Thursday, February 23, 2012

Spotify's New Feature: Gapless Playback

Today Spotify added gapless playback, probably the most wanted feature among classical fans. If your desktop hasn't been automatically updated, you can get the new version here.


A few examples to showcase this great new feature:

Stockhausen's monumental work for six vocalists and six microphones, Stimmung. Over 70 minutes long, in 51 tracks, now with no gaps in between!

Live albums sounds so much better without gaps. Check out the last three track from Grateful Dead's Europe '72 Vol. 2, one of the most exciting encores ever.

Concept albums are now presently properly too, from What's Going On to Deltron 3030, from The Ninth Wave (the second half of Hounds Of Love) to The Downward Spiral, all those annoying gaps are gone for good.

If the short pause between the third and fourth movement of Beethoven's fifth Symphony made you wanted to bang your head on the desk, rejoice now, those days are gone and gone forever. Listen to The Fifth, or any symphony smoothly as one whole piece of work now. If you don't know where to start, check out my previous post: ABC Classic FM's Classic 100 Symphony.

And yes operas! Finally you can listen to a Wagner piece as three hours of contentious music without interrupting of any kind (provided you've turned off the phone and Twitter). Go search for an opera, or pick up one from my Wagner, Puccini, Strauss, Britten or Mozart playlist.

Electronic music/DJ mixes also benefits greatly from this feature, follow @afront and check out his blog for tips on that. 

All album examples are linked to Spotify. Try it for yourself and look forward to your recommendations.

14 comments:

  1. Fantastic news. One of the first operas I tried to listen to on Spotify was this recording of La Fanciulla del West.

    http://open.spotify.com/album/0vopVPqgEI0qEjx0yIwfvF

    I gave up listening to it then because of the gaps, but I'm listening to it now, and I've just gone into track 2 without any join for the first time.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Will this be available on the Android app?

    ReplyDelete
  3. One of my favourites things to listen to on Spotify is this recording of Appalachian Spring:

    http://open.spotify.com/user/noihavenotseenpi/playlist/4NJAASBdojslYWYl3t83oo

    Now with gapless it sounds a lot better. This is great.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Best spotify new for years for classical lovers :)

    Unfortunately, it's not perfect. I often hear small pop/click between each tracks. I'm currently listening Stimmung by K. Stockhausen, and clicks are occuring on each track change :/

    ReplyDelete
  5. Superb - makes me happier than I can properly express. Thanks for letting us know about this - I had no idea it had been introduced until reading it here.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Fantastico! This is wonderful news. I was afraid that it had been forgotten about. There are so many places that this makes a difference. I have just listened to the Diabelli variations just as they were played - without the sooooo irritating gap between variations 16 and 17. I know it was only a split second in 30 minutes of music - but it was hugely annoying.

    WELL DONE SPOTIFY !

    ReplyDelete
  7. Truly Great News! I was afraid that this had been forgotten about.

    It makes so much difference in a wide range of music ( I've just listened to the Diabelli as Serkin played them for the first time!)

    Thanks for letting us know - and also thanks to Spotify for listening to their users.

    ReplyDelete
  8. I asked on Spotify forums about the clicks, which I hear too. They told me that they had to re-encode the entire library for gapless, and that they are not done with some albums yet, see http://community.spotify.com/t5/Spotify-Announcements/Preview-release-Spotify-Desktop-0-8-5-Gapless-crossfade-offline/td-p/6979/page/2 . I don't know if it's true and I wondering how stupid they were not to encode the ibrary for gpaless in the first place.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Watson was convicted later. Prison history. He has granted interviews over the years, including with Charlie Rose in 1986, Penny Daniels in 1987, Geraldo Rivera in 1988 and an interview with Diane Sawyer in 1994 that led California to ban recording devices in prison interviews.

    Boulder County Area Agency on Aging: Seeking new, long term care ombudsman volunteers to visit a nursing home or assisted living in their area and advocate for king and queen shirts the residents. Long term care ombudsmen work with residents and staff of long term care facilities, assist with receiving, investigating big sister shirt and resolving complaints in these facilities, as well as advocating for the rights of the residents. Volunteers also provide information about the ombudsman program to residents, staff, family members and the community at large.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Wow, What an Outstanding post. I found this too much informatics. It is what I was seeking for. I would like to recommend you that please keep sharing such type of info.If possible, Thanks. soundcloud vs spotify

    ReplyDelete

  11. With so many ringtones available these days, it is no wonder that some people are totally lost when it comes to understanding where to look and what procedures to follow when looking to download a ringtone. There really is not any big mystery, but there are a few common sense precautions you should take before you ever click on any download ringtone icon. Here are a few hints to help keep your sanity during your hunt for the perfect ringtone, as well as protect your cell service and equipment.

    The very first thing to determine is whether or not the toquecelular you are considering is compatible with your cell service and your phone type. Just as it is true that there are several different types of electronic documents out there, several formats for ringtones are on the market today. Before you begin to search for a ringtone, make sure you know exactly what format will work with your setup. This one simple act can save you hours of frustration and also help to narrow the numbers of websites you will want to investigate.

    Second, it is important to make sure that you download any ringtone from a secure site, and one that you can trust to be free of any virus. A sad fact of our time is that far too many people end up with a computer virus that is transmitted through what seems like the most innocent download in the world. Don't think that just because you paid a fee to join a ringtone site that you will not have a problem with a virus later on. Make sure that the ringtone file, just like any file, is checked for a virus and is clear before you complete the transaction.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Are you bored with the ringtones on your iPhone or Android? It's easier than ever to download free ringtones as well as premium tones that are clips from your favorite songs! Once you download a ringtone you like, it only takes a few seconds to set it as your default ringtone on your Android or iPhone. This wikiHow article will show you the quickest and easiest ways to download free and paid ringtones.

    Things You Should Know
    You can download free ringtones from the web or using ringtone apps like Zedge.
    On an iPhone, you can pay for ringtones through the iTunes Store.
    Only download ringtone files from reputable sites to avoid malware.
    Method
    1
    Free Ringtone Websites

    Download Article
    Step 1 Visit a free, reputable ringtone download site in your desktop web browser.
    1
    Visit a free, reputable ringtone download site in your desktop web browser. Finding a legitimate website to download free ringtones can be difficult, but sites like Tones7.com and ToneTweet.com are commonly recommended on the web.
    This method requires a computer.
    If you’re not sure if a site is reputable, try to find online reviews first. Search for the site name and the word “review.”
    Ringtone download sites work for both Android and iPhone.
    Step 2 Search the site for the tone of your choice.
    2
    Search the site for the tone of your choice. Most free ringtone download sites work the same way—you’ll see a search box where you can enter song names/sound types and lists of ringtones by category or popularity.
    If you can't find a ringtone you like, you can browse other sources like the iTunes Store, Zedge, or create your own.

    ReplyDelete