Spotify Launches In U.S.: How To Sign Up For An Invitation

The music is coming! The music is coming!

After securing deals with America's four major music labels, Spotify, the much buzzed-about music streaming service, has hopped across the Atlantic from Europe and is now available to U.S. customers.

As of 8 a.m. ET, users can sign up for a free, ad-supported version of the on-demand service, which is invite-only for now. To register, visit Spotify.com and submit your email address. The company will distribute invitations in the coming weeks.

Those who'd rather skip the ads and start listening now can opt for one of Spotify's two subscription plans. The $4.99 Unlimited plan gives you access to "millions" of songs and lets you build and share playlists with friends. The $9.99 Premium plan offers all the Unlimited perks, plus mobile access, enhanced sound quality, offline access and more.

UPDATE: If you really, really can't wait for an invite to try Spotify for free, you may want to check out Klout. The social media influence tracking service has a limited number of invitations that it is doling out to its users. Klout wrote in a blot post, "We have a limited number of Spotify Free account invitations to pass out. Get yours right now. If your friends trust your influence on music and download Spotify, your account might even be upgraded to Spotify Premium."

Find out more about how Klout can help you snag a Spotify invite here.

See how the features included in Spotify's for-pay plans compare (below). For an in-depth look at what Spotify has to offer and a step-by-step guide for newbies, visit The Next Web.

UNLIMITED

PREMIUM

WATCH:

Comments

[Nikolas Gogstad-Andersen]

08:44 AM on 07/28/2011

I have 25 Spotify invites! http://adf.ly/2EGdx This link will get you to my Google+ post, reply on the post and I will send you an invite:)

[webanalystsinfo]

03:22 PM on 07/17/2011

You can get an instant invite. At least if you're quick:
http://goo.gl/QJ0XL

[gypsynomad]

08:34 AM on 07/15/2011

Oh Yaa...another company tooffer free downloads sure to kill the music industry ..no need to come to America there doing it from there for a while.

[bryanzth]

08:50 PM on 07/14/2011

I don't want pay-radio. I buy hard copies. But then I don't listen to flash in the pan stuff, or at least I don't listen to stuff until it's out for a bit and validated. ;0)

Yes, classical, folk, jazz, pop, punk, indie but not country or country and western.

BZ.

[Cogent]

03:54 PM on 07/14/2011

still 10 bucks more than free service. no thanks

[Christopher Buczkowski]

02:56 PM on 07/14/2011

wait, so if you get the premium plan, you DON'T get "you have everything"?

mind=blown

[Lorenzo46]

02:46 PM on 07/14/2011

I have been using the UK version of Spotify and it is a really good services to explore new music or use like a radio like Pandora. I use it instead of iTunes for my owned music too. It ticks all the boxes for me.

[Mitzy]

01:09 PM on 07/14/2011

Although a little bit more pricey (but not much!), Rhapsody (RealNetworks) offers you unlimited access to all major labels, myplaylists, mylibraries, remote and smartphone access, AND the ability to download to an MP3 player (that needs to be renewed every month). It's like having your own Tower Record Store!

[SmartladyDem]

01:08 PM on 07/14/2011

This reads like an ad. Isn't Apple going to be jealous HP?

[matt21201]

01:45 PM on 07/14/2011

HP hates Apple

[therealone]

02:59 PM on 07/14/2011

One of the best posts on this site EVER.

[J0E1]

03:28 PM on 07/14/2011

ROFL!!!

[american-dolt]

01:04 PM on 07/14/2011

Payola

[lemmyk73]

12:28 PM on 07/14/2011

I love the service so far. The only complaint is they lack music from labels not distributed by the majors.

For example, I looked up Black Crowes and they have the major releases but not the indie releases (Lions, Warpaint).

[matt21201]

12:59 PM on 07/14/2011

Ha you have a horrible taste in music

[olafTheAwesome]

01:03 PM on 07/14/2011

lol

[WillyC]

12:13 PM on 07/14/2011

I am really fond of MOG which is the same price and sounds great!

http://mog.com/

[matt21201]

12:59 PM on 07/14/2011

cool story bro

[WillyC]

08:35 PM on 07/19/2011

MOG beats Spotify

http://www.soundandvisionmag.com/blog/2011/07/19/streaming-deathmatch-spotify-premium-vs-mog

[2riv1dra]

11:53 AM on 07/14/2011

These misleading headlines are starting to get extremely annoying. It's not an itunes competitor. Itunes is an a-la-carte service whereas Spotify is a subsciption-based / ad-supported service. Stop putting up false headlines to generate readers HP.

[Mister Grumpy]

04:06 PM on 07/14/2011

It could just be that the editors at HP are ignorant of the differences between the two services........

[gypsy508]

11:07 AM on 07/14/2011

The fact they have an enhanced sound quality option makes them completely bogus to sell music. These online companies continue to denigrate the very product they are trying to sell.

[TomCinIllinois]

12:08 PM on 07/14/2011

The data rate of streamed or downloaded audio can vary tremendously. No MP3 signal can equal the sound quality of CDs, but some MP3s are better than others. It is possible to download audio from some sources at quality levels well in excess of the quality of CDs, but there is not much of that going around.

Spotify is doing you a service by informing you of the low sound quality of much of the music you buy or listen to on-line.

[gypsynomad]

08:39 AM on 07/15/2011

I am with you on this, a well recorded CD played in a room with speakers , nothing beats that.

[Henley Regatta]

10:37 AM on 07/14/2011

jmsent I think it's already available to premium subscribers http://www.spotify.com/us/blog/archives/2011/01/24/spotify-on-squeezebox-now-available/

[jmsent]

10:42 AM on 07/14/2011

Wow. You're right. Thanks!