Spotify back to invite only

10:31 | Friday September 11, 2009

The music streaming service originally debuted in the UK at the end of 2008 in a private beta, which required users to be invited. In February 2009 it then went open access in the UK, although it remained invite-only in other launch territories.

However, the company announced today on its blog that it has temporarily re-instated the invite system. It says the move is a result of “the huge demand in the UK over the last few days since we launched our mobile service”.

Last Monday the Spotify app for iPhone and Android went live, opening up the service to mobile users, although they have to pay a £9.99 monthly fee for an advert-free Premium version of Spotify

The company adds, “We hope to be able to remove the need for an invite again very soon.”

“In the meantime there are still a lot of ways to get a Spotify account. If you’d like to sign up for Spotify you can get an invite from a friend (there are lots of them out there already) or sign up to our waiting list. And you can always just register directly for Spotify Premium to get access to all the features on offer including mobile access (for iPhone, iPod touch and Android) along with a few invites you can then share with friends.”