Spotify is finally listening to the labels. Photo: Spotify

Spotify is planning to introduce a new “gated access” model that will make its free streaming plan a lot less attractive, according to a new report. Those who choose to opt out of paying for the service could see it become extremely limited, with access to just one or two songs from big album releases.

Whether you’re working out or washing the cat, Play Music has a radio station for you. Photo: Google

Google is hoping to distract you from Apple Music’s impending launch with a new streaming plan that won’t cost you a penny. Available on desktop and mobile platforms, the service lets you enjoy a whole host of curated playlists supported by ads.

Spotify’s impressive growth continues. Photo: Spotify

Spotify now has a whopping 60 million active listeners, 15 million of which are paying for a Spotify Premium subscription, the European company confirmed today. Spotify has added around 2.5 million paying subscribers in just two months — and that’s despite being given the boot by Taylor Swift.

Spotify will continue to improve Connect instead. Photo: Spotify

A notable omission from Google’s list of services that will support Google Cast was Spotify, the biggest music streaming service on the planet. We assumed Spotify support would be added eventually, but the company has now confirmed it will be snubbing Google’s new platform to concentrate on Spotify Connect instead.

Google takes on AirPlay with Cast. Photo: Google

Google today announced a new Apple AirPlay competitor called Google Cast, which lets you stream audio from a whole bunch of popular apps to Cast-compatible speakers. The search giant has teamed up with a number of popular services for its launch, including Pandora, Rdio, and NPR One.