Spotify is set to launch in Germany within two weeks, according to media reports. The Swedish DRM-based music streaming service was launched in 2008 and is currently available in 12 countries, including the UK and the US.
Now Netzwertig has reported that while the company is for the first time promising trial access in Germany, well-informed sources say it is set to make its debut here imminently.
According to the website, mid-March is the target date for the launch, with Tuesday, March 13 considered most likely. There was confirmation forthcoming from Spotify, however.
The web music service is apparently in negotiations with GEMA, a German performance rights organisation which represents some 60,000 composers, authors and music publishers and the rights of more than a million copyright holders internationally whose works are used in Germany.
GEMA was at the centre of controversy in 2009 when it raised the fee it charged YouTube to 12 euro cents per streamed video, an amount a spokesman said would see the service “lose significant amounts of money with every playback.” Whilst similar disputes were eventually resolved elsewhere, many YouTube videos are still blocked to users in Germany and it was considered a major hurdle to online music services like Spotify from expanding into the country.
But it now appears that music lovers can rejoice as the massively popular service will soon launch here after all – although Netzwertig reported that one stumbling block in negotiations has been the advert-supported free access which Spotify wants to include in its package.