Tag Archives: mobile

SpotSearch: Lyric-based Search for Spotify Mobile

SpotSearch is an app for Spotify Mobile (iPhone and Android) that finds a song on Spotify based on some lyrics you enter. In a way it’s similar to Shazam, but instead of playing it a sample of music you type in some words from the song instead. Maybe you have a tune in your head and you can’t remember what it’s called or who it’s by. If you know a line from the lyrics, use SpotSearch to find and play the song in Spotify.

Using SpotSearch is simple –  just start up the app then type in some song lyrics:

 

Tap Find The Song and SpotSearch will check the line against various different search engines. It then displays the best matches, showing the artist name and song title ranked in order of the number of times they were found (so cover and karaoke versions get pushed down the list):

 

Now just click a song title to open and play it in Spotify instantly. There are also links to listen/view the song on YouTube, share the song on Facebook or go back and do another search.

SpotSearch is formidably accurate: It’s managed to find pretty much everything I’ve thrown at it so far. Only 1950s creepy comedy oddity “The Mummy” by Bob Mcfadden & Dor caused SpotSearch a slight problem: I entered the first line “I’m a mummy, I scare people” and it found the song on YouTube but not on Spotify. Still, the app’s design means that searches are performed on the server side so developer Fredrik Thunberg can improve the search algorithms without forcing users to upgrade the app. Fredrik has also hinted that other updates are in the works including the ability to display the full lyrics of songs you search for.

SpotSearch is available in ad-supported free and paid-for ($0.99) versions from the Apple App Store and Android Market.

Pansentient League v3.1

I’ve made a few tweaks and minor updates to this blog:

  • WPTouch Mobile Theme: the site now formats properly on mobile devices such as Android phones and iPhones.
  • New categories: I’ve added a couple of new categories: apple and record labels.
  • Subscribe to Comments: I’m thinking of installing the DISQUS comment system but in the meantime I’ve installed the popular plugin that lets you subscribe to comments.
  • Counters: I’ve added a twitter follower counter and counter to show how many folk read the blog via an RSS feed (feedburner).
  • Translate widget – Added this a while ago: select your preferred language to translate the blog using Google’s translation service.

Content-wise, I plan to continue to focus primarily on Spotify and related sites. You’ll also see posts on Google Android, synthpop and electronic music, as well as some exclusive forthcoming interviews with select independent record label bosses and bands. If there’s anything else you’d like to see featured here, please let us know!

Interview with Spotibot Developer

spotibot-mob3First came Spotibot: a Spotify music recommendation service on Twitter (reviewed here). This included a Better Links service to spruce up the drab Spotify link pages with album art and track listings. Then came the excellent Spotibot Playlist Generator: a mashup that creates custom playlists for you based on similar artists. Now Spotibot is ready for walkies: introducing Spotibot Mobile, a webapp for Spotify Mobile that helps you to find new music on the move. Read on for the review and for an exclusive interview with Andy Smith, Spotibot’s creator.

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Spotify Mobile: Android vs. iPhone Smackdown!

iphone-vs-android

UPDATE: a revised version of this page is here.

I finally managed to get a hands-on look at Spotify Mobile for the iPhone (thanks @JackalHeadGod). Being familiar with Spotify on Android, I was able to compare the two to determine what things they had in common and which features were unique to one device. Here then is the definitive report on which is best – it’s the Spotify Mobile Smackdown: iPhone versus Android!

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