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Digital
Spotify launches in eight new territories
By Andy Malt | Published on Tuesday 16 April 2013
Spotify launched in Mexico, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, Iceland, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania this morning. Expansion into Singapore and Hong Kong was first rumoured last August, when the company set up subsidiaries in the two countries.
Speaking to The Next Web, Spotify’s Hong Kong cheif Sriram Krishnan said that wider Asian expansion is planned in the coming months (a Japanese launch having been rumoured for some time now). He explained: “We aim to be available in every market in the world, and that takes time, initially we are coming to Malaysia, Singapore and Hong Kong. Content consumption in Asia is different [to Western markets], so we took the necessary time, investment and resources to provide the right service, which we’re confident fans in these countries will embrace”.
Currently Spotify only has two account tiers in Asia, rather than the three on offer in most territories, with just the free or full premium options available. The mid-level, desktop-only payment level is not offered – possibly because mobile internet access is more dominant in Asia.
These new launches come as Spotify continues to attempt to renegotiate royalty payments with the major labels. Dominance in more territories may be key to these talks going in Spotify’s favour.
