Spotify sets its sights on iPhone

By Rory Cellan-Jones Technology correspondent, BBC News

The company hopes to launch the service in the US soon

The Swedish music streaming service Spotify is planning to launch its first mobile application within days.

The company has submitted the application to Apple's iTunes App Store for its approval.

If given clearance, Spotify's service will then be available for users to download onto iPhones.

Spotify has been called an "iTunes killer" because of its ease of use and its comprehensive, free library of millions of songs.

It is also looked on as a possible saviour for the music industry, in its bid to offer alternatives to piracy.

The BBC understands that the application is designed to search for new music and let iPhone users download music to their phones.

It will also allow users to stream playlists.

Spotify hasn't revealed what the application will cost, but there's been speculation that it will only be available to premium subscribers who currently pay £9.99 a month to use the service on their computers without adverts.

Being able to download a playlist to your phone over your own network before you go out, then listen to it despite poor or non-existent network coverage is a real bonus Rory Cellan-Jones BBC technology correspondent Dot.life: Spotify - going mobile

The service, which launched last year, now has more than a million users in the UK, and more than six million across Europe.

It has not yet launched in the United States but says it intends to do so by the end of the year.

The company has already demonstrated an application for mobile phones running Google's Android software, though that has not been made available to the public.