While the fallout from Facebook’s f8 conference focuses directly on privacy and user data gathering, and the requisite backlash once the new features went live, there are some success stories to be told as well.
Just ask Spotify.
Since the f8 announcement of the Facebook/Spotify partnership, Spotify is experiencing a great deal of growth for its music service, to the tune of a quarter of a million users a day. Since the announcement, AppData reveals (via PC Magazine) that Spotify’s subscription total increased from 1 million to 4.6 million users.
Clearly, Facebook users want their music and Spotify is an effective method for receiving it. The service offers three subscription tiers: Free, Unlimited and Premium. It’s not known how many of the new users are choosing the “free Spotify” option, but considering the fact that the Spotify blog issued a post aimed at those who use the free version, it’s easy to imagine many of these Facebook users who are new to Spotify opted for the one that doesn’t cost anything.
From the post, which details how the free service will go:
…from today, there’ll be no more Spotify Open. Everybody who listens to Spotify for free will simply have a Spotify account.
All Spotify accounts come with a 6-month time-limit honeymoon! During this time, there’s no limit to the amount of ad-supported music you can enjoy. After 6 months, you’ll be limited to 10 hours of streaming a month and a 5-play limit for any individual track. Unless, of course, you’ve subscribed by then!
It’s pretty obvious which direction Spotify is steering its users, and that is directly at the paid versions. For those who haven’t yet joined Spotify, but are curious about doing so, you must have a Facebook account to access the service. That news, however, has not been received with open arms, something a comment from the Spotify blog demonstrates quite well:
Well, that’s all very well and good, but you’ve lost my trust, so for now I’m keeping my spotify account and facebook account separate. Which is a shame, because I liked seeing other peoples public playlists. It doesn’t help that you’ve done this at the same time as other facebook dirty tricks are coming to light, otherwise I’d be more inclined to try it out. But for now, I’m not getting into anything I can’t get out of. Now, when are we getting the Beatles and the Red Hot Chili Peppers?
Whatever the backlash, it’s pretty clear based on the growth Spotify has received since the f8 announcement that complaints like the previous do not rule the day, although, maybe they should. But then again, do casual Internet users even worry about privacy; that is, until these issue falls hit closer to home? Doubtful.