Spotify music service launches in US today, Windows Phone app nowhere to be found

Today is a big day for music lovers in the United States: social music service Spotify has finally landed on our soil after years of promises. So...what the heck is Spotify? Think of it as any other music service, such as Pandora, but instead of getting stuck with 'radios' you can instead listen to any songs you want. The best part? You can use it for free (thanks to ad-support) although it is limited to 20 hours of music per month in the first six months; then it drops to 10 hours of music a month. Sure that sounds like plenty, but if you're a music hound you'll also have the option of ponying up $5 a month for unlimited ad-free listening.

Anyway, that's all well and good and music lovers now have a ton of service options to pick from in the U.S. (including Zune Pass). However, what's even more popular about Spotify is the service's smartphone apps which seamlessly integrates with the desktop software. So is there a Windows Phone app yet? Well, no but Joe Belfiore already showed off the Spotify app at MIX '11 earlier this year and it does look quite sweet. However, that was the Mango-friendly version of the app meaning we probably won't get to see Spotify appear in the Marketplace until Microsoft permits Mango app submissions. Will Spotify release a Windows Phone client in the meantime? We have no idea--we contacted the press team at the company with that same question, but as of this writing have yet to receive a response.

At least we still know that it will probably arrive by Mango's launch, so those interested in the service should probably hold on to their Zune Pass subscription for a few more months. To see the demo video of Spotify on Windows Phone from MIX '11, continue past the break.

Source: Spotify