All of the talk you hear about clouds and streams may not be about Mother Nature.

It could also be about music.

Google and Amazon already have cloud music storage services and Apple is following up soon. For those that don't know, they allow you to upload your music to "the cloud" (one of their servers) and then access your music anywhere.

Spotify is doing something similar, but you can access any of their 15 million songs, not just the ones that you already own.

Spotify recently debuted in the U.S., but it's been active in Europe for awhile.

I dialed up the service about a month ago and was impressed by the selection. Services like Pandora already stream tons of music, but Pandora doesn't allow you to select specific songs or create playlists. Instead, you suggest an artist or genre of music and it supplies more music that you might like.

Spotify is like having an instant version of iTunes with you all the time. With a simple search, you can access just about anything.

Today, I've been listening to a The Hold Steady album that I don't own in anticipation of their Friday show at Slowdown. Last week, I played Daft Punk's "Tron" soundtrack at the suggestion of a friend.

It's great. Mostly.

I like to try out things before I buy them. Or that I want to listen to once but don't want to buy. Or listen to an album to prepare for an interview with an artist.

But it's also limited.

There are no tools to discover other similar artists with Spotify. Pandora is built around that, but Spotify doesn't even acknowledge it. You have to know exactly what you're looking for in order to listen to it.

And while the service carries a purported 15 million tracks, the catalog's also slightly limited. The Beatles are on iTunes, but not on Spotify. And when searching for The Mountain Goats, Spotify only has some of band's catalog.

But they do have nearly everything from Saddle Creek Records. You can also find music from local artists on Spotify, which I think is hugely important.

For example, I called up The Answer Team's excellent new album "O Sad And Future Human," which was released on Aug. 2.

Services like Spotify, Pandora and others get The Answer Team's music out there. Plus, the band's get paid, though probably not much.

Local bands such as Take Me To Vegas, Noah's Ark Was A Spaceship, Little Brazil and Midwest Dilemma all have music on Spotify.

Spotify is also completely free.

Listen away with only the occasional ad to distract you from the music.

Or you can do what I did and spring for a premium account, which means unlimited streaming and no ads. It costs $9.99 per month.

It also lets you skip the "invite" phase, which requires you to go to www.spotify.com and ask to be invited to use the service.

Weird to have to ask to be invited, I know. But worth it.

Give the service a chance. Your ears will thank you.