Spotify facing delays for US launch

12 November 2009 11:54 GMT / By Duncan Geere

Spotify appears to be having trouble with its much-trailed US launch. Rumours are spreading that Sweden's music-streaming wonderchild is facing difficulties in getting US music publishers to sign up. At a conference in Monte Carlo, CEO Daniel Ek completely ruled out the possibility of a launch in 2009.

Ek is due to deliver a keynote address at SxSW 2010 in March and many expect Spotify's arrival over the pond to coincide. However, the difficulty that Spotify is having in Europe in converting its freeloaders into paid subscribers seems to be raising some eyebrows amongst the music companies, who question whether it'll be able to make money.

It's clear that the public demand is there for Spotify USA, but the labels and publishers are still the gatekeepers of the music, and if they can't be persuaded of the value of the service, then it can't happen. Still, Ek clearly has his vision - he says that in 10 years, an MP3 will be a foreign concept to people - that it'll be all about the URLs.

Via: newsblog.thecmuwebsite.com

Full tags

Software, Audio, Music, Spotify