SAN FRANCISCO – “Our ambition is to be everywhere,” said Jorge Espinel, head of global business development at Spotify.
Speaking Monday at the Open Mobile Summit in San Francisco, Espinel was referring to the global footprint of Spotify’s music streaming platform, now launched in 58 countries and hosting 40 million active users.
But as he detailed the new Spotify Connect feature, his earlier statement suggested his company’s intent on whole-house domination. Connect is a new feature for Spotify premium members and allows them to control a Spotify desktop application with their mobile device.
By using Connect, Espinel said a mobile device’s battery gets a break since the new device under its control is pulling music directly from the cloud.
The desktop is where Connect starts, but Espinel said the new feature is more about creating a “seamless experience across all your devices.”
Spotify is lining up partnerships with Bose, Gramofon, Panasonic, Philips, Pioneer, Samsung, Sony and Yahama to spread Connect across a multiple technologies in the home.
Once a Spotify Connect network of devices is set up, users will get neat hand-offs between them regardless of the network technology (Wi-Fi, 4G) that’s being used to stream the content.
There’s good news for non-premium Spotify users as well. The company is rolling out sponsored sessions, which will give users the option to watch a pre-roll advertisement in order to earn 30 minutes of commercial-free streaming.
