Big in Europe, Streaming Music Service ‘Spotify’ to Hit the U.S.

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Did you ever think you’d see the day? Spotify is coming to the U.S. I should have quotes around that last sentence, because those are Spotify’s exact words per its U.S. launch page.

Spotify distances itself from competing streaming music services by offering a free plan that allows users to stream any of its millions of music tracks—premium versions are available for accessing higher-bitrate tracks on mobile devices and without ads.

If we take a gander using the Techland Wayback Machine, we can see that Spotify Coming to the U.S. rumors have been swirling about for ages (in internet time). The perceived roadblock to U.S. adoption had supposedly been the major record labels’ uneasiness about whether Spotify would actually be able to turn a profit by offering free music.

But one by one the company signed deals with the major labels, raised a cool $100 million in February and, just today, tossed up its “Spotify is coming to the U.S.” landing page.

Pricing and further launch details are unknown, but the unknowns have a tendency to eventually become knowns. And the fact that Facebook is announcing “something awesome” today coupled with previous rumors of a Facebook-Spotify hookup may shed some additional light on the subject. Or it may not. Again: knows vs. unknowns, etc.

[via TNW]

MORE: Could Facebook and Spotify Succeed Where Other Music Services Fail?