The online music site Spotify is huge in Europe and offers users the ability to listen to millions of songs on their computers or smartphones. They’ve been working on bringing the service to the US, and now Bloomberg reports that Spotify could be available in the States by the third quarter of this year.
In Europe users pay about $15/month to use Spotify. It’s not clear how much a US subscription would cost, but that’s likely going to depend on Spotify’s negotiations with internet service providers and US record labels.
Spotify offers Symbian, Android, and iPhone clients, and according to Bloomberg the company is talking to Palm and Research In Motion about developing WebOS and BlackBerry software as well.
Again, the adulation for Spotify is bewildering, especially when we already have Rhapsody To Go and Zune Pass. Rhapsody has submitted to apple a new iPhone app version that let’s you take the DRM content with you off line, but that hasn’t gotten ANY press at sites like this one and Engadget.
The one thing Spotify has going for it compared to Rhapsody or Napster is IMO that they have a free, ad-supported version that streams music (which is what I use).
For the pay-version, I too don’t see any advantages of Spotify over Rhapsody To Go or Napster (I’ve used both those pay services and was very happy with their music selection and the To Go functionality).
Of course, if the Spotify version will be streaming music a la Pandora’s iPhone app, that changes things quite a bit. That IS a big difference compared to Rhapsody and Napster (I don’t believe any of the competitors do that?) I don’t count Pandora as a competitor since you can’t really select songs and artists with it.
Dana, you’re not reading close enough and in fact this site broke Rhapsody’s iPhone caching aspirations to the blogosphere last October. Click here. Apology accepted. ;)
:) Thanks, Dave! I actually just found out about this site 4 weeks ago, so thanks for the link! So…Sorry!
Rhapsody did send the completed app to Apple last week, though, and nobody has covered it. This is a big deal, actually, as it would be the only subscription, to-go option on the iPhone. Now the ball is in Apple’s court, and they have a big decision on their hands.
Thanks, Mike, for pointing out the free option with Spotify. So what you are saying is that Spotify would allow one to pick the songs, and put up with an occasional ad. I have yet to find a Pandora or Slacker station that doesn’t have me reaching for the phone constantly.
I’m sure the Rhapsody update will get a lot of play once it’s approved, coinciding with a massive press push from them. I do believe Apple will allow it through. Because if they don’t, my Slacker app with offline caching will also be blocked. And I can’t have that.