The Infinity One and Discover Weekly

Disclosure

After playing for well over a decade, last Autumn I finally won something in McDonald’s annual Monopoly contest. I’ve previously won free ice cream sundaes, french fries or even a $5 gift card – but this time I won something bigger. No, not the grand prize (you really think I’d still be living in Iowa with that kind of money?!). I was awarded a one year subscription to Spotify!

Now I had a real problem – the speakers on my phone and computer system are horrible. I knew I’d want to get the most out of my contest winnings, so I needed a better solution. We recently discovered a new category of high-end Bluetooth speakers on the market with longer-life batteries and sound rivaling home stereo systems. From what I was reading, the Infinity One model from Harman looked to be the best value for our money.

I’ve been a fan of Spotify ever since they were in beta, highly preferring them over iHeartRadio, Pandora and the dozens of other music providers. Their music catalog had more of what I liked, was easier to navigate and the commercials (before they disappeared with the subscription) were not near as often as the others.

In late July they updated their software to add a brand new feature that I didn’t pay much attention to at first called Discover Weekly. Advertised as another way to discover new music based upon your listening tastes, I honestly didn’t give it a second thought since I had already tried the same type of service with Apple and Pandora with little success. One day I noticed my own photo (from my Spotify profile) featured on an icon resembling an album cover. That got my attention. And so did the list of songs it recommended for me. All along they had paid attention to what I had selected and was now showing me a list of titles that most I had never heard of. Of course, not all became new favorites – but many did.

So how can you find out what Spotify recommends for you? Discover Weekly has earned a prominent placement in their software interface, and with multiple positions so you can find it easily. In the main app for your PC, look for either your photo on an album or click on “Discover” in one of the top tabs. You’ll also find it in the sidebar under your playlists! Yes, Spotify automatically creates a playlist of all their recommendations so you can simply select it and let it play from start to end.

You can also go directly to the list and listen to them one at a time, liking the ones you prefer so they also affect your lists in following weeks. Ever since we discovered this new feature, we anxiously look forward to Monday mornings when a new list (curated just for us) comes out.

Helping us discover music is but one thing Spotify did to our music listening time. Because of the size and quality of the Discover Weekly list, we found ourselves listening to music more often. Even if just as background music, it is 1000x better than listening to the same CD over and over and over.

I’ve listened to Spotify on my phone (with headphones) when mowing the lawn, but really don’t like wearing headphones in the house (unless the kids are arguing). The speaker on any phone is mediocre at best. We have a couple low-end Bluetooth speakers at our disposal, but nearly every one serves just one purpose. And like I mentioned previously, that’s when we ‘discovered’ the Infinity One by Harman Kardon. It turned out to be exactly what we needed for both inside and outside entertainment!

This is the company that was founded by audio engineers and are known for their high-quality systems both at home and in the car. My daughter can take it outside to show off her latest dance moves. I use it to stream my personal Discover Weekly playlist while working at the computer (like while writing this post!).

My other daughter plays cello along with classical music while my wife lets it lull her to sleep with a good audio book.

Thanks to the Infinity One, we are all able to enjoy our personal playlists, the new Spotify Discover Weekly compilation and personal music collection in any place we can imagine. Because it sports a 5000mAh lithium polymer battery, you’ll get up to 10 hours of play time before it needs a recharge.

Harman also wants to help you discover what type of music fan you are. They’ve put together a quick online quiz that will tell you if you’re an elevator music aficionado or are all about that bass. And here’s where you get to experience the sound for yourself! You can win an Infinity One for yourself by entering below! With a retail value of almost $300, this would make a nice Christmas present to yourself – so tell me what room you’d use it most in!

Harman Infinity One Portable Speaker – 5 winners!