Spotify in America: what we know so far

Have you heard? Spotify is heading to the US!

Of course you’ve heard. It’s everywhere. To save you the effort of going through the waffle, here’s a little round up of  what we know so far.

The original story (I believe), came from the Observer:

The online music streaming service Spotify, which has more than two million users in Europe, is recruiting staff for an imminent assault on the US music scene despite admitting that it is struggling to hit its target of making a profit by the end of the year.

Expansion in the US will be through word-of-mouth and viral marketing. Ek is hoping that social networks such as Twitter will spread the word about Spotify among Americans: “Don’t expect a fancy marketing campaign. The money we could have spent on marketing is better spent on developing a better product.”

So far, so good.

And what about Microsoft’s little project? From the brilliant ReadWriteWeb:

According to Forbes journalist, Javier Espinoza, “Another looming threat [to Spotify]: Microsoft is launching a very similar music streaming service later in July, a service that also allows users to download the music, something Spotify still won’t allow members to do.” Nevertheless, the question is, will Microsoft be able to provide cross-format support and separate itself from its lackluster music devices in order to build a site that consumers will enjoy? If it can’t, Spotify will have nothing to worry about.

PaidContent – who tend to focus on finance rather than fun – identifies the US move as a crucial point in the start-up’s short history:

And, after we revealed Spotify’s VC search, Ek said on Times Online’s report that it is valuing itself at £200 ($121.4) million: “If someone’s willing to pay £200 million for it, that’s what it’s worth. But would I sell the business for £200 million? The answer is no. If it’s done right, this could be a billion-dollar company.” But with only a minority taking the premium options, and the free option threatened by the advertising recession, we’ll have to wait and see on that.

If it’s done right, Ek’s a millionnaire. Done wrong, and he’s in the dole queue, it seems.