Spotify challenges iTunes with unlimited downloads

by Gareth Jones, revolutionmagazine.com 07-May-09, 16:43

LONDON - Spotify is planning to up the ante in its battle with iTunes by allowing users to store an unlimited amount of tracks for £9.99 per month, Revolution can reveal.

The free music streaming service first moved into the download market in March after striking a deal with 7Digital to allow consumers to click-to-buy more than 6 million tracks from the site.

However, Spotify is now planning to allow users to store an unlimited number of tracks for £9.99 per month. The move potentially represents a challenge to iTunes, where the cheapest albums cost £7.48.

The initiative will allow Spotify subscribers to store an unlimited number of tracks on their PC for a temporary period, differentiating it from rival offers which enable users to download and own MP3 files indefinitely.

Under plans to beef up its subscription service, Spotify is also poised to launch a mobile service in the UK this summer. The initiative will allow users to sync their mobile handsets to their Spotify account, meaning they can listen to individual tracks and playlists on the move.

Daniel Ek, Spotify's chief executive, told Revolution that the company is in talks with mobile network operators and handset manufacturers about offering the service as part of a package. Rival MP3-based offerings include Nokia Comes with Music, which gives subscribers a year of unlimited music downloads.

Plans are yet to be finalised and Spotify's core business will continue to focs on providing users with free access to music, together with paid-for MP3 downloads via external partnerships with companies like 7Digital.

Spotify, which only came out of beta in February, now has over one million users across the UK, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Finland, Norway and Sweden.

According to the Stockholm-based company around 40,000 new users sign up to the service every day, of which 50 per cent to 60 per cent are from the UK.

The majority of users choose to access Spotify for free in return for receiving radio-style ads. However, the company is keen to encourage more users to sign up for its paid-for, ad-free service by offering unlimited downloads, improved functionality and original content.

Over the coming months Spotify plans to allow subscribers to access a range of exclusive content, including videos and interviews with artists.

Comments

video poet - 08/05/2009

spotify could start editing tv material to the music that they show and maybe edit advertising into the mash...

dave chase - 08/05/2009

Jim from Spotify disagrees apparently - see comment at the bottom of the story at the attached link) http://randomactsofbrandsandmusic.blogspot.com/2009/05/no-spotify-all-you-can-eat-service.html

Dale Walker - 08/05/2009

I love the idea of Spotify but at the moment I can't find any music I really like on it. I'm certainly not going to buy into a service that can only supply oldies and pop music. Pop music always has lived alongside adverts so I can't see many 'casual' music fans paying for the service. However, for anyone that really likes to dig deep into any music genre, I can see the ads becoming extremely annoying. This is the market Spotify ought to be aiming their 9.99 service at, the proper music nut, not someone who just wants a bit of backgound noise. To do that, they're going to need a hell of a lot more *less commercial* music on there. Anyone can listen to the last Girls Aloud track from a gazillion different sources but where can you download 40's swing, 80's hardcore punk, 90's acid house or even modern electro without doing a sneaky on Limewire or whatever? To be honest, I'm more into proper 2 hour+ long DJ sets than individual tunes so perhaps that's another little area Spotify might find added value to their paid for service..

James Purser - 13/05/2009

Spotify is an amazing service and here in the UK has around 1 million users already. Its spread so fast , the only thing that would slow it down would be labels removing content. Users seem to be 100% behind it. For artists, http://www.dittomusic.com are also putting unsigned content onto Spotify free or charge which is great for unsigned bands. I systematically use Spotify for everything i can get my hands on, iTunes for anything i cant!!!