Musi

July 25, 2014 10:16 AM

If Spotify is like Netflix, what music services are like Mubi?

I'm looking for a streaming service that presents a handful of high quality albums and rotates in new ones regularly (need not be daily, but that would be nice.) One of the nice things about Mubi is the films aren't always available on Netflix or Amazon, so something that just has a subset of Spotify/Rdio's library won't work.

posted by michaelh to Media & Arts (5 answers total)

Pono, perhaps?
posted by dekathelon at 1:28 PM on July 25, 2014

Bandcamp. Check out their homepage.
posted by Potomac Avenue at 7:22 PM on July 25, 2014

Well you pretty much described what I would like for music streaming... but can't find. I have Rdio (and have used Spotify in the past), which are great cause almost everything I want is there, but I find my listening habits are jumpy - I'm like a kid in a candy shop having small tastes of everything but not letting any one album sink in. If Spotify/Rdio is eating a bag of chips, I wan't the streaming service equivalent of sipping in a glass of scotch.

Mubi has two competitive advantages 1) They have desired titles that are unavailable on Netflix 2) They browse for quality titles so I don't have to (I'm a huge fan of limited quality choices over endless browsing)

While this hypothetical 'Musi' would only have advantage on point 2). Spotify/Rdio have a very extensive choice of titles (especially compared to netflix) therefore its only advantage would be its curatorial authority - something that in theory could be achieved as a subset of Spotify/Rdio (something you don't want and neither would I)

I'd love an option of 30 or so albums - a couple new releases to check out, revisit some classics, be exposed to some under-appreciated albums, entry guides to genres/ scenes/ world genres... It would need some not commercially available stuff to differentiate from Spotify/Rdio - Maybe this is 'radio shows' from bloggers like Sirius/XM gets from aquarium drunkard/ gorilla v bear, maybe some mixes from sites like Boiler Room or Dublab radio, maybe its live recordings that aren't released commercially.

I'd pay $4.99 a month for this...

Well the independent labels seem to not be happy with streaming services... maybe a change gon' come soon enough...
posted by shaqlvaney at 3:59 PM on July 26, 2014

This used to be eMusic or CDBaby, but either site, not so much anymore. Honestly, I use Spotify a lot and listen to plenty with varying degrees of obscurity. I'm often impressed at the range of their catalog. Bandcamp/Soundcloud can get you more obscure options, but the curation/discovery side can be mixed. You probably want to find some music blogs whose tastes sync up with yours, listen to whatever they post. Try googling for write-ups about artists you like and see where that leads.
posted by rhymes with carrots at 6:33 PM on July 26, 2014

There is a Spotify app for Pitchfork Media. You can browse all recently reviewed albums or 'best music' with a high rating. Frustratingly, this is mostly limited to indie-pop, metal, or occasional hip hop. It's is a "curated" selection though.
posted by Captain Chesapeake at 1:17 PM on July 27, 2014