Spotify now available in Dubai and it's free

Spotify finally enters the Middle East and North Africa region offering free and premium subscriptions.

Basic functions like playing music are totally free. But you can choose to upgrade to premium for AED 19.99 per month for better audio quality, offline listening and an ads-free experience.

For those who are new to Spotify, here's what you can do:

• Choose what you want to listen to with Browse and Search
• Get recommendations from personalized features
• Create your own playlist - library of music (artists and albums)
• See what friends, artists and celebrities listen to

Stay free. The audio quality of the free version is not bad at all. The ads are not that intrusive as well.

What does it mean for OFWs?

If you are a big follower of Filipino music like me, this is big for us.

These days, artists are releasing their new singles on Spotify ahead of Youtube, Facebook or even radio - especially the budding indie musicians. With Spotify, we have quicker access to these new music and EPs.

Top Filipino artists of this generation such as Ben&Ben, Autotelic, IV of Spades and Moira lead the way.

If audio book is your thing, there are also interesting podcasts like my favorite Simon Sinek.

Here's some of what I've been listening to and exploring lately:

Spotify also gives us access to key milestones in the industry such as this remastered edition of Ultraelectromagneticpop digital release:

View this post on Instagram

Today, November 23 marks the digital release of the remastered version of "Ultraelectromagneticpop!" - the classic debut album by unparalled rock music icons, The Eraserheads. The E-Heads and music fans all over the globe celebrate its 25th year anniversary with a remastered edition by multi-award winning audio engineer, Bernie Grundman. Having worked on quintessential albums such as Michael Jackson's "Thriller", and Prince's "Purple Rain" - Grundman works his magic by enhancing the sound quality on the original master tapes of the album, recorded and released in 1993. The success of "Ultraelectromagneticpop!" brought the underground college rock scene to the forefront of Filipino music, changing its landscape for many years to come. The album includes the smash hits "Pare Ko", "Ligaya", and "Toyang" - achieving a 4x- Platinum status or selling over 160,000 copies within a year of its original release. Relive the memories of this groundbreaking Filipino music milestone. Out now on Spotify and other digital platforms Brought to you by Sony Music Philippines and Offshore Music. #ULTRA25 #OffshoreMusic #SonyMusicPhilippines #BernieGrundman #Eraserheads #Ultraelectromagneticpop!

A post shared by Ely Buendia (@elybumbilya) on Nov 22, 2018 at 10:19pm PST

But, how much data does Spotify use?

According to an article from Daily Dot, data use depends on the quality you are streaming from.

• Normal quality- 96 kilobits, which lets you stream 40 megabytes per hour
• High quality- 160 kilobits, which lets you stream 70 megabytes per hour
• Extreme quality- 302 kilobits, which lets you stream 150 megabytes per hour
• Automatic quality- this option configures your streaming quality based on your connection

These rates are not fixed. Spotify remembers songs you previously listened to, or caches them, so you won’t use as much data the next time you play them.

And, unlike Youtube, you can keep playing music while switching to different apps.

Happy listening!

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Top photo from Billboard