Apple Approves Spotify iPhone App

Author	Gordon Kelly
Published	28th Aug 2009

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Now here's a turn up for the books...

The Spotify iPhone app has been approved by Apple, yes the iTunes-challenging-functionality-betteringduplicating Spotify app is all systems go! The app has yet to appear in the App Store as of midnight 28 August, but speaking to paidContent.co.uk a Cupertino spokesperson confirmed:

"The current status as of right now is it's been approved and we hope to add the app to the more than 65,000 apps on the app store very soon. We've been in constant communication working with the developer and have already notified Spotify that the app will be in the app store very soon."

"We're not surprised, but we're thrilled," founder Daniel Ek explained to BBC News. "We had a great dialogue with Apple from day one. We're scaling up the systems because response has been tremendous even before the app is available."

The Spotify app itself will be free, but only Spotify premium subscribers will be able to log-in. A premium subscription currently stands at £9.99 per month. The app itself will stream over both 3G and WiFi and playlists can be downloaded so they may be played back in areas of poor or no signal. Unlike a number of streaming music apps (including Pandora) which are only available in the US, Spotify will initially only be available in Sweden, Norway, Finland, France, Spain and the UK for now. Turn those tables!

So keep your eyes peeled.

Update: Yes, it's still not in the App Store yet, but to quote the Spotify official blog: "We're now thrilled to let you know that the lovely people at Apple have given our mobile app a big thumbs up, meaning that our Premium subscribers in the UK, Sweden, France, Spain, Norway and Finland will be able to download Spotify for free from the App Store soon... we'll be sure to let you know here on the blog as soon as it's in the App Store."

In related news Universal Music Sweden has confirmed Spotify makes it more money than iTunes. "In five months from the launch, Spotify became our largest digital source of income and so passed by iTunes", said Universal Music MD Per Sundin. "It's a fantastic development, explained by the fact that Spotify really has exploded."

Apple, are you sure you wanted to approve that app...?

In barely related iPhone app news the long awaited major Facebook update has also finally been approved. The UI has had a complete makeover and there are too many additions to the functionality to mention. Suffice to say, if you use Facebook just go get it...

Links:
via PaidContent
Universal comment via Pocket Lint
Daniel Ek via BBC
Spotify Blog

Latest 4 of 12 Comments

Have your say: Leave a comment below about this article.

lifethroughalens said on 28th August 2009

To be honest, I still think the free version of Spotify is fantastic and that the paid version just wont have the legs people are expecting it to have.

However, I ca... more

drdark said on 29th August 2009

@AlmostDone: sorry, was speaking strictly "free" and "tied to PC" Spotify-wise. You are of course correct in regards DRM-less music purchases. That's mainly how... more

CaptNemo said on 30th August 2009

Can apps be approved but only for certain regions?

It'll be interesting to see whether it'll be approved for the US market when Spotify rolls out across the pond and... more