Spring is here and love is in the air. Like co-eds at freshman orientation, the social networks and apps are all pairing up. Not only are they merging, like Instagram and Facebook, but also they are having liaisons, such as the Hipstamatic and Instagram integration.
The latest is a hookup between music player Spotify and pretty much any website via the addition of the Spotify Play button, released today.
If you aren't yet on Spotify, see our instructions for newbies at the end of this article to quickly get signed up.
Now here's the new part. It's a little techy for now (we suspect it will get easier). Right-click any playlist or song in the Spotify player app to access a pop-up menu and select "copy URL." Then go to the Play Button page, paste the URL in the box, and the site generates some HTML code that will create the Play button. Copy the code, then go to Facebook or your blog.
You can add the button to Facebook simply by pasting the code into your status update, the same way you would with a link to a website. Facebook will generate the button the same way it would give a preview of a site. (You can also add a comment to the post.)
On a blog such as Tumblr, Posterous or Blogger, there is just one more step than you would use for a regular post. It varies a bit by service, but above the box where you type your post, you will see a toolbar with buttons such as "Bold" and "Italic." You will also see a button that says "HTML." Click it, paste in the text, and then return to the regular input method. The button will appear, and you can type your post above or below it just as you would with a photo.
When people click on the playlist or song, the music will open up in the Spotify app.
We've done that with this post, creating a playlist called GeekTunes. Enjoy, and feel free to sign up for our Facebook page and suggest more!
For Newbies
Join Spotify by navigating to the homepage at spotify.com and clicking on "Sign Up." It will then direct you to a page where you link to Facebook. Then download the player for Windows or Mac and sign in with your Facebook account.
You can search for just about any song, band or album to play in the moment. Or you can make a playlist of favorites. On the left-hand panel, click "+ New Playlist," give it a name, then search for any music you like. The tunes will appear in the central panel. You simply drag them over to the playlist on the left to add them. At some point, Spotify will likely restrict what you can play on the free version and require that you pay for unlimited access. But for now, you have the run of the site!