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Business News Digital
Spotify not considering unlimited downloads
By CMU Editorial | Published on Friday 8 May 2009
Revolution has reported that Spotify is planning an unlimited download package whereby paid subscribers to the streaming music service would also be able to download an unlimited number tracks to their PC each month. Jim from Spotify, though, has reportedly denied the story.
It did seem unlikely that Spotify could ever afford to give away unlimited DRM-free downloads. Aside from the cost of providing such a service (they’d still have to pay the labels a per-track fee), it would ultimately render their existing sell-through partnership with MP3-seller 7Digital and, for that matter, their own ad-funded and subscription-based model defunct. Once people had downloaded the whole Spotify catalogue in one month, they’d not need 7Digital or Spotify again for anything but the newest releases.
That said, some kind of Napster-style download function would make sense for Spotify – ie the facility to download DRMed tracks that play within the Spotify player while a user’s subscription is valid. Such a facility need not cost much more (or anymore really) than the existing system in terms of royalty payments, and having tracks hosted within the player would enable users to use the service while off line, and Spotify wouldn’t need to have an open connection with every user every time they listen to a track, which has to be a bandwidth killer.
Revolution also say Spotify are some way on in those talks with mobile companies to provide their streaming and playlisting services over the mobile internet. Jim hasn’t denied that, so let’s assume that’s true. Enabling Spotify to work offline (through some kind of Napster-style system) and on the move (through mobile partnerships) would really cement it as the uber-digital music service; the only question then would be whether the firm will continue to be able to pay the labels and music publishers their royalty fees once the venture capital money’s been spent.
