Spotify sets its sights on iPhone

By Rory Cellan-Jones
Technology correspondent, BBC News

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Rory Cellan-Jones discovers the highs and lows of Spotify's music service for the iPhone

The Swedish music streaming service Spotify is planning to launch its first mobile application within weeks.

The company has submitted the application to Apple's iTunes App Store for its approval.

If given clearance, Spotify's service will then be available for users to download onto iPhones.

Spotify has been called an "iTunes killer" because of its ease of use and its comprehensive, free library of millions of songs.

It is also looked on as a possible saviour for the music industry, in its bid to offer alternatives to piracy.

The application is designed to search for new music and will allow users to temporarily store playlists to their phone for use when there is no connection.

It will also allow users to stream playlists.

Spotify has said the application will be free, but will require a premium subscription to use.

Being able to download a playlist to your phone over your own network before you go out, then listen to it despite poor or non-existent network coverage is a real bonus Rory Cellan-Jones BBC technology correspondent Dot.life: Spotify - going mobile Have Your Say: What is your desert island download?

The premium service, which currently costs £9.99 a month, allows users to run Spotify on their computers without adverts.

The service, which launched last year, now has more than two million users in the UK, and more than six million across Europe.

It has not yet launched in the United States but says it intends to do so by the end of the year.

The company has already demonstrated an application for mobile phones running Google's Android software, though that has not been made available to the public.