Music for Everyone: Spotify Crosses the Atlantic

There is a launch this week, and the launch is the arrival: Spotify in the United States, the Swedish service that opened its doors in New York on Thursday. The arrival is the crossing, and the crossing is the Atlantic: ten million users in Europe, more than a million paying. The launch is the bet, and the bet is the model: free with ads, premium without. The Music for Everyone is the July 2011 story, and the story is the lesson: the access that replaces ownership, the music for everyone.

Music for Everyone is the subject of this article: the launch in New York, the service that crossed the Atlantic, the freemium model, the bet on access over ownership, and the lesson for the industry.

1. The Launch on Thursday

The launch is the news, and the news is the Thursday: the fourteenth of July, the event in New York, the Swedish service that finally arrived in the United States. The launch is the arrival, and the arrival is the day: the service that Europeans had used for years, the name that Americans had heard about, the invites that began to circulate, the day one that belonged to the free tier. The launch is the moment: the years of licensing negotiations that came before, the labels that said yes at last, the stage in New York, the doors that opened.

The launch is the invitation, and the invitation is the door: the free tier that was invite only on day one, the ad supported service that anyone could ask for and few could enter. The launch is the gate, and the gate is the scarcity: the service that wanted to grow slowly, the servers that had to hold, the word of mouth that spread through the invitations. The launch is the signal, and the signal is the scale: the biggest music market in the world, the last big holdout, the door that finally opened this week, the day the industry had awaited since 2008.

2. The Crossing

The crossing is the story, and the story is the Atlantic: the service born in Stockholm, grown in Europe, three years on one side of the ocean before it dared the other. The crossing is the wait, and the wait is the negotiation: the years of talks with the major labels, the licensing deals that had to be signed, the rights that had to be cleared, the resistance that had to be worn down. The crossing is the patience, and the patience is the prize: the United States, the largest music market in the world, the far shore of the ocean.

The crossing is the question, and the question is the why: why the labels said no for so long, why they said yes at last, why the service had to prove itself in Europe before it could cross. The crossing is the proof, and the proof is the numbers: the ten million users in Europe, the million who paid, the evidence that streaming could be a business. The crossing is the confidence, and the confidence is the contract: the labels finally convinced that streaming could replace downloads, the deals signed after years of resistance, the Atlantic crossed at last this week.

3. The Service

The service is the offer, and the offer is the music: instant access to millions of tracks, the endless catalog in the cloud, the song that played the moment it was clicked. The service is the tiers, and the tiers are the choice: the free tier with advertisements, the Unlimited tier at four ninety nine a month, the Premium tier at nine ninety nine with mobile and offline. The service is the ladder, and the ladder is the model: the free listener who heard the ads, the paying listener who heard none, the step between them designed from the start.

The service is the simplicity, and the simplicity is the point: no boxes, no discs, no files to manage, no library to curate, the music that lived somewhere else and played everywhere. The service is the speed, and the speed is the argument: legal streaming that was faster than piracy, the song that appeared before the download finished, the reason to stop stealing and start paying. The service is the promise, and the promise is the instant: the millions of tracks at the click, the catalog in the pocket, the music that was always there, the service that opened on Thursday.

4. The History

The history is the beginning, and the beginning is Stockholm: the city where the service was founded in 2006, the two founders, Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon, the idea before the company. The history is the idea, and the idea is the answer: the music industry that was dying on the internet, the piracy that was winning, the legal service that could be faster than the theft. The history is the start: the company that was born in Sweden, the service that launched in Europe in October 2008, the first listeners, the first songs, the long road to New York.

The history is the growth, and the growth is the proof: the ten million users in Europe by the middle of 2011, the million who paid for the privilege, the numbers that the labels could not ignore. The history is the patience, and the patience is the years: the service that launched in 2008, grew slowly, signed the licenses one by one, waited for the moment when the industry was ready. The history is the lesson, and the lesson is the climb: the three years in Europe, the proof that streaming worked, the foundation for the American launch this week.

5. The Pitch

The pitch is the phrase, and the phrase is the promise: music for everyone, the words the company chose, the slogan that carried it across the ocean. The pitch is the argument, and the argument is the piracy: the legal streaming that was faster than the theft, the song that played instantly, the reason that stealing lost its point. The pitch is the conversion, and the conversion is the design: the free tier that brought listeners in, the ads that paid the bills, the premium tier that sold the silence, the step from listener to customer built into every click.

The pitch is the labels, and the labels are the gate: the major labels that resisted for years, that saw streaming as the enemy of the download, that had to be convinced one by one. The pitch is the conversion of the industry, and the conversion is the moment: the labels finally convinced that streaming could replace downloads, that the future was access and not ownership, that the service was the answer and not the threat. The pitch is the change, and the change is the week: the resistance worn down, the deals signed, the pitch delivered in New York on Thursday.

6. The American Market

The market is the prize, and the prize is the United States: the largest music market in the world, the country where the record business earned the most, the last big holdout on the map of streaming. The market is the test, and the test is the culture: the Americans who bought their music, who owned their libraries, who were asked this week to rent the songs instead. The market is the question, and the question is the bet: would Americans pay for access instead of ownership, would the freemium ladder climb in the country that invented the download, the question America begins to answer this week.

The market is the scale, and the scale is the audience: the millions of listeners who bought CDs and downloads, the tens of millions who pirated, the vast middle who wanted the music and did not want to steal. The market is the moment, and the moment is the shift: the industry that watched its sales fall, the downloads that followed the CDs down, the streaming that arrived as the next answer. The market is the frontier, and the frontier is the week: the largest music market in the world, opened on Thursday, watched on Friday, judged in the months to come.

7. The Competition

The competition is the field, and the field is the crowd: Rdio, MOG, Rhapsody, the streaming services that were already selling access in America, the rivals that greeted the arrival this week. The competition is the difference, and the difference is the scale: the rivals that came from the industry, the newcomer that came from Europe, the ten million users who arrived with it, the momentum that no American rival could claim or match. The competition is the absence, and the absence is the giant: the company from Cupertino that had no streaming service yet, watching from the side this week.

The competition is the sameness, and the sameness is the confusion: the services that looked alike, the prices that sounded alike, the pitch that had to be louder than the rest. The competition is the advantage, and the advantage is the proof: the European history, the paying subscribers, the catalog that was licensed, the service that had already answered the hardest questions. The competition is the race, and the race is the future: the streaming market that was small and crowded, the arrival that changed the balance, the race that the American launch began this week, the race that the whole industry now watches.

8. The Lesson

The lesson is the access, and the access is the future: the music that lives in the cloud, the library that fits in the pocket, the ownership that gives way to the stream. The lesson is the model, and the model is the proof: the ten million users in Europe, the million who paid, the freemium ladder that the labels finally accepted. The lesson is the patience, and the patience is the prize: the years of negotiation, the resistance worn down, the launch in New York, the Atlantic crossed, the largest music market in the world, opened at last this week.

The lesson is the July 2011 story, and the story is the lesson: the launch on Thursday, the crossing of the Atlantic, the service that opened its doors in New York, the bet that Americans will pay for access. The lesson is the change, and the change is the industry: the downloads that will give way to the streams, the labels that were convinced, the resistance that ended, the music that belongs to everyone. The Music for Everyone is the beginning, and the beginning is the year: the streaming that crossed the ocean, the lesson the whole industry will carry.

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