Update: Spotify “back to square one” on US ventures.

In what is another example of major music label’s massive mishandling of their own industry, Billboard has revealed some information tonight that is rather depressing — Spotify’s US ventures “are back to square one”. The cause is as many would guess, money. Specifically, the inability of the labels to agree to a reasonable dollar amount to charge Spotify as well as apprehension with the freemium model Spotify has perfected over seas. Years of fat cat living have spoiled the labels’ senses for the finer things in life — much finer things than they deserve, mind you.

It’s a shame really. Spotify is a great music streaming service that european users have been able to enjoy for quite some time now. The continual screw ups that the major labels commit hurt not only themselves, but end users as well. Spotify too is hurt. Each day they don’t have a service available in the US, they’re losing potential customers to the likes of Pandoara, Last.fm, Rdio, and so on. Later this year, Apple and Google are rumored to be offering their own streaming services as well. Clearly the fight is close.

Hopefully the labels can get their heads out of their asses and get something hammered together for the sake of music lovers everywhere. Because the worst case scenario — and nobody wants this — is Spotify becoming irrelevant by the time it manages to crawl into the US. Either way, it’s a simple yet clear signal that the major labels in the US need to die, seriously. They do nothing but suck money from artists and prevent any type of useful innovation and progress in the industry they claim to support. Anyone still hoping for Spotify?

Update

Don’t write off Spotify and the US just yet. Looks like the allegations above aren’t entirely true…according to Spotify that is…

Mashable

Author: Mike Norris

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Gadget lover, smartphone collector, and beer connoisseur. I've been writing about gadgets for three years now and loving every minute of it. Outside of the digital landscape, I enjoy being active outdoors. I'm always up for a good conversation, so feel free to drop me a line!