Photo: Sony Ericsson

Sony Ericsson, in conjunction with carrier 3, has a peculiar promotion to show their new Xperia X10 mobile phone comes with two free months premium access to Spotify.

Traveling artists

The promotion sees artists putting together playlists for the music service, based on their recent travels. These artists include some of Britain’s biggest stars, such as Keane, The Stereophonics and Ellie Goulding.

Photo: Spotify

The peculiarity of this promotion is Sony Ericsson’s assumption that people care for these playlists. Sure, playlists created by your favourite artists are more interesting than those by your friends, but this has been an iTunes feature – if one can even call it that – for years. Where the various companies involved will succeed with this promotion is if people actually care what certain musicians listen to, if it sells more Xperia X10 handsets and if Spotify can convert these free users to premium members.

Inch by inch, Spotify gains

Spotify, who have been on a tear recently in terms of getting premium subscribers, who pay £9.99 for the unlimited service, to sign up for the service, is quickly becoming Europe’s dominant streaming music service. While in North America, Rhapsody and Pandora are legitimate contenders, until Spotify arrives out there in full, the company intends on solidifying its lead in Britain and throughout Europe.

Inch by inch, Sony Ericsson slides

Even though the Xperia X10 is one of Sony Ericsson’s best handsets in a long while, the improvements aren’t enough to close the gap Apple and HTC are opening up on other Smartphones.

What is a big deal is that Sony Ericsson is profitable again, and though it’s been a while since this handset manufacturer was the ‘it’ company, profitability is definitely the first step to complete recovery. And if Sony Ericsson can’t get the mojo back on their lonesome, there’s nothing to lose by sharing the light shining on current golden boys (and girls) Spotify.