Spotify, one of the most popular music streaming services in Europe, finally crossed the Atlantic on July 14, 8:00 AM EST.

In order to access the company’s immense music library, users must subscribe to Spotify. Although a free account is available, they are accessible only with an invitation and funded by ubiquitous advertisements. Curious potential customers can request a free invitation on Spotify’s website, but paying a monthly fee substantially raises the quality of one’s membership features.  Unlimited accounts ($4.99/month) and Premium accounts ($9.99/month) have neither invitation restrictions nor overbearing ads, while the latter option offers smartphone syncing and offline access.

This reviewer called Spotify “the closest thing to having both an elegantly synced online/offline music player when you’re at your primary laptop . . . [and] also having your best music in the cloud for when you’re on the go,” but whether Spotify can compete with other existing services (i.e. Napster, Rhapsody, MOG, Pandora), or the ever tempting lure of illegal piracy remains to be seen.