What's App

Spotify Arrives on Amazon Kindle Fire: What's New?

Jonathan Charle

The music streaming service Spotify is now available on the Amazon Kindle Fire. The app has been available on iOS and Android since the service allowed subscribers to use the mobile app.

The app is available for free. Although users can stream music for free from the desktop client, free streaming is limited to 2.5 hours per week and 10 hours a month (unused time stacks up to 10 hours). Listening for free will play ads regularly, usually for around 30 seconds. Unlimited streaming subscriptions, sans advertising, begin at just $5.99 a month, rising to $9.99, and include offline listening and the ability to play music through connected devices. Although free users can still download the app for Kindle Fire, only the Radio feature is available, effectively a themed playlist selecting random artists. 

During the early days of the surface, before the company introduced subscription models, questions surfaced over how Spotify planned to generate profitability from free listening. However, consumers came around to the idea that Spotify cannot offer free unlimited music streaming and neither can recording artists. 

Criticism now focuses on the lack of landscape orientation support and required Facebook integration. Integration takes the  form of a feed on the right-hand side, showing recent songs friends have played. Users can also subscribe to a friend's playlist, so new songs will appear when added, and share songs via the social network. Facebook integration is not required for the desktop client.

Spotify currently holds a 4- out of 5-star rating and is almost essential for users not planning to buy music.  The service finds itself in a market with rivals including Last.fm and Rdio. Spotify's draw is that, although buying music buying is an offered feature of the service, it is not a requirement. In fact, $5.99 is the cost of an album on iTunes. How many albums could be listened to over a month on Spotify?

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