Recently I discovered paying 10 euros per month for Spotify was a waste of money since 75% of my time I was listening to music that was already on my iPod, 10% of online music  (youtube, internet radio, etc.) and the other 15% just Spotify.

I decided to cancel my subscription and just move back to the old flow: using iTunes, etc. However, you realize that Spotify really made it possible to easily share and find new songs within your computer. I decided to use Grooveshark and by searching for a couple of nifty features I discovered I had not only access to more music but I was also able to manage my playlists the way I did in Spotify and import my old playlists to Grooveshark. Here’s how I did it:

1. I made an account on Grooveshark;
2. I imported my Spotify and iTunes (!) playlists using Groovylists
3. I downloaded Factotum (just a coupla dollars), which makes it possible to use your mac’s media keys to control your songs);
4. In case you have an iPhone you can have your tracks on the go with Grooveshark for iPhone (Instructions how to download it), you only need to jailbreak your iPhone.

Grooveshark in Fluid

There are still a couple of dissadvantages:

• Grooveshark doesn’t allow you to listen songs offline;
• Grooveshark plays in your browser, however I tried using Fluid with Grooveshark but then Factotum wouldn’t work;

Other tips:

• Buy/Try Radium, it’s the best mac friendly internet radio streaming service, I discovered there’s even have Oscar Peterson radio station :)
• Use Last.fm for only 3 dollars a month, the main man of music sharing/streaming sites;
• Hypemachine, a lovely site to discover new songs and an ability to embed the songs on your blog
• Deezer, a french streaming service, just like Grooveshark, however I personally prefer Grooveshark’s interface better.
• Musicovery, a flash-based discovery site for music, works fine, but not amazing when it comes to organizing your music;

Oh, and if you’re not convinced try searching for Arcade Fire on Spotify, you can always listen it here. Or if you do have any other tips or tricks regarding a ‘Spotifyless’ life, let me know.