Will Apple allow a Spotify app?

If you went to McDonald’s, you wouldn’t expect to be offered a Whopper. But that’ll be the situation if Apple allow the Spotify app into their iPhone/iPod Touch app store.

From the London Evening Standard:

“We looked at the mobile market, and it just doesn’t make sense to stream music in the same way we do on a PC,” said Mr Sehr. Streaming directly to phones would rely on users always having a strong mobile phone signal, and could also overwhelm mobile networks if the service becomes too popular. For Londoners, there is another big problem: streaming wouldn’t work on the Tube.

“Users will be able to choose the playlists they want, and download them via their home wifi connection before they leave. For London, this was crucial, as we want people to be able to listen on the Tube.”

However, there could be a problem. To be successful in the mobile market, Spotify needs to be accessible via aniPhone and an iPod. Technically, this is no problem. The sticking point is that Apple must approve any software that runs on its iPhone and iPod, and even Spotify admit they are simply not sure if this will happen, as Apple’s iTunes music download store is such a direct competitor.

“We really don’t know if Apple will give us the go-ahead, and all we can do it submit our software then wait and see,” admits Mr Sehr. “It’s something of a black hole.”

Who know’s what’ll happen. One the one hand, the application will probably be extremely popular, which means lots of revenue for Apple through sales. But it’s a double-edged sword, of course, as an expanding Spotify could potentially mean fewer iTune store downloads.

On the other hand, will Apple want the iPhone to be the only mobile device that can’t have a Spotify app? Assuming that the app will be awesome, it would quickly become a critical factor in my choice of phone whether I could use the service or not.

Which leads to another point. Getting it on the iPhone is just one tiny battle for mobile music supremacy. What about Nokia? Aren’t they selling mobiles on the back of their rubbishy (so a friend says) music store too? How will they feel about Spotify coming along? Not that they’d have much choice, of course – you can put whatever you like on Nokia devices, unlike the ‘locked’ iPhone.

It’s set to be an interesting few months.