The Black Spotify

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Sweden is home to many things: The Pirate Bay, some fantastic trance and synthpop bands, and of course Spotify. Combine these together (OK, maybe not the bands) and you get The Black Spotify: a gathering of Swedish demo scene coders and hackers determined to crack open Spotify.

To date, several Spotify hacks and workarounds have appeared – these are listed below. NOTE: Use these resources at your own risk (and conscience).

Apps & Hacks

  • Despotify – Open-source Spotify client, ostensibly to open up Spotify to Linux and Mac OS users but used by many community sites to provide playlist details etc. This app has resulted in much fierce debate but has yet to be disabled by Spotify themselves. Despotify require a premium Spotify account.
  • Spotify DJ – a companion app (requires Adobe Air) that lets you broadcast live DJ sets to other Spotify users. Integrated with Last.fm and Twitter.
  • jotify – A Java Spotify client library. Source code on github.
  • A proxy server – The simplest way for US-based and rest-of-the-world users to get some Spotification, as helpfully explained by TechCrunch.
  • Lastify – Adds Last.fm “Love,” “Ban” and “Tag” options to the Spotify client.
  • spotifyripping.com – Tips on how to copy the audio stream coming in from Spotify. Also includes a page listing plugins, such as mirc add-on SpotAmp.
  • How to mute Spotify adverts – Pete at Designalism describes how to mute the commercials, provided you’re on a Mac and know how to install and modify scripts. As Pete says: “Running my mute script requires a specific operating system (OSX), downloading and installing two pieces of software (Soundflower and the output switcher), running a custom programming language (MacRuby) and finally, running a custom ruby script on the console.“
  • Fixing Spotify Login Issues – FileShareFreak’s tips with lots of comments

Alternative Apps

  • Spot – An open-source Spotify client for the iPhone. Essentially deprecated by the official mobile app.
  • Droidify – An unofficial Spotify client for Android. Essentially deprecated by the official mobile app.

Invite Sites

There are many sites now offering free Spotify invites for those of you not in one of the supported countries. Here are some of the least-dodgy looking ones:

Thanks to snowlord for the initial heads-up. The Black Spot is of course from Robert Louis Stevenson.