Finally, maybe, someday soon, the award-winning music service Spotify will be available in the United States. After months of speculation, the Spotify website has announced that "Spotify is coming to the U.S." and that the service will "soon be landing on U.S. shores."
Spotify, winner of several awards in Europe, promises to give users access to millions of songs, the ability to play tracks instantly on a computer or mobile phone, and do it all for free. Understandably, music lovers in the United States have been waiting to get their ears on the service, often suffering through one unfulfilled rumor after another.
In Europe, over 10 million users enjoy Spotify, most of whom joined the service when it was still free. In May of 2010 and then again this past April, Spotify began setting limits on the free, ad-supported service. Paid subscriptions are also available.
The website announcing the launch in the United States does not give an exact launch date, or pricing for paid subscriptions. However, the website states the service will offer "Any track, any time, anywhere. And it's free!". This does (kind of, right?) clearly suggest that a free, ad-supported version of some kind will be available here in the United States.
Agreeing to terms on music licensing deals with the four major labels in the United States has been the hold up so far. Recent reports indicate that the last holdout, Warner, is extremely close to reaching an agreement with Spotify. We hope putting this last licensing agreement to bed is the all that remains for a green light.
Spotify is accepting applications for those who want to sign up for an invite. Rest assured, we will be very glad to spread the good news when Spotify is ready as well.
