Spotify, which boasts 10 million users and 1 million paid subscribers in Europe but can’t find the wherewithal to launch in the US, has announced that it has crashed iTunes’ party. Shortly subscribers will be able to sync their subscription and songs in their Spotify playlists with their Apple devices such as iPod Classic, iPod Nano, and iPod Shuffle.
According to their statement, users will only have to plug their iPods into their computers on a USB and magically they will see the player pop up in the Spotify app’s “Devices” section. After that, they will be able to sync all the MP3s in their playlists in one fell swoop. More importantly for music fans, they will be able to download tracks via iPhone and Android devices.
So will this see a change in the way consumers get to enjoy music? Well, maybe. The company has inked a deal with EMI and Sony to provide their music subscription service in the most lucrative market in the world, the USA. Other record companies are expected to follow – once Spotify can negotiate a deal with them.
Even in spite of Spotify’s latest plans to charge previously freeloading customers for its services this new development may be able to increase it monetising the services it offers, where previously it couldn’t.
“From today, Spotify really is the only music player you’ll ever need,” according to the company’s head honcho Daniel Ek, in a statement. “Our users don’t want to have to switch between music players, but they do want to take their playlists with them wherever they go, on a wider range of devices, more simply and at a price they can afford. Now we’ve made that possible on one of the world’s most popular consumer devices.”
