/ Source: The Associated Press
THE SERVICE: Spotify gives people access to more than 15 million songs on computers for free, with a few 15-second ads. People can pay $5 a month to listen on computers without ads, or $10 a month for listening on mobile devices, too.
ACROSS THE ATLANTIC: The Swedish company has more than 10 million registered users and 1.6 million paying customers in seven European countries. It launched in the U.S. on Thursday.
THE BACKDROP: Spotify is the latest to offer a subscription plan with the cooperation of the major music labels. So far, such plans have not been popular enough to reverse a decade-long slide in music sales, which has been mainly caused by piracy.