Smartphone users will be able to build playlists of songs and
then hear them played back in a random order. Tablet users will have
more control, letting them select specific tracks. The Swedish firm also announced it was expanding to a further 20 countries, taking its total reach to 55. Experts said it needed to make the moves to combat growing competition.
ntil now Spotify has offered a free-to-use product only on PCs, and had restricted its mobile apps to paying subscribers. But its founder, Daniel Ek, said bringing a free service to
Android and iOS devices would tempt more people to eventually switch to
the premium version where they could access higher-quality audio, no
adverts and the ability to listen to songs offline. "Our very clear mission is getting more people to access and discover more great music," he told a press conference in New York. "Along with more free users there will be more subscribers, and that means more revenue back to the industry." The firm is dropping the 10-hours-a-month cap it previously placed on long-term users of its free services.
Mobile YouTube Over the past year Google has rolled out its own subscription
Play Music service in several countries, Apple has launched iTunes Radio
in the US and Bloom.fm has begun offering subscription packages at
cheaper rates than Spotify in the UK.
In addition Rdio has expanded its music-streaming service to
51 countries, while France's Deezer has announced its intention to begin
offering tracks in the US next year.
Here some music