Spotify Japan Finally?

The source of the news, according to i4u News, is not Spotify Japan but Japanese record labels, which have effectively held up the launch thanks to copyright and licensing issues. There is already a “closed beta” version of the program running in some circles. As a result of its caution, Spotify lags behind Apple Music, Line, Amazon and Google Play in terms of streaming services in Japan. That would seem to mean that it would need to play catch-up, but according to i4u, the timing may be just right.

When Apple Music entered the market a year ago, there wasn’t much demand for streaming, and now Apple offers only a paid subscription. If Spotify can successfully market its free subscription, which had always been the sticking point for Japanese labels, it could garner a lot of users right off the bat.