Spotify Apps are here!

Today Spotify released an API and an app store. You can catch up on the news over at Techmeme.

Spotify:

Thanks to Spotify Apps, the best music reviewers can help you discover great music to listen to. Help yourself to recommendations through Last.fm and We Are Hunted, and expert tips from Rolling Stone, The Guardian, and Pitchfork.

But that’s not all…

Let’s say you’re listening to a new track and you’d like to know the lyrics. Just click over to the TuneWiki app and see all the words of the song perfectly synced as you’re listening.

Maybe you want to see a gig this weekend? Check out the Songkick app to find out if any of the artists in your library are performing near you. Then get your hands on tickets with a few clicks.

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Spotify is quietly building a monster. By opening up its API, Spotify hopes to become the backbone to your future digital music library. 

In the past, almost everyone used iTunes to manage their music. It was the best product available. But trends show that consumers no longer want to manage their own music. They want someone else to do it for them. And who could blame them?

• Building a large music library in iTunes is very expensive.
• Managing ID3 tags is a pain in the ass.
• Syncing across devices is also a pain. Why sync when you can stream? 

That last one is the real killer. Why sync when you can stream? iTunes Match attempted to solve this problem, but it pails in comparison to the competition — Spotify, Rdio, Mog, SoundCloud, Mixcloud, Tunein, Turntable, Pandora, et al.

The competition is heating up. But Apple is stuck playing with wooden bats. iTunes’ core product is fundamentally flawed. Consumers want to stream, not own. They have always wanted to stream, but in the past the technology just wasn’t there. Streaming music players need a fast internet connection.

If iTunes falls, the top spot will be up for grabs. Today’s news is an example of how Spotify is positioning itself to take on the top spot in the event that consumers flock away from iTunes.