Spotify secures deal with Sony BMG, moves closer to U.S. launch

Spotify, at long last, and after monumentally failing to hit is initial U.S. launch deadline of 'before 2011,' has finally signed one of the big four music labels.

Sony BMG, which represents 25% of the U.S. music market, is second only to the Universal Music Group. To enter the U.S. successfully, though, Spotify needs to secure at least Universal, and preferably both Warner and EMI too. There is no information about whether Spotify is close to closing deals with any other labels.

Microsoft's Zune, incidentally, has been available in the U.S. for some time. Zune, however, doesn't have a free option. Spotify lets anyone listen to up to 20 hours of music per week, absolutely free, with two levels of subscription: a £5/month option (which will probably be $5, if it launches in the U.S.) which removes the ads, and a £10/month option that both removes the ads, and lets you listen to your entire Spotify collection on your smartphone.

Spotify secures deal with Sony BMG, moves closer to U.S. launch originally appeared on Download Squad on Thu, 20 Jan 2011 12:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://downloadsquad.switched.com/2011/01/20/spotify-secures-deal-with-sony-bmg-moves-closer-to-u-s-launch/

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