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Spotify plans all-inclusive music service
Spotify is planning to become an "all-inclusive" online music service where users can download music, buy tickets and merchandise, and speak directly to artists. In an interview with Billboard, Spotify CEO Daniel Ek says his company is currently in extensive talks with artists, managers and labels to build a platform that delivers "multi-fold music services".
"We want users to be able to follow an artist through Spotify as they might on Facebook and Twitter," says Ek. "They should be using Spotify to find live shows, buy downloads as well as music in physical form, and pay for whatever else the artists offer online."
Currently less than 4% of Spotify's users are paying subscribers and the company still faces an uphill battle to prove its business model is viable. Additional revenues from downloads and ticket sales would ease the pressure and buy Spotify more time to increase its subscriber rate. The firm is already partnering with download service 7digital for sales in Europe and is likely to offer a paid download store when it launches in the US later this year.
However Spotify may struggle to rebrand itself as an all-inclusive music store in Europe, where most users perceive it merely as a music-streaming service. MySpace in particular has previously failed to make the crossover, mainly because its users never went to the site with the intent of making a purchase.
Ek says Spotify will need to educate the market if is to successfully position itself as what is often called a ‘360’ music service. But he argues the firm is already known to do more than just music streaming. "We're not only an ad-supported music company. We're a subscription music company. And we're a download music company, too. In certain territories, in downloads we're number two or three after iTunes," he says.
