Amazingly there now is, and it is called Spotify. Spotify is an instant on-demand music service in the UK, with backing from the 4 major record labels (Universal Music Group, Sony BMG, EMI Music, Warner Music Group) and mjor independent labels. With thousands of tracks available at any time, at the click of a button, legally, and free? There must be a catch, right?

And we have to admit there is one: the service is ad supported, with an advert appearing between songs every so often. Original sponsors of the service included Ford and Xbox, and the adverts are meant to be unobtrusive. There is also a paid for service, that removes all adverts and gives you invites to let your family and friends try out the service. This costs £0.99 for 24 hours, or £9.99 per month. Having used this service we are very pleased with the spead and quality at which the music arrives. But there is one slight problem… they have recently experienced security issues, which could compromise the password of any users who signed up before 19th December. Although this should not affect any subsequent users, we do warn that anyone who signed up in the first couple of months should change their password to stay safe.

Despite this we are very happy to present Spotify with a coveted bitcolumns “Recommended for Students” award.