The Spotify music streaming service launched in the US just over a week ago, but it looks like the business has already generated a large number of subscribers to its paid service. The blog site of Billboard editor Bill Werde has posted up word that according to his information, Spotify has already signed up 70,000 US users for its monthly service. Werde states that these numbers come from three unnamed but "distinct label/publisher execs". Officially, Spotify reps would not comment on Werde"s numbers, saying only that the response to Spotify"s US launch "has exceeded our expectations in both the response to invitations for the free service as well as subscriptions."
The large number of paid subscribers at this early stage is significant because other, and far more established music subscription services, in the US have so far not been able to generate huge subscriber numbers even after years of being in operations. For example, the blog site states that Rhapsody currently has about 800,000 subscribers. In Europe, Spotify, which launched in that territory in 2008, now has about 15 million users of which 1 million are paid subscribers.
Spotify"s US launch lets people listen to its library of music free of charge and with unlimited time for six months on a PC or Mac with advertisements. It also offers $5 and $10 monthly subscription plans that do away with the ads. The $10 plan also allows users to stream music from smartphones like the iPhone and Android-based phones.