With Google paying the streaming licensing fees to labels...
Could a Spotify app be preloaded on Google's new Nexus One Android phone, with Google footing the licensing costs for songs streamed using it?
That's what TechCrunch suggests - or at least suggests that this was the subject of talks between Google and Spotify.
"Google wanted Spotify badly enough that they were willing to cover the label costs for every user of $3 – $4 per month. Spotify would add advertising on top of it, as they do with the free version in Europe, to make additional revenue."
Spotify has yet to launch in the US, although it's expecting to go live there with a modified business model early this year.
The launch event for the Nexus One takes place tomorrow, and Spotify could certainly feature in some form - its Android app is already popular on existing handsets.
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But as for getting Google to foot the bills for millions of song streams? Well, you'd think Google would have been put off the economics of streaming music by its YouTube royalty payments. But never say never...
