Spotify: I’ve been using Spotify quite a bit while traveling and working in Europe, so I am happy to see it finally launched in the US. Initially Spotify was free and unlimited, with occasional commercial interruption. Recently, the service added a new monthly fee to access the same unlimited music, but it is worth it. The main advantage to Spotify is that you can listen to what you want when you want. If you have the app you can even listen offline. There is also a radio function, new music suggestions, and I can see what my friends are listening to. But sometimes I still have a hard time finding new music I like. Usually I just stick to what I know I like. Another disadvantage is its link to Facebook. I don’t like everything linking to Facebook, and I don’t want everyone to always see what I am listening to, but overall Spotify is my go to music listening program.

Pandora: This service still only works in the US, but that is pretty much the only real downside I can find with Pandora. The main perk is that it is still free, and that it can help you find new artists that are similar in style to your favorites. I guess it can be seen as a negative that you cannot choose what song you want to listen to when, but sometimes I enjoy the mixtape surprise nature of Pandora more than my playlists.

Grooveshark: I used to use Grooveshark when online on my computer, until I learned that it didn’t pay artists despite the heavy advertising on the site. There is still no iPhone app for Grooveshark, which limits its usefulness for iPhone users, but if you are the owner of an android, then you are in luck. You can download the Grooveshark app and enjoy both building your own song lists and listening to the radio as well. The biggest positive is that Grooveshark is free. But since all of Grooveshark’s profits reportedly go to them and not to musicians, I have a hard time recommending this service. I’d rather pay $10 per month and know the artist is getting a few dimes, than listen to something free.

It can be confusing to make sense of the different music applications out there, but hopefully in the future we will end up with more versatile choices which are both musician and listener friendly.

The BeoSound 8 is small and easily transportable, but the speakers deliver high quality sound regardless of location. The bass lines come through without the shaking and rocking of the speakers, despite their small size.

There is even a room adaptor feature that allows the system to readjust its sound quality based on the acoustics of its current location. That means your music doesn’t sound significantly different if you have your player in a large open space or in the corner of the kitchen.

One of the features I tend to use most is the Bluetooth feature, which allows my laptop to connect with the sound system. It means I can sit and adjust my music while I work, but still enjoy the sound quality of the BeoSound 8. If you do not have Bluetooth capability in your computer, you can use a USB cord to connect to the device as well.

The BeoSound 8 also has an iPhone app, BeoPlayer, and BeoLink, which allows you to bring your sound system wherever you go. You can use the app to listen to radio stations and access iTunes; however, aside from its aesthetically pleasing screen visual, it doesn’t seem that unique as a listening app. You can download a basic version of the app at the Apple store. This includes access to 13,000 radio stations and an alarm clock.

The biggest ouch, as usual with Bang and Olufsen products, is the price. The BeoSound 8 is no exception and runs approximately $1000 depending on where you purchase it. You can take it for a test drive at your local Bang & Olufsen. You can even book a time for an appointment if you want to test the machine for a longer period of time.

The Plusses:

Design – The machine is beautiful, and looks great in almost any room.

Sound – For such a small system, you get great sound.

iPad – You can dock your iPad – not a common feature.

The Minuses:

Price – The device probably costs much more than your MP3 player.

Shape – The speakers are quite deep, which could make mounting the device a bit tricky – but doable.

Back in the 1970s, file sharing was very rudimentary, but was nonetheless prevalent. Hackers and other computer users would share programs on floppies at meet ups, and it was fairly innocuous. In 1979 that all changed with the creation of Usenet by Tom Truscott and Jim Ellis. Usenet was conceived as a way for people to participate in threaded discussion, but it was also an effective way to distribute files. The “alt.binaries” groups were reserved for such activities.

The prevalence of modem communication in the 1980s gave way to file sharing through bulletin board systems (BBS) utilizing a protocol called Kermit. The big news, however, came in 1988 when Internet Relay Chat (IRC) was created by Jarkko Oikarinen, which allowed users to connect directly with other users to send and receive files, and eventually set up file servers.

The 1990s saw rise to the idea of file sharing with increased Internet use and the development of new protocols and file formats. AOL’s built-in file search tool was used by many to search for audio files and games, while both Usenet and IRC saw tremendous growth in popularity. 1997 was a big year for file sharing with services like MP3.com and Hotline making waves and gaining the ire of the recording industry. Audiogalaxy came to prominence in 1998, as an FTP indexing service. After some litigation from the music industry, AG went legit and now serves as a streaming service. By 1999, services like Napster and Direct Connect were being praised by many, but quickly drew the attention of big industry and lawmakers.

The 2000s saw the rise and fall of services Gnutella, which used decentralized tracking to index and search for files. While Morpheus and KaZaA, were both peer-to-peer services. BitTorrent was still in its infancy in 2001, when file sharing saw a sharp increase in usage, mainly due to the ease of which one could find and acquire music. LimeWire was also released during this time, and it came to prominence in place of KaZaA when it shut down. During the mid-2000s, BitTorrent became the preferred method of file sharing by many users, simply for its decentralized nature and wide variety of clients.

As we head into the new decade, it’s going to be interesting to see how technology and copyright law affects file sharing in the coming years.