Spotify now in the US - check link for invites

presequel

presequel

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New streaming music service starting today...anyone got an account? Or invites?
edit - found this link, see if you can get an invite http://klout.com/#/perk/Spotify/SpotifyFreeAccounts




The music streaming service Spotify, which was launched in Sweden in 2008 and has been eagerly awaited by tech-savvy music fans in the United States for the last year, has launched its U.S. version.

The service has won over users in Europe — and generated anticipation here — by offering a simple service: a huge catalog of music that can be streamed, combined into playlists and accessed from any computer with an Internet connection, all for free.

That four letter word — F-R-E-E — is the major difference between Spotify and other streaming services that have taken hold in the U.S. with varying degrees of success while Spotify was growing in Europe. Rhapsody, Rdio, MOG and other services that offer subscription access to large databases of music all charge a fee for access. In order to offer its free version, Spotify has spent the last year negotiating licensing deals with the four major labels in the U.S.; The New York Times reported yesterday that it just finalized a deal with the fourth, Warner Music Group, on Wednesday afternoon.

Ease of use and catalog size are the second and third tentpoles for Spotify, but you'll deal with some restrictions if you want to use the free version. It comes saddled with a few advertisements, as well as limits on the number of hours you can listen each month — 20 for the first six months of your membership, 10 after that, and you can listen to each song only five times per month. More importantly for the time being, it will also require an invitation from the company, which you can request at its website.

And of course, while Spotify's new ads tout "free!" as the service's biggest selling point, what the company actually wants is paid subscribers. Indeed, users who want to skip the ads and the wait for an invitation can sign up for one of two paid plans right now: "Unlimited," for $4.99 per month, gives you the service ad free and without time limits; "Premium," for $9.99 per month, adds features like mobile access, an offline mode that allows access to stored playlists when you're not on the Internet, and "enhanced sound quality."

All of the plans include integration with Facebook — you can make playlists with friends and see what other people like — as well as the ability to import the music you own into your library.

Even the "Premium" service isn't completely comprehensive. Spotify has made deals with the four major labels, but there are some big indie holes. Searches revealed that recent albums by Gillian Welch, Shabazz Palaces and Ty Segall haven't made it into the service's catalog yet. If you own those albums, you can have Spotify search your hard drive and add them to your library, but you can't go to Spotify to sample anything from, say, Sub Pop. Not yet, anyway. If the demand for the service matches the anticipation, there probably won't be many holdouts for long. Spotify says it's currently got 15 million songs in its database, and claims to be adding 10,000 each day.

We'll keep using the service, and offer updates later, but if you're using Spotify now, let us know what you think. What do you want from a music player?
Click to expand...
 
New streaming music service starting today...anyone got an account? Or invites?
edit - found this link, see if you can get an invite http://klout.com/#/perk/Spotify/SpotifyFreeAccounts




The music streaming service Spotify, which was launched in Sweden in 2008 and has been eagerly awaited by tech-savvy music fans in the United States for the last year, has launched its U.S. version.

The service has won over users in Europe — and generated anticipation here — by offering a simple service: a huge catalog of music that can be streamed, combined into playlists and accessed from any computer with an Internet connection, all for free.

That four letter word — F-R-E-E — is the major difference between Spotify and other streaming services that have taken hold in the U.S. with varying degrees of success while Spotify was growing in Europe. Rhapsody, Rdio, MOG and other services that offer subscription access to large databases of music all charge a fee for access. In order to offer its free version, Spotify has spent the last year negotiating licensing deals with the four major labels in the U.S.; The New York Times reported yesterday that it just finalized a deal with the fourth, Warner Music Group, on Wednesday afternoon.

Ease of use and catalog size are the second and third tentpoles for Spotify, but you'll deal with some restrictions if you want to use the free version. It comes saddled with a few advertisements, as well as limits on the number of hours you can listen each month — 20 for the first six months of your membership, 10 after that, and you can listen to each song only five times per month. More importantly for the time being, it will also require an invitation from the company, which you can request at its website.

And of course, while Spotify's new ads tout "free!" as the service's biggest selling point, what the company actually wants is paid subscribers. Indeed, users who want to skip the ads and the wait for an invitation can sign up for one of two paid plans right now: "Unlimited," for $4.99 per month, gives you the service ad free and without time limits; "Premium," for $9.99 per month, adds features like mobile access, an offline mode that allows access to stored playlists when you're not on the Internet, and "enhanced sound quality."

All of the plans include integration with Facebook — you can make playlists with friends and see what other people like — as well as the ability to import the music you own into your library.

Even the "Premium" service isn't completely comprehensive. Spotify has made deals with the four major labels, but there are some big indie holes. Searches revealed that recent albums by Gillian Welch, Shabazz Palaces and Ty Segall haven't made it into the service's catalog yet. If you own those albums, you can have Spotify search your hard drive and add them to your library, but you can't go to Spotify to sample anything from, say, Sub Pop. Not yet, anyway. If the demand for the service matches the anticipation, there probably won't be many holdouts for long. Spotify says it's currently got 15 million songs in its database, and claims to be adding 10,000 each day.

We'll keep using the service, and offer updates later, but if you're using Spotify now, let us know what you think. What do you want from a music player?
Click to expand...
 
Sounds good.
pimp.gif
 
Spotify on your laptop/desktop is dope, man. I could find pretty much I wanted and streamed it effortlessly.

Mobile Spotify is ehh, though. You're not allowed to stream.

You basically need to have a paid premium account to enjoy the open streaming capability like on your laptop/desktop.
 
Spotify on your laptop/desktop is dope, man. I could find pretty much I wanted and streamed it effortlessly.

Mobile Spotify is ehh, though. You're not allowed to stream.

You basically need to have a paid premium account to enjoy the open streaming capability like on your laptop/desktop.
 
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