What is my Spotify Age?
Those that don’t use Spotify often will probably notice that they are not provided a “Spotify Age”. And some will wonder what the point of it is anyway, questioning whether it is simply flattery based attempts to promote use of the service.
I like Spotify for it’s convenience when I have forgotten to add songs I had ripped from my compact disc collection to my cell phone’s library but I don’t use it often because I’d rather use my limited bandwidth with other apps. And this is why I have no assessment.
I also use Amazon Music more often so this trend does not apply to me, although I am somewhat curious as to what the results would be. But not enough to favour the service over the upcoming year to get an answer in late 2026.
Quite frankly I’d rather rip music from vinyl and listen to that because I know the artists actually got a fair royalty rate. And greatest hits albums are a great way to get the artists their dues, if you don’t want to buy their most popular albums.
I’m presuming my age is pretty much up there anyway because I tend to listen to classic rock from the 70s to the early 2000s. And can’t say that I like even five singles on the Billboard 100 now.
Oh well…
Apple Gift Card Offer
Participating Real Canadian Superstores are offering 5000 bonus Optimum points on purchases of $50 Apple Gift Cards until Wednesday, June 22nd, 2022. Consult pcoptimum.ca for details.
Bye Bye iPod
Apple has decided to discontinue the iPod Touch and re-direct its customer to other products that provide access to Apple Music according to a press release that was released today.
The first iPod had been introduced on October 23rd, 2001 whilst the first iPod Touch was introduced on September 2007 but most consumers have recently shifted to listening to music via other Apple products, like the Apple Watch and iPad so they decided to stop manufacturing them.
The remaining stock will we sold at Apple stores and online, including on Amazon.ca and Amazon.com.
Roku Update
Apple Music is now available on Roku devices and Smart TVs. And will soon offer access to your iTunes library ; I’ve tried accessing my iTunes library but I haven’t been able to so I guess it’s a feature they’re working on.
Click here for today’s press release from Roku.
How I save money on Streaming/Downloads
You can save money on the music, television and film streaming and downloading services in Canada by purchasing discounted gift cards to pay for downloads or subscriptions in advance.
I’ve personally obtained discounts and bonus loyalty points on gift cards for Amazon.ca (Amazon Music/Prime Video), Cineplex, iTunes, Google Play and Netflix. And have seen similar offers on gift cards for SiriusXM and Spotify on occasion at some retailers. But you’ve got to know where to look to find them:
Amazon.ca – Amazon occasionally has targeted promotions that are sent by email to their customers and occasionally pop up on banners on their site, most of which include promotional credits when one reloads their gift cards or adds funds to their Amazon Cash accounts. At the moment there is an offer for a $5 promotional credit for first-time users that add $20 to their Amazon Cash account before September 30th, 2020.
Best Buy Canada – iTunes gift cards are usually discounted at this electronics chain in the Christmas shopping season but offers do occasionally pop up from time to time.
Esso/Mobile Canada – Esso Extra points can be redeemed in store for Cineplex gift cards and online for Amazon.ca, Cineplex and iTunes gift cards. Click here for details.
Guardian/IDA – Both these pharmacies have rare offers on gift cards, also mostly in the Christmas shopping season. Their flyers might be worth a browse then.
Jean Coutu – Mostly located in Quebec, New Brunswick and Eastern Ontario, this pharmacy occasionally offers a discount on gift cards. And although you can’t collect or redeem Air Miles for gift cards at the stores themselves, you can redeem “Cash Miles” for Cineplex eVouchers from Air Miles collected at participating retailers.
Loblaws – This grocery chain and its affiliated stores (Your Independent Grocer, Real Canadian Superstore, Atlantic Superstore) mostly offer bonus Optimum points with the purchase of the above-mentioned gift cards but do occasionally offer discounts on these gift cards. Look at the bottom of the flyer pages for their weekly offers and/or occasional graphic showing the gift cards associated with the week’s offers.
London Drugs – Although I haven’t personally shopped at a London Drugs pharmacy, I’ve heard they occasionally have discounts and offers on their gift card selection. I’ve seen a flyer or two with some rather interesting offers that I couldn’t take advantage of because they don’t have a store in my community. They do ship gift cards by mail though.
Petro Canada – Although I haven’t seen discounts being offered on gift cards by this gas station chain, it is one of the few retailers that allow people to redeem their loyalty points on physical and electronic gift cards, specifically from Best Buy, Cineplex and iTunes.
Pharmasave – Another pharmacy that has discounts on gift cards, mainly in the Christmas shopping season.
Rexall – This chain of pharmacies used to offer bonus Air Miles for gift cards but have just introduced their own loyalty program, whose terms & conditions state points cannot be collected or redeemed on gift cards. But I suspect they may discount specific gift cards on occasion, like during the Christmas shopping season, so you may consider browsing the weekly flyers.
Shell – These gas stations rarely have flyers but they and Air Miles occasionally send out promotions that contain offers for bonus Air Miles, by mail, email and on their respective web sites. But the selection of cards may be limited in the smaller locations.
Shoppers Drug Mart – This pharmacy also offers bonus Optimum points and also occasionally offers discounts on specific gift cards, mostly posting these offers along the bottom of their flyer pages, among other information. They also occasionally add pictures of the gift cards that are eligible for an offer that week.
Sobeys – This grocery chain occasionally offers discounts and bonus Air Miles on gift cards, including a few of the gift cards listed above.
I haven’t yet tried Rakuten to get money back from my Cineplex and Cineplex gift card purchases but I’ll consider it in the future. And if I can think of some more discounts and loyalty point offers I’ll update this blog entry, as soon as possible. I’m sure I’m forgetting one or two.
Meanwhile, I hope you’ll be able to find some deals.
Goodbye iTunes
Bloomberg has reported that iTunes will be no more shortly, Apple having planned to replace this app with three individual apps for music, television and podcasts soon.
Originally announced on January 9th, 2001 at the 2001 Macworld Expo in San Francisco, this program had been released in March 2001 and brought Apple into the music industry, changing that industry by providing easy access to 200,000 individual tracks via a newly created online store by April 2003.
With iTunes 4.1, Apple extended access to their store to Microsoft Windows operating system users on October 16th, 2003, launching the Canadian iTunes store on December 2nd, 2004 with the release of iTunes 4.7.
When version 6 of the program was released on October 12th, 2005, users of this program were given access to popular television programs, Pixar shorts and music videos, later gaining access to Digital Rights Management free recordings via iTunes Plus and the release of version 7.2 of this program on May 29th, 2007. And Canadians were able to purchase or rent major studio films the following year on June 4, 2008 via iTunes 7.6, which eventually contributed to the demise of several DVD and blu-ray rental chains in Canada.
On May 13th, Apple had announced that the AppleTV app was available to Canadian iPhone, iPad and Apple TV customers that are running iOS 12.3 and tvOS 12.3. And that Mac and select Samsung Smart TV owners (2018/19 models) will be able to install and use that new program in the fall.
I suspect the iTunes music store will simply be rebranded to Apple Music, offering streaming and music downloads. And redirect older links to this service.