Spotify is gearing up to most likely announce Facebook-style apps and an open app platform to developers, but we expect there's more to come at Spotify's first-ever press event in New York. Follow the live blog below.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

The band, named Fun, performance at Spotify. Image courtesy of Mashable.

[9:55] Up-and-coming artists are now performing at the Spotify event. Unfortunately, the Ustream feed went down and we can no longer see the event.

[9:52] A: "We pay every time someone plays a song and we feel that's a great model because obviously there's value created whenever someone listens to a song," Daniel says. They pay out vast majority of all the revenues.

[9:51] Q: What do feel as you scale in terms of number of users in regards to royalty structure and licensing agreements?

[9:51] Daniel says the partners provide the functionality and they can link off, but there's no monetization in the Spotify app platform. However, a TuneWiki exec says they get a lot of value by syncing with Spotify.

[9:50] Q: What is the value to developers? Is there any revenue stream?

[9:48] Answer: "We look at it first and foremost to be on the desktop," Daniel says. But if it becomes as successful as they hope, they'll consider adding it.

[9:47] Q: What does the new platform mean for mobile apps?

[9:47] Spotify says they don't exclude any type of app. It will be open for everyone but Spotify will still approve each app before it becomes available on the platform.

[9:46] "Which parts will be accessible for premium vs free?" All apps will be accessible.

[9:43] Q&A session is about to begin.

[9:38] Daniel just showed off the TuneWiki app, which lets you sing along by providing real-time lyrics. It's essentially karaoke for Spotify. Songkick concert app lets you find out when your favorite artists are performing. Also, now on the right-hand side of Spotify, you can add your favorite friends instead of having a list of all your friends who use the site.

[9:34] Daniel just announced the app finder, a place where you find all the Spotify apps. The apps will let you find editorial content, concert tickets, lyrics and more. The first app he shows off is the Rolling Stones app.

[9:29] "We're launching truly integrated apps inside Spotify from the best and the brightest," Daniel says. Third party developers can build HTML5 apps that access all of Spotify's features through a Javascript API. They will soon introduce the first generation of apps into Spotify platform

[9:28] Music accounts for 10% of all searches online. "So how do we solve this?"

[9:25] Daniel says they want music to be like water, which is everywhere.

[9:24] He says Facebook has helped with the mission of taking Spotify wide. He also announced that users have created more than 500M playlists so far. Playlists are the new mixtape, he says.

[9:23] Daniel says people are getting used to the notion that music is worth paying for and touts how Spotify has 2.5M paying subscribers.

[9:18] Daniel says it's all about access. People want to play music everywhere. He says this is one reason why the CD is huge though it's declining. Spotify wanted to take napster idea of sharing and access but come up with a product that was legal and lightning fast. He says people are paying for portability

[9:15] Daniel Ek, CEO and co-founder of Spotify takes the stage. He says there are three things the press event will cover: Spotify's background and mission as a company, their move into social and "exciting new developments."

LAUNCH Blog