Revolution magazine on Thursday night reported the much-talked-about unlimited music streaming service Spotify will also add unlimited downloads to its £9.99-a-month premium offering. That would be quite a departure from the core business models – except, the startup told us Friday morning, it’s “completely untrue – and something we could never support or achieve. It’s just not sustainable and our focus is on access, not ownership, as we’ve always said”.
Though Spotify, co-founded by Daniel Ek, has added a download-to-own option through affiliate links to 7Digital, iTunes and Amazon (NSDQ: AMZN), letting users transfer songs off their computers, that’s for individual, la carte downloads and not as part of its subscription offering – besides, Spotify’s biggest business is the free, ad-supported streaming. Still young, the company is cautiously exploring premium models including paid mobile apps and access to exclusive releases (the latest, on Green Day’s new album) and interview content.