HOW TO: Get Started With Spotify

Spotify is a free, legal, cloud-based streaming music service delivered via desktop software with a nice social twist. A Swedish start-up with offices in London, it launched back in 2008 in Europe and now boasts around five million users and around six million tracks from the major labels as well as a ton of independents.

Currently only available in Sweden, Norway, Finland, the UK, France and Spain (technically), Spotify has previously talked about plans for expansion ? including a U.S. launch later this year, the exact date of which is TBD.

The basic version of Spotify is free to use for anyone who manages to grab an invite (either via another user or through a waiting list-based e-mail sign-up), although consumers can skip the ad-supported free option and choose to sign up for its

HOW TO: Get Started With Spotify