On July 14th, the Anglo-Swedish streaming music provider Spotify launched its music service in the U.S. Spotify was first launched in Sweden in 2008, and the company has been discussing launching it in the U.S. for two years. A deal was needed with all four U.S. major labels, and the last deal with Warner Music Group was finalized July 13th.
Spotify offers three subscription levels. The Premium service, costing $9.99, allows users to play an unlimited amount of music on a computer or cell phone without hearing any advertising. Spotify Unlimited allows advertising-free access only on computers and costs $4.99 a month. The Spotify Free Service has advertisements, does not have the radio feature and will not play through music systems such as Sonos or Squeezebox. Restrictions on the Free service, such as limits on streaming hours, are not yet listed on the site. Spotify is currently taking email addresses to send out invitations for the Free service later.
Spotify has teamed up with its “exclusive launch partners” Coca-Cola and Sprite, Chevrolet, Motorola, Reebok, Sonos and The Daily. They stated that these brands will be launching campaigns in partnership with Spotify in the coming weeks and months.