Music changes every time an artist releases a new album, but the way students get their music fix has also evolved.

From cassette tapes to CDs to digital files, music devices are ever-changing. Many students rely on Internet radio such as Pandora to listen to tunes, but Spotify, another music source, is taking over.

“Essentially Spotify is iTunes and Pandora fused together,” junior Wolfgang Johanning said. “It’s the best of both worlds.”

After downloading Spotify, listeners can search artists and songs and can create playlists for free.

Spotify was founded in 2007 and is dedicated to giving people the opportunity to share and listen to music in a free and easy way.

“It helps music students prepare for lessons and improve their own musicality,” voice instructor Marci Ziegler said.

Students like Johanning use Spotify to prepare for weekly lessons and to choose songs to add to their repertoire.

“Spotify is very versatile because it can be used for things like music lessons and personal use,” Johanning said. “I love that you as the user get to choose the music you listen to.”

There are three versions of Spotify.

The free version provides the listener with streaming music of the users choice, however occasional advertisements are placed between songs.

“Most students have the free version,” Ziegler said.

To upgrade to a commercial free or mobile version, users can choose to pay a fee.

Pandora has a similar set up. The Pandora mobile application can be downloaded on smart phones, IPad and iPods for free. The car version can be bought from most dealers for newer models.

According to the Pandora website, the first playlist set up on Pandora was in 2005.

“Pandora creates playlists for me just by knowing one or two artists I like,” freshman Peyton Edmonds said. “It takes the work out of organizing a playlist.”

Pandora allows users to search just a few songs and the program configures up a playlist with songs and artists similar to the genre of the searched artist.

“It’s really easy to use,” Edmond said. “If I don’t like the particular song that starts playing all I have to do is click the next button.”

Although CDs have been around for a while, CDs are still being used by many students.

“I listen to CDs, radio and Pandora,” junior Kelley Jenkins said.

Users like CDs because the user has an ownership of actual property and they are portable.

Jenkins said owning CDs gives the listener the opportunity to choose the artists and songs, too.