Spotify’s Swedish founder, Daniel Ek, spent an estimated two years on planes going across Europe establishing the licensing deals which made it possible to launch this service.
“Spotify is a very different model to what they’re used to – you get paid every time you get played.” states Ek. “It’s a whole new concept for the music industry.”
Spotify is everything that most Americans could ever need when it comes to listening to and organizing music. Spotify is legal, affordable, supported on most devices, well-designed, and loaded with more songs than one could imagine.
The price of a subscription to Spotify is either free, $4.99, or $9.99, depending on if the subscriber wants mobile use in addition to computer/laptop use. These subscription prices are lower than what they are in Europe.
Spotify’s “Free” plan is a strong taste of the service. This plan features millions of tracks available instantly at one’s fingertips. The $4.99 “Unlimited” plan features no advertisements as well as the ability to stream music with no limit. Spotify’s $9.99 “Premium” plan allows users to use Spotify via mobile phone, features an offline mode for playlists, no advertisements, as well as the unlimited streaming of music. All three of these plans also allow users to play local files and share music with friends. To trial Spotify for free, one must request an invitation.
The success of Spotify in Europe finally convinced executives in the United States that it was worth a shot.
“The truth today is that the vast majority of income for Swedish artists comes from us.” Ek said pointing to figures from the IFPI trade body proving that Spotify now has the second largest income of digital revenues for the industry.
Spotify, which has attracted over 1.6 million paying customers in Europe, can now dominate the American market.
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