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Digital
Spotify reboot licensing talks to get US launch in 2010
By CMU Editorial | Published on Friday 30 July 2010
According to Billboard, Spotify has gone back to the drawing board regards its plans for a US launch, in that they have started their major label negotiations from scratch employing a “well, what will you licence this year” approach.
As previously reported, there has been much speculation as to whether the US divisions of the majors would follow their European counterparts’ lead and licence both a free and subscription-based Spotify service. Some US label execs fear the free Spotify service is too good, and might damage those subscription-based streaming services already up and running in the States. Warner boss Edgar Bronfman Jr has specifically criticised Spotify’s Freemium option.
Spotify top man Daniel Ek remains confident that his service can launch in the US this year, and has indicated his business plan relies on it. But, according to Billboard, that was unlikely to happen under the licensing terms the streaming service was looking for, forcing a rethink. Ek, who is believed to be leading licensing negotiations himself, reportedly rebooted his company’s label talks recently in a bid to find a deal that all four majors will agree to.
