Spotify announced on Thursday that it is extending it’s unlimited free listening tiral in the U.S. because the company has been so “overwhelmed by the U.S. response” to the service.
Under the company’s extended free trial U.S. users can listen to as many tracks as they wish following in the footsteps of the companies initial six-month trial period.
Spotify should be commended for the extension of the trial period which included working with its major label partners to make the deal come to fruition. Initially label partners allowed only a five-plays-per-song limit, a restriction that has now been removed.
According to Spotify the “unrivalled free music tier is fundamental” to becoming the best music service “on the planet.”
It should be noted that the limit has also been removed in Sweden, Finland, Norway, the Netherlands and Spain.
Speaking to MusicAlly the company revealed it had:
“Been working with our label partners to remove the five-plays-per-song limit introduced last year and today’s news is a result of that work.”
Unfortunately listeners in the UK and France are still stuck behind the five-track play limit. As Spotify reveals:
“Our agreements with the labels differ from market to market. We’re working hard to bring these improvements to the entire service, so watch this space.”
In the meantime how Spotify will proceed to make money and work with an increasing number of music labels is anyone’s guess. The music streaming business model is still in its infancy and music streaming services are still trying to reach a happy medium that makes them and their music label partners money.
