Spotify to take "appropriate actions" against unofficial software add-on SaveSpotify
Thursday 03 September 2009 | Comment |
Popular streaming music service Spotify has been quick to distance itself from SaveSpotify, a new website claiming Spotify users can download the music they listen to via an add-on. In fact, far from being officially endorsed, the new site may well end up facing legal action from Spotify for its audacious attempts at gaining users, which include using the Spotify name in its own.
A Spotify spokesperson told Broadband Genie: "This looks like a fairly crude method that simply records the sound coming out of a users sound card, nothing new or revolutionary. Looking a bit deeper you'll find that the site links to a piece of software that actually costs money to work properly.
"We expected that, following our launch, certain programs might be created that we would be unable to endorse or allow, as they would not support our business model. We’re taking various steps to protect both the service and our users where necessary. Clearly this site is using our name to trying and benefit themselves and we'll take appropriate actions."
Broadband Genie editor Chris Marling commented: "Because Spotify is such a great and innovative product, sadly this kind of thing was inevitable. It is already quite easy to set your computer up to record poor quality audio from whatever your computer is putting out, so it's no surprise that some bright spark has tied this basic technology in with Spotify to cash in on a unsuspecting public.
"Things that seem too good to be true normally are, and this is no exception. The quality of audio from Spotify isn't great anyway, so even if this were above board the quality of MP3 you would end up with would be way below the normal standards. We strongly advise anyone getting emails from this company, or any like it, to check they are legitimate with Spotify before even considering them. Don't be fooled by fonts, colours and claims - check with someone else before going within a mile of this sort of product. You can always ask in our forums too."
