Spotify comes to the TV screen with new WD player

Spotify took a big leap towards the connected TV space Thursday by adding its music subscription service to the WD TV media player. This is the first time Spotify has been available on a connected TV device in the U.S., which means that device maker Western Digital beat both industry heavyweights like Apple, Google as well as hipper upstarts like Roku and Boxee to the punch.

Take a first look at Spotify on the WD TV in this video, or continue reading below:

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Spotify launched in the U.S. in mid-July with support for various mobile handsets as well as connected audio players from Sonos and Logitech and a home theater receiver from Onkyo. However, only subscribers of the European cable TV operator TeliaSonera have thus far been able to enjoy Spotify on the TV screen.

Spotify’s competitors have been aggressively expanding into the connected TV space, with apps from services like MOG and Grooveshark being available on platforms like Boxee and Roku. Much of this has been spurred on by the success of Pandora in this space. Pandora is already the second-most popular app on platforms like Roku, and the company’s CEO Tom Conrad recently said at GigaOM’s Mobilize conference that he expects connected devices and car stereos to make up the majority of Pandora’s traffic in the near future.

Teaming up with Spotify before any of the other connected device makers is also a little bit of a coup for WD. The company’s media players haven’t been as popular amongst tech folks as their hipper counterparts from Apple, Roku and Boxee, but worldwide sales, a solid retail presence, name recognition and an actively maintained platform have helped the company to compete. Getting Spotify on board should only help to make WD TV more popular.

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