nsane.forums Posted July 6, 2011 Share Posted July 6, 2011 After rumors, wishful thinking, and months of speculation, it is finally official: Spotify will be launching the United States some time soon. The company has put up a landing page on its official website that reads: Spotify is coming to the U.S. The award-winning music service that's taken Europe by storm will soon be landing on US shores. Millions of tracks ready to play instantly, on your computer and your phone. The Sweden-based service, which started in 2008, has about 10 million consumers total, 10% of which are paying customers. In all the countries in which it operates: Finland, France, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, and the UK, it has been deemed wildly popular, and anticipation for release across the seas has been palpable. Just a month ago, the company raised $100 million in funding igniting rumors of its United States release. Shortly thereafter, Neowin reported that the service was to be made available in mid-July, saying it might be invite-only and cost $10 to start off. That, in fact, seems to be the case; if you visit their website, you can add yourself to an invitation list. In a statement to Mashable, Spotify said, "We have updated our landing page in advance of launch. Still no specifics on the launch I'm afraid, just we're working hard to launch the service in the US as soon as possible. All we can say is watch this space!" However, no other details have been made available at this time, including any deals with music partners. Though, it was reported the company had inked deals with the four major music studios. View: Original Article Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spond123 Posted July 20, 2011 Share Posted July 20, 2011 While no big secret — potential users have been able to sign up for an invite for about a week now — today's official launch of Europe's hottest streaming music service, Spotify, has been a long time in coming, the lag primarily due to wrangling with music labels here in the U.S.Spotify will begin sending out invitations today to a limited number of users who have entered their email on its U.S. portal. Those lucky enough to snag an invite will be privy to unlimited listening of the company's estimated 15 million tracks. Once the service comes out of trial, new users will be allowed up to 20 hours of listening per month, or they can pay $4.99 per month for unlimited privileges on a desktop. There also will be a mobile app, which will offer unlimited access for $10 per month. Those prices are in line with existing offers from services like Rhapsody here in the U.S.Giles Cottle, principal analyst at Informa Telecoms & Media, says the road ahead is still uncertain for Spotify. "The U.S. is absolutely crucial to Spotify's long-term plans," Cottle said in a statement issued this morning. "The only way Spotify can grow into a viable financial model, and move towards placating labels and rights-holders, is by amassing a huge number of users."Continue to original article Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sin Posted August 1, 2011 Share Posted August 1, 2011 What is the advantage of this over a free service such as grooveshark? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.