Free Music: Pandora and Spotify

Music is an important part of my life. I play it everywhere--in my home, in my classroom and office, and in my car. I think that people underestimate its power. During teacher trainings, I share with my audience that music can be used as a classroom management tool. When I want the students to settle down, I play something soft, and when I need them to be active, I play a genre that is more upbeat. In this technological age, I am very thankful to have music so freely accessible to me. I don't have to remember to bring a CD with me anymore! Pandora and Spotify are two of my favorite websites/phone apps. I know that many of my friends use these tools already, but I just led a faculty training where people had heard of Spotify but had not used it yet. They were easily converted by the end of the training. You simply create a login for Pandora or Spotify from your computer or smartphone, and you have free access to an endless database of tunes. WIth Pandora, you create a "channel" by inputting a particular genre, artist or album, and then Pandora plays randomly selected songs that are similar to the artist or genre you selected. On the other hand, with Spotify, you can create your own playlist, and intentionally select a specific album, song, or artist that you would like to listen to from anywhere that has an internet connection.  Today I read that they have the Android app for Spotify for free!, so I know it's available for Android phones too. There are upgrades to both sites that you can purchase to avoid listening to ads and such, but I have been very content with the free versions. FREE music??? This is a dream come true.  If you haven't stopped to save by checking these sites/apps out, STOP right now and do it!  You will be whistling a happy tune in no time.