On Tuesday, May 22, the world’s largest free on-demand music provider launched in Australia and New Zealand. Spotify is quickly taking over the world of free music streaming; Rdio and JB Hi Fi’s “Now” are already operating within the country, but with the introduction of Spotify and it’s 16 million song library competition just got a lot tougher.

After spending six months in the UK with unlimited internet (thanks to student halls) and Spotify, returning to Australia to find that I could not longer access my Spotify account was a great disappointment. I could no longer listen to whatever I wanted, whenever I wanted… My infinite online library of music ceased to exist and I had to resort to my long-overdue-for-an-update iTunes.

There has been mixed emotions about the launch of the Stockholm-based company, with many arguing that artists are not being paid enough for the use of their music and that the world of free music streaming is leading to the demise of the music industry. More than 10 million global users definitely says something about the impending shift in the landscape of the Australian music industry.

Spotify has been created to combat music piracy, “We want to concentrate on drawing users away from music piracy by delivering the most complete music service we can.” Supporting a good cause, right?

Personally, Spotify is one of the best things that has ever happened to me, like many students whose weekly budget doesn’t factor in music purchases. Free music? Check. Unlimited music? Check. Ability to share or turn off Facebook sharing (depending on your taste and self-consciousness)? Check.

Word is that the “Golden Era for music” is coming…

This entry was posted on Sunday, May 27th, 2012 at 6:56 pm by sshakspeare and is filed under Play. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.