It is my nature. I like to hoard. Having mp3 (or more recently FLAC) files stored on my server, laptop and mp3 player fills me with self satisfied contentment. Now, no matter what happens to the CD in the car, the mp3 player in my laptop rucksack or (God forbid) my laptop, there will always be a copy of my music somewhere. While streaming services have been around for best part of a decade, I have tended to ignore them, until now. I actually signed up for Spotify account back in 2008. A discovery I made, when I logged back into my account this week to reveal in the account details the Newbury postcode. (Several jumps back since I called that flat in West Berkshire my home!) Having received a Bluetooth car kit for Christmas, I now could stream music to my car stereo system (among other things like the ability to taking calls hands-free). The ideal time to log back into my Spotify account and give some playlists ago. I doubt I ever gave the platform a real chance nine years ago.

My brother-in-law Steve, and colleague Nathan both swear by Spotify, being both fully paid up Premium users. Now I can understand the attraction. If you desire is to listen to music, why do you care whether the files are on your smartphone or up in the cloud. I suppose I never truly appreciated this concept. I have always downloaded the files and at the right moment burn a CD. At the peak of my powers, I would burn two full CDs (approximately 200 songs) a week. There was generally a lot of music flying around in 2002, plus I had almost twenty hours of commuting to fill and the radio, as good as it was back then, just was unable to entertain me on my tiring journey across Bedfordshire and Buckinghamshire.

Fifteen years later (I feel so old writing a comment such as that, particularly as I have been blogging semi-consistently over that time frame). I decided to take the plunge and try out Spotify. I switched to a Dance playlist as I drove home on Tuesday evening. I needed a thumping soundtrack after my first day back from the holidays. I knew it was going to be a challenge and now was the moment to unwind. What can I say? It was a revelation. Sure there were ads and I resisted the urge to fast forward any tracks as I am limited to three skips per a day. I heard some great songs I otherwise would never have come across.

This must be some kind of drug, as I am addicted. On Thursday evening I listened to a Post Workout playlist after my first (very light I might add) gym session of the year followed by Feel Good Friday on Friday morning as I headed into the office even earlier than usual. I have also linked my Spotify account to my last.fm, so you should in real time see my the tracks I am listening to update on the right hand panel of my blog. The question now is when do I take the plunge and go for a thirty day trial?