College students don’t have much extra money lying around. Even if we’re lucky enough to get money back from financial aid, it usually goes to the bills we didn’t pay because we had to buy books instead.
That’s okay. Well, maybe it’s not okay, but we’ve all come to terms with it.
Hopefully, for most of us, the good things about college will outweigh the bad (and the expensive), and we’ll look back and laugh at all those times our cards were declined in the McDonald’s drive-thru.
As tight as money may be sometimes, we should still be able to afford the basic necessities: food, water, Wi-Fi and a roof above our heads. For me, music is also on that list.
Whether I’m playing it in the background while I study, listening to it at the gym or during the walk between classes, its importance almost reaches that of food and shelter.
That’s why it’s necessary to have a good and affordable music streaming service.
There are plenty of them out there: iTunes, 8tracks, Slacker Radio, the list goes on and on. I can say I’ve tried almost every service there is and none of them come close to Spotify.
Apple is trying with the recent release of Apple Music, but it still just doesn’t cut it.
I would not be telling you this if it weren’t for my many years of experience.
Spotify is the voice of the people, the people who can’t afford to pay $1.29 for a single song.
Whether you’re a monthly subscriber or a free user, it has the all the things a music lover could want.
It even goes a step further to give students half off their monthly subscription – every single month. That’s $5 a month for an almost infinite amount of music.
Obviously you have to take into account that eventually your phone will run out of storage, but don’t blame Spotify for that. Spotify just wants you to be happy.
If $5 a month sounds too steep – trust me, I’ve been there – you can still get pretty much all of the features for free. The only difference is that you can’t download your playlists to your phone for offline listening.
You can still play them on shuffle or listen to a radio station that tickles your fancy. On your computer you have full access to everything, but you’ll have to listen to the occasional advertisement.
Spotify is also a great way to find new music.
We all get in a slump sometimes when we feel like we’ve heard everything and all of it starts to sound the same.
Fortunately for us, Spotify has pre-made playlists based on mood, genre and even activities.
Studying? There’s a playlist for that. Need an energy boost? There’s a playlist for that, too. Feel like crying just because you can? Playlist. The possibilities are endless.
So to all my fellow students, even if Spotify isn’t for you, I wish you luck in finding that special streaming service to help keep you sane during finals week.
image via indieunderground.ca
