I have become a pretty passionate listener to music over the past several years. I started by becoming a subscriber to the New York Philharmonic. Then picked up a subscription to the Metropolitan Opera and Jazz at Lincoln Center. In addition to all this excellent live music, I continue to visit a few Broadway shows as they appeal to me. I’ve been using this blog more or less as a record of what I have been enjoying.

In the last year, I’ve also discovered several excellent digital resources to fuel my music listening passion. The first is the Berlin Philharmonic’s Digital Concert Hall. A subscription service (weekly, monthly or annually – free trial available), you can stream live and archived concerts from the Berlin Philharmonic. I’ve never seen the orchestra live, but this is the next best thing! They also provide access to numerous historical performances. For example, they are currently publishing recordings with esteemed conductor Herbert von Karajan. The service offers several films and interviews with various artists. I particularly enjoyed learning about the Philharmonic’s hall, the Berlin Philharmonie. For about $200 US a year, it is a terrific resource. The Digital Concert Hall also streams well through Samsung SmartTVs and mobile devices. I’m very much looking forward to the upcoming season! The Berlin has become one of my favorite orchestras, up there with the New York Philharmonic and San Francisco Symphony. Follow the Digital Concert Hall on Facebook to watch concert excerpts and receive the occasional “free ticket.”

Another service I’ve recently learned about is Medici.tv. I had never heard of Medici.tv until I saw there was an app on my Samsung SmartTV. They often stream concerts free, such as the recent Verbier Festival from Verbier, Sweden. I watched several offerings and was impressed with the performances and video quality. Medici.tv has a catalog that contains concerts, including older concerts, opera, dance and documentaries – almost 1,500 in total. Medici.tv is slightly less expensive than the Digital Concert Hall with subscriptions starting at $120 US to $180. They recently ran a 20% off sale. Medici.tv does have apps for mobile devices. I’m looking forward to enjoying what this service has to offer in the coming year.

Spotify has been around for awhile – 2006 – but has gained more popularity in recent years. I have enjoyed this service, especially to find digital recordings of records I had when I was a kid. Spotify provides the ability to create playlists and has just come out with a nifty equalizer. The service is free, but premium service is available for about $10 a month and allows for the downloading of music to mobile devices. This is handy to stream the music through the car without impacting mobile device data plans.