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Spotify Rolls Out 'Play' Widget

Seeking broader distribution beyond Facebook (who knew there was such a thing?), Spotify is rolling out a feature that will let the rest of the Web integrate the service via a “play button” widget.

“So everyone from The Huffington Post to Rolling Stone to Tumblr user (which is incorporating the feature into its main dashboard) can incorporate free tunes onto their sites,” AllThingsD writes. “And Spotify gets a whole new set of promotional partners.” 

“Spotify won't rest until everyone has their own personal soundtrack following them wherever they go,” VatorNews writes. “Given all the license restrictions roaming the music industry, few Web site owners are willing to integrate tracks into their pages,” CNet points out. “But Spotify just made it much easier to do so.”

“The company’s user acquisition costs are supposedly sky high, so free promotion through the Play Button could be key to making its business model hum,” TechCrunch writes.

Yet, “the service isn’t seamless,” according to VentureBeat. “In an ideal world, anyone would just click the play button, sit back and listen. In real life, because of the way the music labels do business, you need to click the play button, then either sign up or login in to the Spotify client.”

“The only downside is that you have to be a registered Spotify user, which also means you have to have the desktop app up and running for this to work,” Gizmodo seconds. “The biggest instant access music jukebox remains YouTube,” The Register reminds us. “There's very little that YouTube doesn't have -- thanks to its forgetful takedown policy -- and lots that Spotify doesn't have.” 

“The launch highlights one of the biggest anomalies of the popular music service,” paidContent notes. “Playlists and song titles that are embedded on pages by web authors will, when clicked, play corresponding tracks in Spotify … That will mean a new wave of streams for Spotify to serve and to pay royalties for -- but it also means extra ears will be exposed to Spotify’s advertising.”

 

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