I have a hard time believing Roon will ever catch on without Spotify support. It’s the CD of the 2010s. I also known the Spotify team has become cocky and overly self-confident. What can Roon do to gain its support and get Spotify implemented into Roon?
I disagree that Roon needs Spotify. Would it be nice for some users, aure, I guess. No one I know uses it.
Spotify would have to open up their data, which I don’t think they would ever do. Or not for a ton if money.
Everyone in Europe uses it.
Everyone? Really ? I don’t think so.
Even though it is the most used streaming service in Europe, I doubt that the many that settle for Spotify’s lossy AQ will be interested in premium software like Roon.
As others mentioned, Roon tried everything, but Spotify will not cooperate with Roon.
But another streaming service would be an important thing in case Tidal is going down sometime.
I tend to agree with Lundmark that a lot of people in Europe use Spotify and it does indeed seem that streaming mp3’s is on its way to replacing other ways of listening to music. My 11-year-old daughter has adopted it and she stares at my CDs and Synology server full of high-res music in disbelief - how can people go through so much hassle when Spotify is so easy and always “available” ?
However I don’t think Roon should absolutely go for such partnerships. As far as I understand it Roon intentionally focuses on being a “high end” product that provides music lovers with lots of functions & information that the everyday user doesn’t really care about. In a nutshell I think using Roon to listen to Spotify would be overkill - the Spotify app does it better and is so much simpler.
I do believe there is room for many softwares to listen to music, but don’t expect that one will “do” everything. I would rather like Roon to pursue their goal of being the ultimate software that people use when really “listening” to music, as opposed to just having music in the background which can be achieved with simpler & cheaper software.
You might be right. The Spotify app is amazing, especially on mobile, and every time I use it I get reminded how terrible Tidal is. It’s absolutely useless in comparison.
I do want to use Roon for my ‘old’ music but I miss out on so much by not using Spotify. All the social bits go out the window too, like cooperative playlists.
Totally agree, I see roon as the option for the more quality conscious.
But spotify is not be ignored and you could even call it the benchmark in regard to streaming. I used it before roon and kinda miss the choice it provides (especially the plethora of playlists, this is still a weak spot in TIDAL). Would I use it in roon if available, I dont know.
Talking about apps, did anyone notice the spinning cover animation in TIDAL? Ridicoulous, maybe a 3 year old can appreciate it, but I had to laugh.
Face it guys. Spotify is for the popular kids. We’re geeks and proud of it. The combination could be amazing, but they don’t like us. If Hollywood is any guide, we win in the end.
(Personal opinion; I’m a user, not Roon staff)
Yes there are many young people that use Spotify, but most of them use the free version with adds so I can’t really see them pay for Roon.
Personally I think Spotify will only be relevant if they start offering a lossless service.
For me it’s a simple fact that they have many albums that Tidal doesn’t. So it’s essential for me, regardless of the quality debate.
Yes, exactly.
The apps are way better, but the difference in content available is the real kicker. Nothing can compete with Spotify on those.
Certainly not. I find it boring and I have lots of friends that are not using it since they as well find the tracks to have to big differences in SQ.
Whether there’s an improvement in sound quality by going lossless is a discussion for another day, but let’s just say that around these parts, Spotify is king and it’s easy to see why. It’s simply the best service.
Most people don’t care about sound quality, and while Roon certainly isn’t targeting the mainstream, us nerds tend to live with some of those mainstream people. I’m trying to get my girlfriend to use Roon, but it’s almost impossible because she’s so used to the content on Spotify.
How can Spotify possibly be the “best service” when it compromises the Sound Quality at every turn??
They claim to offer “q9 ~320kbps”…but numerous tests have shown even that to be in serious question…not least when using the PC / Mac Desktop client, when much of the data is supplied by Proxy rather than direct from Spotify
Spotify’s claims are akin to those of a theoretical fast food company who SHOULD claim
“We offer compromised food quality…but we are still the best, because we offer more compromised food menu choices than anyone else”
I fail to see how the “best” claim holds true, when the MOST IMPORTANT aspect of the service is compromised to begin with…and is therefore not a “discussion for another day”
Yes it is. I don’t give a ■■■■ about what you think of Spotify’s sound quality. Maybe Spotify is not for you.
But it is the benchmark for streaming services for the mainstream. Better sound quality on Tidal doesn’t mean much when the songs aren’t even available for listening.
It would appear then that Roon is not for you , so go use spofify.
I’m pretty sure that somewhere in Roon’s Mission Statement, they have the following 3 major goals
“Provide Optimum Sound Quality across a range of devices, while enjoying Rich Metadata within an Easy To Use, User Environment”
And it’s easy to see from the thousands of posts here over the past 12 months that most Roon users want to see ALL THREE goals achieved and improved over time
And it’s difficult to see how the above can be achieved by relying on a service whose central core is compromised from the very beginning by offering Lossy Music files
I’ve been considering going back, but there are obvious other drawbacks with that, like no multiroom and no iTunes playlists of which I have a lot. Paid for a year so I’ll continue using Roon for some time to see how it progresses.