Sean Parker's interests in revolutionizing the music industry, so to speak, are well known from his early days as a co-founder of Napster. His current efforts on this horizon are focused on Spotify.
"These historical limitations that defined the dynamics of the record business no longer any sense," said Parker.
Parker described Spotify as an "attempt to finish" what he started with Napster, being that it is a "dream of frictionless-free, tiered service that enables music sharing."
"We're all trying to figure out what is that next music industry," Parker admitted. "There's a whole set of things we have to figure out when moving to digital distribution."
Spotify’s long-awaited US debut is finally here. After nearly two years of broken promises from Daniel Ek, the music service’s co-founder and chief, the popular site is going live stateside later today.
However, the greater significance is that finally another European digital service is going to try to break America. It’s like watching one of our favourite bands trying to crack the US music market – we will them to succeed but are not surprised when they regularly don’t.
Despite frequent protestations from European venture capitalists and technology entrepreneurs, that this side of the pond is just as fertile for amazing start-ups, the truth is that the vast majority of global digital players are still American.
Apart from a few notable exceptions, Skype and Last.fm (which is now declining in popularity in Europe as Spotify’s star continues to rise), very few European digital companies really gain global popularity as stand-alone consumer services.
Spotify’s launch has been eagerly awaited by early technology adopters in the US. However, it is entering a crowded and well-established marketplace with services like Rhapsody, Mog and Pandora, already occupying lots of mindshare and music lovers’ time.
Spotify Premium Usage Limit Question
RaphaelSamad Says
I am thinking about signing up for Spotify Premium. However, I am struggling to find out what the usage limits are.
Can I, for example use Spotify Premium on my Iphone , my Android and one of my Daughters on her Mobile (Spotify do support it) - and can we then also use it on all our computers (though probably only a maximum of 2 simultaneously). Also, for offline listening on our mobiles, can it instead link in with Itunes or is it really better to use the Spotify mobile application.
If we can, then sharing it with the family would definitely help to justify the price.
Also, are there any offers or anything for Premium Sign Up going around or it is just the normal £ 9.99 per month.
gre
You can use it on as many devices as you want, but I think you'll find you can only use one at a time...
That's right, it detects if there are more than one app online at once
