for a song/album/artist you like and find playlists by other people with similar tastes that will lead you to new music. Spotify also generates a number of personalized playlists for you. The best is arguably the "Discover Weekly" playlist which becomes available after you use Spotify for a few weeks (which allows them to learn your taste). It will then prepare a list of 30 songs for you every week. In my experience it's almost uncanny how well it does in finding new stuff exactly to my taste after some training (skip songs you don't like).
 
Does anyone know if the Tesla Spotify app allows downloading for offline listening. The mobile app does, but I didn’t see anything in the Tesla UI for it, maybe I wasn’t looking hard enough?

There are a ton of really spotty cellular coverage areas near my home and it seems to just drop out.
 
Interesting. In my local market, with premium connectivity, without signing into or creating a Spotify account the Tesla Spotify app will behave like premium: I can search for any album artist or playlist and play any songs from it at any time. No ads.
 
wow... cool... have to try that... I thought it first asks for an account signin, no?

nope! not here, atleast.

* i tried to log in with a free account, and it simply didnt take.

* not logging in, allowed me to use it full featured (as if using TuneIn)

but ultimately i bought a premium subscription because the favorites/liking/account management is so much easier on desktop and mobile than in the car