Spotify adding apps

STANDING OUT IN THE CROWD: Spotify will begin offering Facebook-style apps that add various features and functions to the service, the Wall Street Journal reports, citing music industry sources. When it starts today, the "app finder" is likely to include reviews from magazines and blogs that allow users to listen to albums as they read reviews, the sources told Ethan Smith. One app will display lyrics as a song plays, while another will generate a list of upcoming concerts by acts in a user's Spotify playlists and offer links to buy tickets. Since Spotify is opening its app platform to any developer, a la Apple’s App Store, more functions are likely to arrive soon. Also like Apple, Spotify will vet all submissions to make sure they work properly and meet other criteria. The Spotify apps will be free, the sources said, and available to both paying subscribers and users of its free, ad-supported version. While the first batch of apps won’t work on smartphones, some apps will create playlists that users can access on their phones. For instance, some apps may include ongoing playlist "subscriptions" that will update regularly across all platforms. (11/30a)