Spotify Launches in the United States Today
Spotify will finally launch in the United States today as a free service with commercial interruptions and as a premium subscription service without advertising. Users who pay $4.99 per month will be allowed to stream music without ads, and those who pay $9.99 will also be spared ads and will be able to access music from most major smart phone devices. Free users will face some significant restrictions, such as a 10-hour-per-month maximum and a limit on playing any given track more than five times.
Spotify is already up and running as of 5 a.m. this morning. Thus far, free users will require an invitation, which can be acquired by entering your email on the company’s website. Paying subscribers can start using the service right away.
As of now, Spotify has deals in place with all of the major label conglomerates aside from Warner Music Group. This means that while the service will provide access to a catalog of 15 million tracks, material by Warner artists including Green Day, Madonna, R.E.M., Eric Clapton, Red Hot Chili Peppers and Led Zeppelin, will not be available.