You might have heard your children or grandchildren talking about Spotify, or maybe a music-loving neighbor at the Autumn View Gardens assisted living community in Creve Coeur recommended this app to you. Perhaps you�re just considering a move into an assisted living community, and you�re worried about how your music collection might fit into your new space. Spotify could be an answer.
Find out more about this app below and why seniors who love music and podcasts might want to incorporate it into their daily lives.
Spotify is an app that you can run on a smartphone, tablet, laptop or desktop computer. It�s an audio streaming service with millions of song choices as well as thousands of podcasts. You can play all of these items via your device when you use Spotify, which means you don�t need CDs, records or any other space-consuming media to listen to music or other audio entertainment.
Spotify is pretty simple. Artists and podcast creators agree to allow their music to be featured on the app. In exchange, they�re reimbursed a small amount � usually a fraction of a penny � anytime their content is played.
People who download the app and create a free or paid account can access all that content without paying anything else. You can listen to everything from Christian music and hymns to holiday favorites to golden oldies and new releases. And when you�re looking for educational or entertainment content, you can find a wide range of podcasts that tell stories, give news, offer philosophical thoughts or interview experts.
Spotify is a digital audio streaming service. That means you need a device to access it and play audio on it. You can use Spotify on any smartphone, on tablets capable of running the app such as iPads and some Kindles and on your computer.
You also need a way for the audio to play back to you. Most smartphones, tablets and computers have built-in speakers for this purpose. But you can also purchase small freestanding speakers that plug into your device or connect wirelessly if you want to play the music a little louder. You can also use headphones with your device for personal listening sessions.
You don�t have to pay for Spotify. All the basic features of the app are available for anyone who signs up for a free account.
Seniors can choose to pay for a Premium Spotify subscription if they want. This takes out any advertisements during your listening session, lets you download certain songs on your device so you can play them without an internet connection and gives you unlimited skips.
Skips let you skip a song you don�t care for if it comes up while you�re listing. You have a few skips per time period to use on a free account, but once you use them all, you have to listen to a song once it starts playing. Free Spotify is similar to listening to a radio, in that you hear the songs that come up and you may have to listen to an advertisement periodically. It�s more personal than the radio, though, since you can make custom playlists of songs you want to hear.
Whether you�re using Spotify in your assisted living apartment with speakers or you don a pair of headphones so you can listen to podcasts on the grounds of the community, here are some tips for making this app work for you.
