Spotify has dropped its cap on free web-based music streaming just a week before the launch of Beats Music.
The move is incremental — users that exhausted a six-month trial were still able to listen to certain number of hours of music per month — but it highlights Spotify's continued push to stay a step ahead of competitors in the free streaming music space. Spotify's model relies on acquiring users to its free streaming service and eventually converting them into paid customers.
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In December, Spotify made a more significant change by expanding free streaming to all devices, allowing users can listen to specific artists or albums but not tracks.
Spotify's aggressive pursuit of the free streaming market has allowed it to make significant gains in the U.S. market, although Pandora remains in the No. 1 spot.
The timing of the move has raised eyebrows for its proximity to the upcoming launch of Beats Music, a streaming service from Jimmy Iovine, chairman of record label Interscope Geffen A&M and Dr. Dre.
The service is touting its ability to create personalized streams for users based on a mix of algorithms and personal touch. In a recent interview with Wired, Ian Rogers, chief executive of Beats Music, said that “no one was doing a music service; everyone was building a music server.”
The entry of Beats Music will further crowd an already competitive online streaming industry that already includes Spotify, Pandora, Rdio, Rhapsody, iHeartRadio, Deezer, iTunes Radio and a slew of others.
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