Gapless playback is a vital part of the listening experience for some albums. For example, the second half of The Beatles’ Abbey Road album is essentially one giant song split over a few tracks. It was always intended to be played without gaps in between the tracks. This would be great news for Beatles fans if Spotify actually had Beatles music, but I guess other music takes advantage of gapless playback as well. Whatever.
Gapless playback lets the tracks flow seamlessly, one to the next, without any silence between. Perfect for classical music, live recordings and concept albums. It’s such a useful feature that the new release of Spotify will have gapless ‘On’ by default. If you want to turn it off, it’ll be right there in your Spotify Preferences.
In a less useful, but still somewhat interesting turn of events, Spotify’s latest release will also feature the ability to toggle on crossfading. If you’re playing music at a social event, crossfading might have a place, but futzing with the beginning and ends of songs can lead to some bizarre sounds, so use at your own aural peril.
These features aren’t in the main stable branch yet, but you can test them out in a new early build right here: [Download]. Download, drag, open, and enjoy.
Source: Spotify Blog
