Tag Archives: spotify

Spotify Uses The New Facebook Timeline To Tell The History Of Music

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Music streaming Spotify shows the world how to put Facebook's new timeline to good use.

So what if Facebook has made its new timeline compulsory? Stop complaining, and make the best out of it. It’s not that hard – all it takes is some imagination. Just look at what these folks at Spotify have done.

They have taken advantage of how Facebook lets you present information year by year, and their page goes back not just to 2006 (the year in which Spotify was actually founded) but to 1001. It doesn’t matter what genre or artist you’re keen on. If it’s had any – any – kind of impact in the history of music, then you’ll find at least a good couple of entries on Spotify’s timeline.

While I don’t know the exact way you feel about the new timeline, the fact remains that complaining won’t make any diference. The new profile is here to stay. Make the best of what is there. Others are already doing it, and if you can’t seem to reinvent the wheel then you can at least at what they’re doing for inspiration.

SpotMeUp – Upload Your Music To Spotify

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Name: SpotMeUp
URL: http://www.spotmeup.com

The war between Spotify and Google Music rages on, and (by the looks of it) the European startup is the one that holds the upper hand. It’s not that Spotify has become a household name, but the last year’s been pretty spiffy for the music streaming service, what with a brilliant American launch and a partnership with Facebook. And web tools like SpotMeUp do nothing but keep the momentum going.

This new website has come along to answer the question of “How do I get my music on Spotify?” in the most direct way of all. SpotMeUp is an easy-to-use service that lets you upload your music to Spotify in the blink of an eye. Singles, EPs and full albums can all be uploaded equally fast. Upon creating a (free) account, you’ll be able to upload the files from your computer, one by one. Continue reading →

Spotify Has 1.4 Million Users In America

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It’s been four weeks now since Spotify launched in the US, and statistics are beginning to surface. Just last week I told you about these songs being shared more recurrently by users of the service. Well, now I’ve got something even yummier for you: the actual number of people who have signed up for the service.

According to All Things Digital, Spotify has captured the eardrums of no less than 1.4 million American users.

“Wait, what’s the deal?”, I hear you say. “Facebook has got more than 700 million users! That’s a tiny drop in the ocean!”

To that I can answer categorically “No, it’s not”.
Just to put things in perspective, Rhapsody has 800,000 registered users. And it took Rhapsody 10 years to get there. So, Spotify is doing things right so far. Specially when we take into account that out of these 1.4 million users, 175.000 have bought a subscription. That’s a conversion rate of approximately 12 %.

If Spotify manages to keep the momentum going, one year to this date it should have hit 20 million users. And if the conversion rate remains the same, about 3 million of these are going to be paying for the service.

The Most Shared Playlists On Spotify

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Now that Spotify is firmly established on American soil, it’s time to see exactly the kind of music that people are not only listening to but also sharing through it.

This infograph (from ShareMyPlaylists.com) sheds some light on that subject. It basically highlights these songs that have been featured on the largest number of Spotify playlists so far.

Michael Jackson’s “They Don’t Care About Us” is on top with a whooping 7567 total shares. And the second and third place are taken by “Like A G6” (Far East Movement) and “Sexy Bitch” (David Guetta and Akon).

Spotify Launches In The US

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At Long Last, Spotify Arrives In The US

Many saw it coming, but it’s not any less impressive because of that: Spotify has officially launched in the US.

Of course, an American launch had been rumored from day one. But that was all it was – only a rumor. A streaming service like Spotify was not something record companies in America would welcome with arms wide open. And they never did, actually. What made yesterday’s launch possible was that Spotify slowly began limiting the access users have to music for free, and also signing agreements with all major American record companies restricting what can be streamed, and at which rate.

Spotify had to acquiesce for the simple reason that (notwithstanding its popularity) the company has been running on a loss almost from the beginning. Only 10 % of its estimated 10 million users are paid subscribers. Launching in the States is the only way to attain long-term sustainability.

The company aims to amass no less than 50 million users in the space of 1 year.

Spotify has a 15 million-strong music library (bigger than Pandora, MOG and Rdio to name three direct competitors), and unlike Pandora and Rdio it enables users to add these locally-stored tracks they own to their online collections.

What do you think? Will that be enough to make the European startup thrive on American soil? Or is it arriving too late for its own good to America? Are you signing up for it?

The Birth Of Facebook Music

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Soon You Will Be Listening To Music On Facebook

Big news today as it has just been announced that the next F8 Conference will revolve around one thing: music. I’m sure someone at MySpace is having a heart attack right now…

The Internet has been abuzz with discussions concerning a possible Facebook and Spotify alliance, but Zuckerberg himself denied that. And most people (count me in) also saw such an alliance as unviable. But now it has been confirmed that Facebook and Spotify have indeed been discussing a joint service. And what’s even more interesting, Facebook has also been approaching other music service providers. If it’s not Spotify (again – I stand my previous ground), then it’s surely going to be an America-based startup. Which makes more sense, owing to the legal implications of streaming music online.

We can only try and guess which features Facebook music will have, but it’s fair to assume that a tab reading “Music” will be displayed on the left-hand side of the screen, right with your friends, groups and places, and that clicking on it will let you stream songs live from the one service that becomes Facebook’s music partner.

With Facebook being the most visited site on Earth, this can be the death knell not only for MySpace but also for services like Apple’s own Ping. We’ll have to wait until August to know more, as that is when the F8 Conference will be held and all these questions will be answered for good.

Spotify Signs A Deal With Universal. Only Warner Left To Go Now.

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By The Looks Of It, Spotify Might Be Coming To America Sooner Than Expected

Spotify’s much-touted disembark on American shores finally picks up some pace. The company has managed to sign a deal with Universal Music. This means that the one and only company that stands between Spotify and America is the typically-conservative Warner Music Group. By now, Spotify has already managed to nail deals with UMG, EMI and Sony.

The Warner deal itself might not be that hard to sign, actually. All four major labels have recently signed with Apple for its iTunes to the Cloud and iTunes Match services. This is a clear indicator that the majors are opening up to the concept of digital music. I know, I know – the European streaming service and Apple are in entirely different leagues. But that is something of a precedent all the same.

One thing’s for sure: if the Warner deal comes through, it will involve some kind of heavy compromise. Let’s see how Spotify can handle that – remember, it has already angered punters by cutting on the amount of music that can be streamed for free.

Stay tuned for the latest developments. This might as well turn to be one of the hottest stories of the year as far as digital music is concerned.

Is Spotify Coming To Facebook?

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Despite What Some Think, Spotify Isn't Coming To Facebook Yet

The rumor that Spotify and Facebook have become partners has been spreading like wildfire. And it has also been written off for what it is – a rumor. According to what some people have been saying, Spotify has partnered with Facebook, and users of the social network will shortly be able to stream music right from their profiles by merely clicking a button.

Sounds good, right? Well, but it is something that is not happening until Spotify launches in the US. As you know, Spotify is striving to appease record companies in the States so that it can (finally) bring its services to Americans. It has begun taking measures that have met with acrimony such as limiting the access people can have to music for free, for example. But that hasn’t been enough – it is said that two major record companies are still reticent to give the European streaming service the go-ahead to land in America.

Until that happens, you can rest assured Spotify isn’t coming to Facebook.

And believe me, it isn’t happening in a hurry.

Spotify Will Begin Limiting The Free Streaming Of Music

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Beginning In May, Spotify Will Put Some Serious Limitations On The Free Streaming Of Music

Beginning In May, Spotify Will Put Some Serious Limitations On The Free Streaming Of Music

People outside of the US resort to Spotify to satisfy their musical cravings time and again. Which makes just too much sense, really – it is a free streaming service that gives you access to the best music around, right as it surfaces.

However, Spotify recently announced a series of measures that (to all intent and purposes) will translate into the end of the free, limitless service users knew and loved.

Basically, new free users of Spotify will be able to listen to music at no cost for six months only. After that, they will become limited to listening to just 10 hours of free music per month.

People are up in arms over this. It is understandable – who wouldn’t become all angry if he had to begin paying for something he previously had for free? Yet, once one begins putting two and two together it is easy to understand why did this happen. Continue reading →

Is Spotify Coming To The US?

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At Long Last, Spotify Is Coming To The US

At Long Last, Spotify Is Coming To The US

Well, one would say it is after reading the story that was run recently on the New York Post. For those of you who can’t be arsed to click on the link: two different music industry sources have confirmed that Sony Music and another (undisclosed) label are about to sign up a deal with the European startup.

In case you are wondering why a service that is so wildly popular in the old world is yet to come to America, the main stumbling block is that records labels aren’t exactly enamored with the freemium model that it champions (they hate its guts, actually). Think about it: Spotify lets people have access to as much music as they want legally, as long as they put up with the ads which are displayed. And these ads can be obliterated if you pay a fee. Continue reading →