Spotify Invites No Longer Needed, Service Now Open For Free Signups In USA

On Thursday Spotify CEO Daniel Ek told TechCrunch that users no longer need an invitation to join the music streaming service.

Users need only a Facebook account to sign up for 6 months of free access to Spotify's millions of songs.

According to Lifehacker, after the 6 months are over, users will have the chance to either continue with an ad-supported free version (10 hours of music per month) or choose from one of two paid options. The $4.99 plan offers unlimited ad-free listening, and the $9.99 option gives you mobile access, offline listening, and better sound.

At Facebook's f8 conference on Thursday, it was announced that Facebook had struck deals with several popular music-streaming services, Spotify among them, to bring music discovery to the social network. Facebook's deep integration with the likes of Spotify will let users listen and share songs with others right on Facebook.

“For music to be inherently social it needs to be an open model, and that’s why we decided to do it today,” Spotify representative Angela Watts told TechCrunch at Facebook's f8 event on Thursday

The Swedish-founded music streaming service launched in the U.S. in July after attracting 10 million subscribers in Europe in just over two years.

Take a look at Spotify's current sign-up page (below):

Comments

[jjbchansen]

11:21 AM on 09/26/2011

You have been able to do this with Rhapsody for some time now and I hear they are getting Facebook integration also. Not sure why Spotify gets all the love when there are other great services out there also.

[Keyop]

08:24 AM on 09/26/2011

Don't tell Lars Ulrich.

[Giancarlo Maniaci]

12:24 AM on 09/26/2011

This is pretty cool - just signed up for Spotify. Trying to decide if its better than Pandora, Grooveshark and a few others. Assuming that the free version will be supported by advertising, I would be interested in understanding the revenue model they have with the music companies. - Giancarlo Maniaci

[KarateKid]

04:58 PM on 09/24/2011

I can get free, unlimited music WITHOUT having anything to do with Facebook.

[Underling]

03:48 AM on 09/24/2011

Eh, I'll stick with Grooveshark--all its user-uploaded songs are free.

[FunMe]

05:14 PM on 09/23/2011

Good for consumers ... bad for the music industry. I wonder how the record companies will make their money?

[MagicAnt]

08:28 PM on 09/23/2011

The free version is supported by ads and the premium version has benefits that don't cost much (taking music mobile and offline, etc).

The music companies signed on - that's why it took so long to get it up and running in the US. They were negotiating terms. Apple talked for years about a subscription based music service (since Yahoo & Real shuttered theirs), but could never come to terms that made them more money than they make in the iTunes store.

This is a GREAT development.

[clearthinker2008]

07:50 PM on 09/25/2011

By exploiting their artist like they always have.

[dpcemker]

05:07 PM on 09/23/2011

I so going to stick with the MADE IN AMERICA music streaming website 'PANDORA".

[Skotyman]

04:10 PM on 09/23/2011

I fondly remember a little thing called a radio. It was kinda neat...they would surprise you with new songs, or new bands, and there would be a person there to tell you something about the band. Sometimes they had political satire (The Credibility Gap)....Just turn it on and forget about it.

[TallMagnolia]

05:06 PM on 09/23/2011

...then they hired some guy with an annoying voice called a disc jockey who thought we wanted to hear his voice more than the music (and some even thought we wanted to hear their opinions on non-music stuff). Finally, The Devil devised the "Car Dealer Commercial" and the World wept for Radio...

Then again, NPR doesn't have any of those.

[Deathwing]

05:15 PM on 09/23/2011

Then it became popular so corporations took over and made it bland and also government regulated it so it became boring, now it's same songs played over in heavy rotation very little new stuff and not much variety.

[AG creative]

04:04 PM on 09/23/2011

I hate these music websites that give away trillions of hours of work away for free.

[Ramon Moreno]

01:22 AM on 09/26/2011

Ownership society.

[josh2082]

03:44 PM on 09/23/2011

I am a huge fan. It's like blending iTunes with Pandora with Rhapsody on my phone!
I can create playlists that blend songs I own (from my iTunes library) and songs I don't own pulled from its streaming service.
Plus, I can delete my songs on my phone saving space since the synced songs from my computer either take up less space or aren't synced and I simply play them when I have 3G service.

[VashS5]

03:41 PM on 09/23/2011

So far Audiogalaxy has been working just fine for me in the FREE streaming music section. Can't see myself paying 5 bucks a month to hear music I already own.

[brownfrown]

03:05 PM on 09/23/2011

Another ad.. thanks huffbro

[The Dood]

02:52 PM on 09/23/2011

Guess I''ll never find out how "great" it is....I want nothing to do with Facebook...too many "trust" issues with them. I still have my Pandora, which I love!

[Jambala99]

03:39 PM on 09/23/2011

It's unnecessary......get the "Audiogalaxy" app for your smartphone, install it on your computer, and stream your music from your computer for free. It works great, and again, it's FREE.....

[The Dood]

04:02 PM on 09/23/2011

Thanks! I'll check it out!

[Hawklord Tst]

02:44 PM on 09/23/2011

i ued to love music
some little freak stole my gang of four live tapes at the santiago airport

[opressor]

02:28 PM on 09/23/2011

love it!!! great android app for the mobile and win desktop app too...sync is a breeze. just took me about 60 secs to sign up via facebook and download/install both apps.