Get started with Spotify

Spotify is a great way to enjoy music online. It looks like iTunes but all the music is streamed as you listen. It's not completely free, you either have to listen to adverts or pay a subscription fee. You also need to receive an invite from a current user if you don't want a premium account. Hopefully this will change soon. The ads are still fewer than you might hear on commercial radio and as you get to choose your own playlist, it's a fair exchange in our opinion.

Go to www.spotify.com and click on the Get started button. Fill in the form with your details, including a username, password and email address. Make a note of the password. You can leave the mobile phone number details blank.

Finally enter the letters shown in the image to prove you are a human being. Click to say you agree with the end user agreement. If you want to receive a newsletter or be contacted by other companies tick the boxes below, otherwise leave them blank. When happy click on Create account and proceed.

The browser will display the download page. Click on the Download now button and click on the Save file button.

Double click on this icon when the file has downloaded, click on OK and then on Run in the security warnings.

Leave all the options in the install window as they are and then click on the Install button. Spotify will start as soon as installation has finished.

The Spotify window shows the latest albums added. Left-click on an album to see the tracks and then double-click on a track to start playing.

With so much music on offer, the search box is a valuable tool for finding music. Left-click in the box and type the name of an artist or album and press enter. Double-click on a track to play or click on the artist or album for more information.

You can also search by the year by typing year:2007 or by genre with genre:ambient.