

Apple Approves Spotify for iPhone : Six Million Songs in Your Pocket - newacc
http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2009/08/six-million-songs-in-your-pocket-apple-approves-spotify-for-iphone/

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reneky
Unless it can play music while you do other stuff, like the iPod app can do,
it's not really making iTunes obsolete.

I find that really frustrating, with all the streaming radio apps.

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jsonscripter
I thought the new iPhone allowed background applications...? Why can't they
play music all the time?

Edit: No really, I'm just asking. Why can't they? Is it banned? I honestly
remember hearing the hoopla around background applications a few months ago.

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yan
They allowed push notifications, which are a serviceable substitute for some
reasons you might want to run in the background. You can not actually have
code running when your app isn't in the foreground.

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daleharvey
I was pretty shocked that this was accepted, I've been a longtime spotify fan
and assumed I would have to be getting an android to get it on mobile (I'll
probably still get an android anyway)

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jacquesm
Maybe the google voice PR fiasco has caused a review of the approval rules.

Hard to tell with a company that is so opaque.

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roc
Why would you assume there was a change?

Pandora's been on the iPhone for some time.

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jacquesm
Because there obviously is some conflict between this application and the
iTunes store.

Read here for more info:

[http://www.time.com/time/business/article/0,8599,1913680,00....](http://www.time.com/time/business/article/0,8599,1913680,00.html)

Pandora is closer to a radio station than a music store.

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roc
Spotify still sounds an awful lot like an IP-radio station. (Albeit, more like
a caching radio jukebox). But it still sounds more like Pandora than iTunes.

I simply don't think ad-supported media is ever a _replacement_ threat to a
superior ad-free for-purchase alternative.

E.g. HULU is a substantial threat to subscription tv. But no real threat to
TV-on-DVD sales. They just aren't the same thing.

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daleharvey
the iphone application is only available to users who pay for spotify, not ad
supported.

and its nothing like radio, I can play what I want when I want, without
adverts, apart from the logistics involved in being online, there isnt a
practical difference between it and itunes.

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ZeroGravitas
John Gruber was claiming recently that the iPhone SDK didn't allow your own
codecs:

<http://daringfireball.net/linked/2009/08/24/rhapsody>

Was he mistaken, or has Spotify started streaming songs in a different format
from their desktop app that uses Ogg Vorbis?

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masklinn
Given most mobile devices have built-in AAC codecs but not Vorbis (Android is
the odd one out here, I think, probably Maemo as well) if Spotify starts
expanding to mobile devices an AAC stream (maybe lower quality than the Vorbis
ones) would make sense.

I sent a mail to Spotify's support to ask, though they probably won't reply.

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ZeroGravitas
Nokia has always omitted Vorbis (and now Theora) from their Maemo devices for
reasons they've never fully explained. You can add them fairly easily, but
they don't ship them.

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masklinn
I don't know if you'll read this, but I'm pleased to report the Spotify team
_did_ indeed reply to my inquiry:

> We aim to tell more about the streaming of Spotify mobile as soon as we can,
> please keep an eye on the blog for more information!

No info, but a "stay tuned" reco.

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robryan
Really sucks that they don't seem to be able to get an guidance on whether
there app will get through or not before they create it. I'd imagine building
an app like this one would be a sizable task, even more so in Google voices
case.

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geeko
It might just be a mistake on apple's side. They have and will probably
continue to revoke apps which have previously been accepted to the App Store.

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tomafro
I doubt it's a mistake. The fact the BBC and Wired have reported this so
quickly to me indicates the hand of Apple PR, slowly working to turn the tide
of negative App Store stories.

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jonknee
... Or the hand of Spotify PR working to try and make it really hard for Apple
to remove their app.

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grinich
I feel like Apple has big plans for iTunes, and isn't really worried about
this. There's a reason they're building a $1B datacenter.

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skeen
6 million songs...until you lock the phone or exit the app, deeming it almost
useless. So that sucks.

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thomasswift
If they did it right you can still listen to it while it's locked.

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seshagiric
They'll probably fix the lock part. However it is no big deal.

The main thing is that as good as Spotify is, it is useless once you close the
app. You cannot even access the playlist leave playing musing alone.

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seshagiric
I envy those in UK and Europe.

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physcab
Disclaimer: I work for Grooveshark.

Grooveshark will hopefully have an IPhone app out soon.

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seshagiric
Hey thanks - I did not knew about Grooveshark and now I am a fan. Its not the
same as spotify but it works.

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trezor
_In short, Apple has just approved an application which renders iTunes
obsolete._

And this is why I can't wait until it shows up in the AppStore.

Edit: Except the "minor" point renkeky brings up.

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bjelkeman-again
iTunes obsolete? Nah. I have lots of music I don't have to pay for (already
paid for) that I don't need to use or even can use Spotify to access. It is
hard to use Spotify on the plane. And when I travel, even if I wanted to, the
data rates when roaming in Europe are pretty appalling. €4/MByte, no thanks.

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jfarmer
These are speedbumps compared to the larger issues that Spotify has faced. For
example, Spotify is bigger than iTunes in Sweden, now:
[http://www.swedishwire.com/business/687-spotify-overtakes-
ap...](http://www.swedishwire.com/business/687-spotify-overtakes-apples-
itunes)

