14 DAY TRIAL // Spotify is making it easier, somehow, to embed music, legally, on any site you want. A blog owner could add a track or a whole album to a post and enable readers to listen to the songs.
That is if said readers already use Spotify, otherwise they'll be directed to download the Spotify desktop app, provided the service is available in their country.
Still, the feature should make it easier to add music from a reliable source to your site, even if it won't guarantee that most of your readers will be able to listen to it.
"The Spotify Play Button is a simple yet extremely powerful music widget that makes it easier than ever to deliver all the world’s music to fans of your website or blog," Spotify announced.
"Adding the Spotify Play Button to your Tumblr, website or social page will light it up with music in a flash and feature any song, album or playlist. To enjoy the tunes, all you have to do is hit Play. Totally free. Totally instant. Totally awesome," it added. Free if you're in a country where Spotify is available and instant if you already have the app installed.
The feature is already available on Facebook, you've probably noticed it already. Spotify is now expanding it to any website. Grooveshark, for example, has had a similar feature for years.
Of course, most people that want to embed music to their blogs turn to YouTube. The experience is not great and infringing videos will be removed breaking your embed, but it's easy and it's fast. What's more, most people, with few exceptions, will be able to listen to the song and you should be able to find almost anything you want on the video site.
A web-based player would make the Spotify option a more appealing one, but that would still require users to have a Spotify account, which is a hassle even in the places where the service is available, the US and some parts of Europe.