Music streaming company Spotify plans to launch a free, ad-funded version of its service on mobile devices, reports the Wall Street Journal citing unnamed people familiar with the matter. It had previously made mobile users pay a monthly fee for the service. The sources said that Spotify had signed licensing deals with the three leading global music companies - Sony Music Entertainment, Warner Music Group and Universal Music Group - to use their content on the new service. Spotify has until now only offered a free version of its service on desktop and PCs. They added that Spotify had spent almost 12 months negotiating with the record companies about the rates it will pay them to play songs on the service. The new service will allow non-paying mobile users to play a restricted number of songs on demand.
