Virgin Media Announces Deal with Spotify

Virgin Media has finally announced its much-rumoured music service in cooperation with Spotify.

For the last two years, Virgin Media has been working on a music streaming service similar to that of Spotify. It originally announced plans to develop its own service, but this was put on the back burner following failed talks with record companies. Rumours in October 2010 that the media company would be teaming up with Sweden-based streaming company Spotify to offer a music service to its customers.

Today, those rumours came to fruition. Along with the revelation that Spotify was finally making plans for its entry into the U.S. market, Virgin Media revealed that it was teaming up with the company in a deal that will see a Spotify app built into Virgin Media’s Tivo settop box. The Telegraph reports that Virgin Media customers will have access to Spotify's 13 million-song catalogue via their TV, mobile device or the web.

One thing we don't yet know is how much Spotify and Virgin plan on charging for this service. It's possible Virgin subscribers may have to pay for access via their TV, but Virgin broadband and mobile customers could also receive a discounted price for the service. Spotify's current price model allows users to stream an unlimited amount of ad-supported music for the first six months, and 10 hours per month after that. A premium option is available for those who want to ditch the ads and these paying customers can use the service from mobile devices, listen to unlimited amounts of music and avail of higher bitrate streams plus offline access to music. This costs €9.99 per month.