The popular digital music service Spotify has just launched in Australia, offering up all-you-can-stream music from your computer, audio system or mobile phone for the first time Down Under.
Australians can sign up to the premium Spotify service for $11.99/month, which provides access to a huge 16 million song catalogue of high-quality tracks (320 kbps) that you can access from anywhere (no downloads). There is a 30-day trial which you can sign up to for free.
Spotify is also offering a ‘freemium’ service, which enables you to access the Spotify song library for free. The catch is that the audio quality is lower, but still respectable, at 160 kbps and you have to listen 15-second ads at various intervals. While using the Spotify freemium service on your desktop or laptop PC, ads are also displayed in the app which don’t appear if you upgrade to premium.
Spotify is one of the largest and most successful music-streaming services and features a competitive subscription model, but will have to compete with other players including Rdio, Songl and Deezer.
Prominent groups including The Beatles, Metallica, Pink Floyd, AC/DC and Led Zeppelin do not feature in the Spotify music catalogue and the service has received criticism for the reimbursement of artists, as well as the general lack of independent and local music.