Today I’ll be looking at how I use streaming services. My favourite streaming service is probably Youtube, but as I’ve already covered this is a previous blog, I won’t be going to great detail about it. Another favourite streaming service of mine is Spotify. I use Spotify everyday and I’ll pretty much listen to whatever I feel like. Until recently I had only been using this service when I was hooked up to wifi to avoid using too much data. However my new mobile plan allows me to stream music for free without using data; so I now use Spotify to get me through a run. I like using Spotify because it means I can listen to songs that I’m enjoying at the moment but may not want to commit to downloading. I can also discover new songs in pre made playlists or listen to a specific artist. For the past few days I’ve been listening to a new band because I was asked to go to their gig by a friend. At the moment I don’t have Spotify Premium but I’m deciding whether or not to upgrade. I would appreciate a break from the onslaught of ads and the ability to make my own playlists but now that I get free streaming, I’m not so sure if I really need it. Streaming services such as Spotify and Youtube are interesting platforms to me, as they are made available to everyone but a premium version is usually offered at a cost. This is becoming a more and more popular model nowadays with the introduction of Youtube Red. All these services offer a ‘taste’ for a certain period of time before asking for money. I think this method would be very effective in encouraging people to sign up because they would suddenly feel deprived when the trail ended. I know from experience when I was given a trial of Youtube Red and had started watching a show, I was unable to finish the season because my trail had ended. It’s a clever ‘the-first-hit-is-free’ style system that is quite persuasive.