Spotify has secured $50 million in investment funding, even while company staff anxiously wait to see if Apple gives permission for the music streaming service to offer an application to iPhones.
Spotify has attracted over two million users so far and is whispered as a service likely to threaten Apple’s iTunes. It offers users the chance to stream songs using the internet without downloading tracks.
Ads-supported, it also offers download sales and a £9.99 ad-free subscription service, membership of which is required to use the iPhone app.
The company hopes to launch in the US later this year, the new riund of funding is thought to reflect this. Interestingly, the company is alleged to be talking to another strategic investor which “analysts said was likely to be from the music industry,” the Financial Times reports.
Grooveshark also plans to introduce a streaming music application to the iPhone.
August 4th, 2009 at 12:49 pm
[...] all the focus on ads-funded music streaming service, Spotify, its no surprise other similar services now think they may be on the edge of seeing the good times [...]
August 4th, 2009 at 4:45 pm
Can Apple legally reject applications for the iPhone because they compete with applications that Apple provides?
This would be equivalent to Apple not allowing Firefox to be installed in Mac OS X because it competes with Safari (and look what happened when Microsoft made it difficult for Windows users to run any Web browser other than Internet Explorer).
August 4th, 2009 at 8:36 pm
The difference between MS and Apple is that MS licenses software to PC manufacturers who install it on the machines they build. By bundling IE with the operating system they enjoyed a long run of pre-installed web browsers.
By contrast Apple builds their own hardware and installs the OS X operating system on those machines. Apple does not license its software for installation on any machine that they have not built themselves. In fact it really pisses them off, as evidenced by many lawsuits.
I’m not defending Apple in any way, lets face it, any LARGE corporation is going to try to have it their own way if possible.
Since the apps at the App Store are meant to run on the iPhone, it should be Apple’s decision whether or not it gets in. They built the phone, wrote the software, and run the app store. I agree it does not seem right for them to reject apps on the basis of competition with their own products, but legally I’m sure the many, many, many, lawyers they employ can make it so.
My gut feeling is that it is a good thing Spotify has deep pockets, because right now Apple has some of the deepest pockets in the world. This should get interesting.
August 13th, 2009 at 1:41 pm
[...] recently attracted investment from Li Ka-Shing, an Asian investor who was part of a group which provided £30 million in [...]