Spotify's U.S. Landing Page

Spotify feels like driving around in a stolen car and leaving £10 a month in the glovebox.<p>I'm a European Spotify subscriber, and I'd be hard pushed to go back to purchasing albums again. Access really does trump 'ownership', and it would take Apple introducing a similar subscription service for me to go back to iTunes now.<p>But I wonder how Spotify can scale and actively support musicians. It might sound strange, but -- even as a paid subscriber -- I feel guilty when I use Spotify. I can't help feeling that musicians get an even rougher deal when I listen to their music over Spotify than when I buy tracks from iTunes or directly from their websites.<p>There is something unsettling about having instant access to a huge array of songs and only paying £9.99 a month for the service. It is so different to the traditional model that it almost feels like stealing. It's a feeling I don't get listening to the radio; with the radio, you're a passenger hitching a lift. With Spotify, you're in control. And somehow it feels wrong. Like joyriding[1], It's hard to shake the feeling that there will be consequences.<p>I'm sure that won't dent your enjoyment of the service if you're in the US, but I thought it worth sharing the viewpoint.<p>[1]: So I'm told.

I've been a spotify subscriber for two years now, and it's more less the only player I use for music on my PC, mobile and ipad.<p>Together with the related artists feature of Spotify, Spotify social(sharing playlists etc.) and scrobbling to Last.fm, I've discovered lots of new music I enjoy. It really is fantastic. The client is also pretty quick and fairly sparesome on resource usage.<p>It's a bit annoying when music surreptitiously disappear from their library -- in that case you have to use local files.

I know this is exciting to people who have been envious of UK Spotify, but we've had Rdio for like a year now, right? Rdio is pretty excellent.

Whats the difference between Spotify and Rhapsody? I've been a subscriber to Rhapsody for years and it's been a terrific experience.

Grooveshark already does everything listed. And it's been available in the USA for years. The only problem is their iPhone app has been continuously rejected by Apple so they've been forced to publish for iOS on Cydia's store for jailbroken apps. That and licensing/litigation issues with some large recording companies. They have deals with a few and have been through court with others.

Spotify has completely replaced iPod on my iOS devices and iTunes on my MacBook. Coming from Europe, I'm using Spotify in the States for over a month now so I guess that once you get a (paid) subscription it works everywhere in the world (it has no streaming restrictions). So all you need to do to try it out is create an account through a proxy/VPN and you're all set!

If you are interested in how Spotify works and how they use Python you should check out this talk from EuroPython: Spotify and Python: love at first sight <a href="http://ep2011.europython.eu/conference/talks/spotify-and-python-love-first-sight" rel="nofollow">http://ep2011.europython.eu/conference/talks/spotify-and-pyt...</a>

Earlier this year, Spotify put more restrictions on the services they offer to their non-paying users: <a href="http://www.spotify.com/blog/archives/2011/04/14/upcoming-changes-to-spotify-free-open/" rel="nofollow">http://www.spotify.com/blog/archives/2011/04/14/upcoming-cha...</a> . For example, there is no more unlimited listening: each track can now be listened to only five times for free.<p>It might be that this tightening of free content was only a preparation for the U.S launch, i.e. the record labels would not let Spotify in to the U.S. market without Spotify changing its services to something more restricted.

A few of us at our office have had beta access for a few weeks, everyone with it (for some reason I got left off the invite list :/) likes it, but the one person I know who also has an rdio account prefers rdio.

Spotify is an awesome service. Now we need Netflix to come to Europe.

is canada still shunned? or will it launch here with the US launch?

A couple of questions to Spotify users:<p>What advantages does Spotify have over Rdio? Can Spotify be used as a streaming service and a digital locker for tracks they don't have?

Perhaps their partnership with Facebook will be discussed again at Facebook's event today.

I feel like Spotify has been "coming soon" for the last 3-4 years. Lets go all ready! :)

I get the Zuckerberg quote, but Demi Moore endorsing the product can't be relevant to anyone who might request an invite to a just launching music service.