It was recently confirmed that Apple have granted approval for Spotify's proposed application for the I-phone and I-pod touch.
As reported by The Gen last month, Spotify applied for the application to be added to the online Apple apps store in July but there was widespread doubt that Apple would give the app a green light due to numerous similar features of functionality to its own technology.
The application will be free to download to Spotify premium users, who already pay a monthly subscription fee of £9.99 for an advert free version of the streaming service.
These users will be able to stream the entire Spotify library on their device and also save playlists offline.
Speaking in an interview with BBC News, Spotify founder Daniel Ek commented: "We're not surprised but we're thrilled. We had a great dialogue with Apple from day one." Spotify is now scheduled to launch in the US before the end of this year.
Meanwhile, there are growing criticisms of the way that Spotify operates and distributes revenue, from within the artist management community with some major legacy artists such as Bob Dylan recently pulling their entire back catalogues from the site.
Essentially, it was recently reported that the key major labels in the UK have bought stocks in the business and as a result receive 18% of shares in Spotify.
Merlin, a collective who represent the rights of numerous independent labels on a global scale, receive 1%.
Merlin are widely regarded across the industry to be a comparable “Fifth Major” Independent equivalent after the ‘big four’ of Universal Music Group, Sony Music Entertainment, Warner Music Group and EMI.
However, other Indie labels outside of the Merlin network receive no advance or minimum per stream rate and only get a 50% share of ad revenue on a pro-rata basis. Furthermore, the service currently doesn’t feature any unsigned or self-released artists.
Spotify is currently valued at $250m, despite, according to a report by The Register, only having an advertising income of £82,000 and an estimated 17,000 UK users signing up to pay £120 a year for Spotify Premium.
Have your say: What are your thoughts on the future of Spotify? Would you pay for the premium service for the I-phone app? What do you think of the distribution of revenue? Does it benefit artists? Is it now inherently biased towards major label shareholders?
Spotify Playlist
This month we’ve decided to furnish our virtual mix-tape with a theme and have put together a playlist of what we consider to be the top 20 tunes from the incredible late 70’s / 80’s alternative pop and post-punk era.
If you haven’t already, you’ll need to download the Spotify software for free and then simply click this link: The Gen September Post-Punk Playlist.
Enjoy it and don’t forget let us know what you think by commenting below and send us your suggestions for next month. Should we do more of these genre style playlists? Or keep it purely contemporary? Why not compile your own and post the link below?
Twitterati
Five to follow this September. As the leaves begin to fall and summer ends, keep in the loop with the most entertaining and informative sites from around the North East on Twitter.
Split Festival in Sunderland: Try and win tickets to the event by following them
Can you recommend anymore for next month? Post your links below or e-mail us.
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