Dear Spotify, Bring Your Arse To The States!!!

Since Imeem, among other music streaming sites, are no longer running, I've been on the hunt for the new place to extend my taste in music. I'm not a big iPerson, so suggesting iTunes, an iPad/Phone, or any other iNut-riding software or Internet tool won't work.

There are a couple dope sites and such to check out with that Imeem feel.

8tracks is one I use frequently because it has a creative gimmick to its purpose: come up with at least eight songs for a playlist. The playlist has to have some sort of title or theme to it (even if it is Brian Lehrer's Cooking Mix or Randy Moss' Post Pattern), and I have the freedom of uploading songs from my music collection or adding music other people uploaded to 8tracks. If I stick to just eight songs, it's like having an 8-track on your computer, minus the protruding cartridge.

Another site I like for music sharing and streaming is [INSERT DRUM ROLL]

*adds extra line for dramatic effect*

MySpace! Believe it or not, and amidst the crappy press it got for being Creepsterland, this site is great for sharing music for artists and listeners. It's easy to create playlists, add music, and with the new layout (which Facebook is trying to mimic btw) is easy for folks to share. Although Bandcamp and SoundCloud are good sites for artists to use to socialize with their fans as well as add music, MySpace is just as good. Plus, almost every band uses it, so to the folks I know that snub MySpace on the regular need to fall back, as journalist and bloggers quickly search "[insert artist or band] MySpace music" before anything else.

But back to the topic at-hand.

Spotify is another music sharing and streaming site that has the online and offline option. It's like iTunes, minus Apple's "i" and tunes, Pandora, LastFM, and Imeem, wrapped in one green bow. You can upload your own music, listen to others, make playlists, buy music, play the artist radio, go mobile, tweet it, Facebook it, among other things. Oh, and IT'S FREE! Sounds too good to be true, right?

Well, for those in the US of A, it does. Clicking on the "Get Spotify" icon will lead you to this. That's right, a shrugging heifer and information about how they want to have ALL music available on the site for ALL countries or nothing at all.

The researcher and journalist in me went digging for more info on Spotify, finding out that it's a wrangling with Warner's music label. According to TechCrunch back in the summer, despite the app availability on Symbian, Droid and iPhone (and now Windows 7 Phone) Warner does not want Spotify to air out their artists' music for free.

Sounds familiar? It should. Warner and YouTube had the same issue because Warner didn't want YouTube posting their artists videos for free. The difference between the two scenarios is that YouTube had balls, and pulled all of Warner's artists off their site and moved on! And of course, because no label wants to be excluded from press, Warner came running back to make a deal with YouTube.

Now why Spotify won't grow some is beyond me. There is no reason (other than money, and if that's the case then forget coming here) Spotify is not able to do the same for their site as YouTube and generate States users. This software has already won tech awards for their services and has 30,000 of America's musical elite using their site (including Pitchfork, which brought me to Spotify in the first place), so why is it not available for the PEOPLE???

So Spotify, bring your arse to the States! We've suffered without you for long enough. We want the same luxuries as France, Spain and Sweden too! We have even shown you love for the 30,000 people you serve already, why not multiply that by a milli or two?

I hope these questions don't go unanswered, and you find your way out of other people's iPhones and into my laptop soon.

Signed,

Me.

Album Review: Miguel - All I Want Is You

Miguel is the type of singer/songwriter that you hate to love (if you are like me, wanting more from music than a quickie). He has been drawing me in since 2007 with his EP Mischief because he had some of the most creative concepts that year as an R&B artist. He fused together different aspects of living with different aspects of loving (i.e. making direct comparisons like computer use to submission, supernatural to infidelity, fruit and pimping, etc). When his single "All I Want Is You" hit airwaves, I was one happy camper. It was different from the material Miguel has, but it managed to appeal to everyone - young, old, immature, mature, etc. So it seems that his newest album of the same name would be that way...

He puts listeners in a tough position - if labeling things are an issue, don't bother with this cat. He's uncategorical. In All I Want Is You, he's a little reminiscent of The Dream because of the songwriting and the content used. It's straight-forward, slightly reckless, and very sexual (not to get confused with sensual, which is far from what Miguel does). Unlike the said comparison, Miguel is a crooner at-heart that can successfully dive into the perverted side of love and everyone is fine with that. Fun, mature, nasty, sexy, eclectic - that's Miguel.

He continues to fly high as one of the best breakthrough vocalists of the year, with various tracks that compliment his soft, electric voice. His extra touch is his background vocals he places in songs like "Girl With The Tattoo Enter.lewd," "Girls Like You" and "Teach Me." He saves the best for last, as far as creative writing is concerned, with "My Piece." It's hypnotizing, and has the IDGAF-attitude that Miguel thrives in having. Not to mention the direct (and thorough) comparison between a man's gun and girlfriend is mighty powerful!

He does miss the mark on a couple tunes with this album. The "club banger" single of this album sounds like something out of the 90s, minus the hook which is all of 2009. Luckily, "Pay Me" gets away with that because it's catchy and totally danceable despite its outdated sound. He makes a bad attempt to fuse his grown and sexy vocalism with an electropop in "Girls Like You," which is a mark barely missed by Miguel. A total fail was the recycled beat from "All I Want Is You" with a half-assed heartbreak song called "Hard Way." Other than that, he continues to make a sound that is both grown, futuristic and freaky.

Overall, Miguel makes it cool to be corny, smooth, nasty (a borderline perv even), mature, fun, eclectic, and talented all in one swoosh, and expect nothing short of praise from even the most serious. In All I Want Is You he shows the world he's not afraid to show his inhibitions, as well as bring them out of his listeners. It is definitely an album that is and sounds a bit overdue, it's apparent with the lowpoints in here, but Miguel is still flaunting high-quality talent. Although artists need to stray away from styles like that, especially considering the world we're living in today, Miguel gets a pass because he appears born to be that kind of guy.... with his silly self!

Star's Grade - B+