Mobile operator 3 UK has announced plans to sell HTC’s Hero handset, with a Spotify premium subscription bundled in. It’s one of the first deals of this kind – customers will pay £35 a month for a bundle of voice, texts and mobile data, but also a premium subscription to the music streaming service worth £9.99 a month.
The Spotify Android app will presumably be preloaded on the handset. “Over time, our deal with Spotify will extend across a range of our products, including Mobile Broadband,” says 3 director of products and services Charles Blanchard.
Meanwhile, Spotify’s global head of business development Faisal Galaria, Global Head of Business Development at Spotify, is equally chuffed: “This is a very exciting deal for Spotify. We’re intent on offering people a high quality, simple yet powerful portable music experience at a fair price and we’re thrilled to be working with 3 to bring Spotify to UK music fans.”
It’s more proof that the next surge in Spotify signups may come from partnerships with ISPs and operators – besides 3 UK, Spotify already has a deal with Telia in Sweden that will cover both mobile and broadband.