If you're reading this, there's a good chance you recently started working from home. Whether it's a temporary thing or your new gig is done entirely from your home office, you'll still want to take some time to ensure your setup is as complete as possible.
When we think about the tools required for an enjoyable work at home experience, we often flock to things like desks, chairs, and keyboards. These are all essential, but there's something seriously missing from all of that: Spotify. As someone that's been juggling this whole work from home thing for nearly four years, I can say in full confidence that Spotify — specifically the Premium service — has been a saving grace in my day-to-day workflow. If you now find yourself working from home, even for a short period of time, you owe it to yourself to sign up for the service if you aren't already.
Spotify is the only streaming service that's been able to keep up with my work from home needs.
I think it's safe to assume that everyone knows what Spotify Premium is. For $10 every month, you get unlimited access to millions of songs on-demand and with no pesky advertisements. It's a pretty simple concept, and it's one we've seen mimicked by the likes of Apple Music, YouTube Music, and others. In my experience, however, Spotify continues to outshine the rest in a few key areas that are critical if you're using it while working from home.
First, let's talk about a beautiful thing called "Spotify Connect." If you already have Spotify, chances are you use this all the time and aren't fully aware of what exactly it is. Spotify Connect essentially links your listening to all of your devices, allowing for the most seamless experience possible.
Let's say I sit down to start the workday, open Spotify on my iMac, and send it to the Sonos One speakers on my desk. Even though I started Spotify from my computer, I can pause/resume the song, skip tracks, or pick a completely different album/playlist from my Pixel 4 or iPhone 11 Pro. While I'm doing this, the music will keep playing through my Sonos speakers. If you prefer using noise canceling headphones while you work, you could start Spotify from your phone that's paired to the headphones and control playback from the Spotify app on your computer.
No other service out there offers anything comparable to Spotify Connect, and as someone that juggles between various devices while I'm working, it's something I've grown to rely on to get me through the day without tearing my hair out.
Spotify Connect and Daily Mixes are essential for my workflow.
Another key component of this winning formula is Spotify's Daily Mixes. Six of these are made for you, each offering a personalized mix of music that's updated every day. More often than not, these are what I listen to the majority of the time while I'm working.
Sure, there are times when I'll seek out a specific song or artist I'm in the mood for, but I typically don't like to constantly be in the Spotify app to pick and choose my music. Any time I do that, it takes me out of my focus and disrupts what I'm trying to work on. In my experience, Spotify's Daily Mixes have been the best personalized playlists out there. Each one is filled with a good mix of songs I'm familiar with a new discoveries that are typically right in line with my music preference. Plus, with six of these to choose from, you're never without something to throw on and listen to for hours on end.
I've seen some people complain about Your Mixes being too repetitive, but for all of the years I've been using Spotify, they've yet to disappoint me.
There are all of the little things. Gradual updates have turned Spotify's mobile app from a jumbled mess to something I actually enjoy using, the Search tab makes it incredibly easy to discover all sorts of new music, and you can supplement your music listening with podcasts that are also included in the service.
You'll find countless apps and websites out there to pump music through your speakers while you work, and while any of these will provide you with much-needed background noise, Spotify is the only one I've continued to pay for year after year.
I'm going back to Spotify because YouTube Music still sucks at most things
The music streaming service to beat
Whether you're working from home or still stuck at the office, there's no denying how darn good Spotify is. With the Premium service, you get access to millions of songs on-demand, won't be interrupted with ads, and can download songs for those times when you do have to leave the house.
