Spotify Accepting Signups for U.S. Launch
Spotify is officially coming to the United States. Domestic visitors to Spotify.com are now redirected to a signup page where users can enter an email address to "be one of the first to get Spotify."
Spotify is a Sweden-based streaming music service that offers music from a number of major and independent record labels. It has hitherto been available only in western Europe.
There are free subscriptions limited by hours of listening time, and then paid subscriptions that offer features such as offline mode, the ability to download songs to iPods and more. Subscription fees range from €5 to €10 per month. Spotify recently raised a $100 million venture round at a $1 billion valuation.
Spotify can be used as a replacement for iTunes, iTunes Match and the iTunes Store. Instead of letting users listen to music they have purchased or acquired from other sources, Spotify allows listeners to stream any songs Spotify has licensed.
It is quite a bit more expensive than iTunes Match will be, costing €60-€120/year in Europe, versus $25/year for iTunes Match. US pricing has not been announced yet.
Sign up on Spotify.com to get an invite when the site finally opens.
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