Reports suggested it was coming, but today Spotify finally brought its popular music streaming service to Italy, Portugal and Poland.
The Italian launch is closely linked to the Sanremo music festival, which will act as a marketing push, as artists give the songs exclusively to Spotify. However, it appears the Swedish company has pushed its service live a little earlier than expected, with the event set to commence on February 12.
When Italian and Polish users visit the Spotify website, they are presented with information on the music streaming service, as well as pricing information. Like in all the other countries in which it operates, Spotify offers three account options — Free, Unlimited and Premium.
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The free service offers access to millions of tracks, but comes complete with advertising after a specified number of listens. The Unlimited option does away with those restrictions €4.99/PLN9.99 per month, while Premium adds mobile access for €9.99/PLN19.99 a month.
Spotify launches in Italy with the help of former Googler Veronica Diquattro, who joined the company from Google in November 2012.
At Google, Diquattro was tasked planning and implementing the company’s Google Play launch in Italy, as well as managing the “start-up phase of two vendor offices for Google Play in Ireland and UK, supporting the entire EMEA market,” according to her LinkedIn profile.
We first got wind of probable launch last year, when job posting emerged for both Italy and Poland online. They will be added to its existing launches in Andorra, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Faroe Islands, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Monaco, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the United States.
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