How to Listen to Spotify Using Just a Web Browser

As well as the Spotify desktop software program, you can now access this popular streaming music service using its Web Player. This works with most Internet browsing programs such as Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome, Microsoft Internet Explorer, and others. The Web Player gives you access to all the main features you need to enjoy Spotify, even if you have a free account. With it you can search for songs and albums, discover new music, see what’s new on Spotify, listen to Spotify Radio, and create/share playlists.

Accessing the Spotify Web Player
To access the Spotify Web Player, launch your favorite Internet browser and go to https://open.spotify.com/browse
Assuming you already have a Spotify account, click the Log in here link.
Enter your username/password and click the Login button.
Incidentally, if you don’t have an account you can quickly sign up with an email address or your Facebook account (if you have one).

The Options For Streaming Music Via Your Browser
Once you’ve logged into Spotify’s Web Player you’ll see that it’s a fairly simple layout. The left pane lists your available options with the first four being ones that you’ll use the most. These are: Search, Browse, Discover, and Radio.

Search
If you know what you’re looking for then click this option. Once you do this a text box will be displayed for you to type in a search phrase. This can be an artists’ name, the title of a song/album, a playlist, etc. Once you start typing you will instantly start to see results displayed on the screen. These can be clicked on and are sub-categorized in sections (Top Results , Tracks, Artists, Albums, Playlists, and Profiles).

Browse
For a look at what’s currently being featured on Spotify, including what’s hot, the Browse option gives you a broad look at the main options. Clicking on this menu item in the left pane brings up a feature list such as: New Releases, Featured Playlists, News, Highlights, and various other dedicated channels.

Discover
Spotify is also a music recommendation service and this option gives you a great way to discover new music. The results you see are suggestions that Spotify thinks you might like. These are based on various factors including the type of music you’ve been listening to. Tracks are also listed if they are currently popular and fit into the genres of music you listen to.

Radio
As the name suggests, this option switches Spotify into radio mode. It’s a bit different to the way music is normally streamed on Spotify. For starters, there’s a thumbs up/down system like other personalized radio services (e.g. Pandora Radio) which helps Spotify learn your likes and dislikes. You’ll also notice that you can’t go back to a previous track in a station — only skipping forward is allowed. Stations are generally based on a particular artist or genre, but you can also kick off your own channel based on a track too. To make it a more personalized experience, Spotify displays a Create New Stations button near the top of the screen. To start your own radio station, simply click on this button and type the name of an artist, album, etc.