How to access Europe’s favorite music service from the good old U.S. of A

Quick, what’s the hottest, must-have ticket in tech? No, it’s not Android, Thunderbolt, or even Google TV. It’s Spotify, the streaming music service that split the licensing atom to release virtually all the planet’s tunes –– over 13 million tracks and counting––to users anywhere. Well, not quite anywhere. Since Spotify launched in 2008, it’s been available in only a handful of lucky European countries, and despite frequent rumors of an imminent American launch, we’re still waiting to be freed from the tyranny of managing downloads and backup solutions. But wait no more. With a little Internet savvy and a red-blooded disregard for No Trespassing signs, you can strike a blow for liberty and create your own Spotify account right here in the States.

Go to Spotify.com today and you’ll be greeted by an oh-so-polite notice that accounts aren’t available in your country yet. That’s because Spotify knows you’re in the United States. The trick is to make it think you’re someplace else. To do that, you’ll need to send your signup request to Spotify through a proxy server located in one of its supported regions –– currently the UK, Sweden, Norway, Finland, France, Spain, and the Netherlands. A Google search will turn up plenty of proxy server services to choose from in Spotify-approved parts of the globe, but DaveProxy (daveproxy.co.uk) is a free option based in the UK, so tally ho, it’s across the pond we go!

Think of a proxy server as your Internet travel agent.

Start by opening the DaveProxy site in your browser, then enter “http://www.spotify.com/uk/“ in the page’s URL field (not in your browser’s address bar) and click Go. Click Spotify’s Start Listening button, then enter a username and password for your new account. Make a note of them, too –– Spotify may not send you a confirmation email to remind you. On the next page things get a little cheeky: you’ll have to provide a valid UK post code to create an account. To get around this airtight security, launch Google Maps and search for the name of a business in the UK (like “UK Apple Store”) to find a store address, then use that address’s post code in your new account (or you can just use the one we used –– W1B 2ET). Before moving on to the next page, enter an email address, leave your country set as the United Kingdom, and accept the end-user agreement you’re almost certainly about to violate. Choose the free Open plan (more about that later), then continue to the Download page where you can grab the Spotify OS X app. Follow its installation instructions, then launch the app and enter your new account’s username and password. Congratulations, Yankee! Now you’re streaming the world’s music just like the Founders intended.

Who knew a post code was the key to musical nirvana?

But, alas, freedom really isn’t free. This workaround works only because Spotify thinks you’re away on holiday –– the Open plan allows users two continuous weeks of streaming access outside official countries. You’ll have to log in to your account through the proxy server every fourteen days to keep your music playing. Worse, the Open plan allows only 20 hours of streaming, after which you’ll receive five additional hours every week, up to the 20 hour limit (and you thought cell phone plans were tricky). Unsurprisingly, jumping to a paid plan removes these limitations, and with Spotify Premium you can even get your music streamed on the go with Spotify’s iOS app. Trouble is, you’ll need a PayPal account or a credit card based in a Spotify-sanctioned country to upgrade your account. But if you have a really good friend in one of those countries, or if you hit eBay for vendors selling Spotify Premium access, you can upgrade your account from Anywhere, USA without a hitch. Once you’ve gone that far, however, you owe it to yourself to get the free iOS app, too. Naturally, it isn’t available in the US App Store, so you’ll have to make another virtual trip to the UK to get it.

Is there no such person at no such place? Sure…technically.

Launch iTunes, then log out of your iTunes Store account. Click Change Countries, or the American flag icon, at the bottom of the home screen, then choose United Kingdom to launch the UK store. Search for “Spotify Ltd” to go directly to the official app, then click to download it. Since you can’t use your US account here, click Create New Account in the resulting window. Create a new Apple ID using a different email address than the one associated with your regular iTunes Store account. You don’t need a credit card, so click None in the payment section. Here’s where things get cheeky again: to create your account, you’ll have to “borrow” parts of a real address from the UK. Only the Town, County, Phone, and Post Code fields matter –– the rest you can make up. To find an address, fire up Google Maps again, find a UK business address, then enter its information as your virtual digs and click Continue. An email will be sent to the address you entered. Click the link inside to launch a confirmation window in your browser, then enter your new UK iTunes Store info (not the US Apple ID that may already fill the username and password fields) to make the account official. Back in the UK iTunes Store, you can now download Spotify (and any other free apps that strike your fancy), but odds are it already started downloading when the store reopened with your active account. Once your booty is secured, you can head back to the US store by reversing the process: sign out of your UK account, switch countries back to the United States, then sign back in with your all-American iTunes Store account. Install the Spotify app to your iOS device, enter your Premium account info, and sure as Bob’s your uncle, you’ll be streaming like mobile royalty.

Woot! We’re in! Thanks, Benny!