The music service, Spotify, which streams music has revealed in its blog that users will now be able to download tracks. The new service will only be available to Spotify premium subscribers, who will be able to use a special 'offline mode' to store up to 3,333 tracks on their computer's hard drive. Spotify explain in their blog that a user's online playlist is synchronized for offline usage by downloading the necessary tracks - even if you have no Internet connection the music will still be accessible.
The big question still to be officially answered is, "Does the music come with any DRM copy protection?" In Spotify's FAQ section, offline mode is restricted to three device and tracks can only be stored offline while you continue to pay a subscription. The other restriction mentioned on their website is that you need to login to your account at least every 30 days to ensure you are still subscribed. These set of restrictions could indicate DRM copy protection, but there's no official word on this at present.
Currently Spotify is available in Sweden, Norway, Finland, France, Spain, and the UK. According to a BBC News article, the service is due to roll out in the United States by the end of the year.
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Comments
The song do not appear as files in Windows explorer which you can move around like normal mp3s. They are only viewable in Spotify. So the DRM question isn’t really relevant.
Damian,
That’s a good observation, but any system that prevents users from ‘moving files around’ is still classed as DRM. This is a generic term for any access control technology.