Spotify, a music service popular in Europe, made its U.S. debut this week. According to Spotify it has approximately 10 million listeners in Europe.
Naturally, comparisons with Pandora and other “new media” audio services like Rhapsody, Last.fm, et al, are unavoidable. Spotify is a music service, however it touts that it offers more specific control for the user over the user’s playlist. And it is not a radio station streamer.
Spotify offers a basic ad-supported free service and two additional, paid subscriber, ad-free tiers.
Spotify works with major recording labels for song rights and has built a library of “more than 15 million songs.” North America Chief Content Officer and Managing Director Ken Parks said the company was founded as “a better, simpler alternative to piracy. So making sure that the people who create the music prosper is hugely important to us. We have full catalogues from all the major labels and a raft of independent labels including those represented by Merlin, which means all of their artists are being fairly compensated for their creativity every time people enjoy music through Spotify.”
Additionally it has the seemingly required social tools, Facebook, Twitter, SMS or simple email. It also boasts of cellphone compatibility.
The service has promotional agreements with a variety of companies to push its U.S. launch: Coca-Cola, Reebok, Motorola, Chevrolet and Sonos.
