Details of last week’s partnership between Facebook and Spotify have come to light, with new sign-ups to the music service required to be Facebook members.
Spotify argues that the move is all part of the ‘deep integration’ between the two services and users will be able to sharing in their music listening habits in a ‘seamless’ way.
In a boost to ad revenues, Spotify advertisers like Coca-Cola, Motorola, Reebok, and Chevrolet will be getting more distribution through the digital music service thanks to it being one of several Facebook Music launch partners.
Spotify has come under fire for the changes, with some users angry that new settings linking to their Facebook accounts were not clearly explained.
In a statement yesterday, Spotify said: “To us, this is all about creating an amazing new world of music discovery. As most of our users are already social and have already connected to Facebook, it seemed logical to integrate Spotify and Facebook logins. We already use Facebook as part of our backend to power our social features and by adopting Facebook’s login, we’ve created a simple and seamless social experience”.
It continued: “From today, all new Spotify users will need to have a Facebook account to join Spotify. Think of it as like a virtual ‘passport’, designed to make the experience smoother and easier, with one less username and password to remember. You don’t need to connect to Facebook and if you do decide to, you can always control what you share and don’t share by changing your Spotify settings at any time”.
The music service finished by saying that it is “constantly trying new things” and would “make changes based on customer feedback” wherever possible.
It also published a blog post clarifying how to control what information is shared externally by its software, though if the comments on that blog are anything to go by, critics of the changes – who are probably just a very vocal minority – are unlikely to be placated.
10 hour limit dropped for 6 months
In addition, Spotify will be lifting their 10 hours a month listening limit for new users,
New sign-ups to Spotify’s music streaming service will be able to listen to as much music as they want for free for their first six months of membership.
After that, the service will revert to a maximum of 10 hours free, advert-supported music a month, with a five-play limit for individual songs.
Users who have been signed up to Spotify for less than six months will also have access to unlimited music until they have been a member for six months, but existing users who are signed up to the free service more than six months ago will still have a 10-hour cap on their listening.
Invites are also now no longer needed to sign up to Spotify in the United States.
Last week it was announced that Spotify, Rhapsody, SoundCloud, Earbits, Vevo, Slacker Radio and Songza have all joined forces with Facebook in a new initiative set up by the social networking site.
The new features will give users access to over 15 million songs, and will also allow them to see what tracks are trending on the site, as well as letting users share music with friends. The service is provided for free.
Spotify explains its involvement in the video below:
