Category Archives: Spotify in Canada

Spotify in Canada

Spotify in Canada – revisited

8 Comments

We did a post on how to get Spotify in Canada quite a while ago. It seems that our solution worked for some people but not others. Here’s an update about a system that seems to work for us.

1. There are two versions of Spotify, three if you count the premium version of it. You can download the Spotify app and use it or, better yet, access the Spotify web player. Here’s the link: Spotify Web Player

Photo of Spotify Web Player
There’s lots of great streaming music on Spotify…if you can access it.

2. As with most apps and websites now, Spotify wants you to expand your experience by signing in with Facebook. If you live in Canada, don’t do that…not yet anyway.

3. We suggested using a VPN in our last post about this topic. It seemed that this is why it worked for us but we couldn’t see why it didn’t work for others. On the computer which accesses Spotify, we have several operating systems. The Windows 7 OS uses the VPN, mainly to access the U.S. version of Netflix.  We have changed the DNS settings of Windows 7 to force it to use the unblock-us.com VPN.

4. The other OS on this computer is Windows 8.1. We haven’t set up the VPN on it yet but we can still access the Spotify web player on it and have been able to do so for months. We were stumped as to why this is possible since we weren’t using unblock-us.com on it.

5. Right now, we think it’s the Facebook linking that lets us use Spotify here in Canada. Why is that? Quite simply because Facebook doesn’t know where the heck we are! That sounds funny but it’s true. A few months ago we decided to pull a fast on one Facebook and removed any mention of our actual location. Since then, Facebook has been telling us that our profile is incomplete. Oh the horror! Well, it will stay incomplete too.

6. Since Facebook doesn’t know where we are, Spotify doesn’t either. It seems that this is the case anyway. Here’s what the linked Facebook info update looks like:

Photo of Facebook Info Update
There is no reason to tell Facebook where you are.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If you’re in Canada or any other that can’t stream Spotify, give this a shot. Don’t tell Facebook where you are and, likely, Spotify won’t know either. Hopefully it will work for you just as it did for us. Good luck!

Thanks for reading!

Here’s the link to our Facebook page: Computers Made Simple on Facebook  Keep up to date on our posts and occasional tips and tricks.

_______________________________________________________________

Here’s a link that might help us if you are interested in hosting your own blog with Fatcow Hosting. We’ve signed up to become an affiliate and we make a bit of money if you sign up for hosting via this link: FatCow Hosting Thanks!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Free Software, Spotify in Canada

Spotify in Canada

38 Comments
Photo of Spotify site
Soundtrack your life, sounds good! That’s Spotify. 

 

We like to listen to music while we work. Doesn’t everyone? Most streaming music sites don’t let you choose your music. That’s OK some of the time but, every now and then, it’s fun to choose your own songs. Spotify lets you do that, for free! Unfortunately, Spotify is only available in certain areas of the world. Canada is not one of those places. Here’s how we managed to get Spotify working for us here in Canada.

1. Make sure you’re using Chrome. If you’re not, you should be using it to surf the web. Don’t use Internet Explorer. Download Chrome and install it now. Here’s the link: Google Chrome

2. Chrome makes use of different extensions or plugins to perform tasks that a normal browser can’t manage. One of these extensions is MediaHint. When we try to access the Spotify site, it’s obvious that we are in Canada. MediaHint hides that fact and allows us to download the Spotify app. Go here: Chrome Web Store and search for MediaHint.

Photo of MediHint Extension
Click on Add To Chrome. (We’ve already added it. That’s why is reads: Rate it.)

3. Choose ‘Add to Chrome’.

4. Once MediaHint is installed, you do not have to configure it. Simply head to the Spotify site, click on the Get Spotify button and wait. The Spotify software will download automatically.

5. Once the SpotifySetup.exe file is fully downloaded, click on it in Chrome or double-click on it in your Downloads folder. The little seed app will download the full Spotify program.

6. Instead of creating a new account, simply sign in with Facebook, that’s the easiest way to do it. It’s fine to use your Facebook password, just the same as with any other major app.

7. Sort your way through the various setup screens  then sit back and enjoy the music!

Photo of Spotify App
Lots of choices, search for a song, add it and rock out!

 

If you live in another country, the MediaHint extension will probably work for Spotify and other restricted sites. We’re not a fan of DRM (Digital Rights Management) and if we can beat it, we will. DRM is making the world a much smaller place. That’s not what we need right now, in our opinion.

Thanks for reading!