Virgin Media seal the deal with Spotify; TiVo App coming soon

Remember that potential deal between Virgin Media and Spotify? Well, today, the deal got real:

Virgin Media (NASDAQ: VMED) (LSE: VMED) today announced an exclusive agreement with digital music service Spotify that will make Virgin Media the only digital entertainment provider in the UK to offer the music platform across multiple services*. Making listening to and finding new music fantastically easy, worry-free and more affordable for Virgin Media customers, the pioneering partnership will see Spotify’s massive catalogue of over 13 million tracks available to customers however they choose, be it online, on the move through their mobiles, or in the living room through their TVs.

Virgin Media’s groundbreaking agreement with Spotify will mean over 4 million fibre optic broadband customers will have the option to access music online in a safe, legal way for the whole family whenever they want. Virgin Media will also be the only digital entertainment provider in the UK to integrate Spotify into its TV offering through its cutting-edge ‘connected’ TV service powered by TiVo, as well as being able to provide a bundled solution for customers with Virgin Mobiles.

Due to launch in the coming months, Virgin Media will be making Spotify available to both new and existing customers through a range of special offers. This will include both Spotify Unlimited, which will give customers unlimited access to Spotify’s full library of music, ad-free, on their computers, and Spotify Premium, which adds the ability to enjoy the complete Spotify library on the move through mobile devices. Customers choosing Spotify through Virgin Media will also benefit from exclusive features and content, as well as be eligible for special promotions.

So, what the hell does any of this have to do with TiVo? Well:

Retaining the flexibility and freedom of Spotify’s existing online and mobile services, Virgin Media customers will be able to seamlessly create playlists from millions of tracks, share songs or playlists with friends instantly through social networks such as Twitter and Facebook, as well as explore new music whenever they choose to. Virgin Media customers enjoying Virgin Media TV powered by TiVo®, the UK’s first next-generation ‘connected’ TV service, will be able to enjoy their Spotify service through a jointly developed app for subscribers.

Existing Virgin Media customers will get the first opportunity to take advantage of this exciting partnership with special offers and an exclusive sign-up window. Existing Spotify users that are currently, or become, Virgin Media broadband customers will be able to keep their existing accounts and still take advantage of bundled offers.

This deal will, in time for Spotify, open the door for up to 3.7 million TiVo customers on Virgin Media's network, once of course, all of those TV customers have been assimilated into the TiVo Collective. In the meantime, Spotify will have potential access to Virgin's broadband and mobile phone customers.

As for Virgin, the forthcoming Spotify app will only strengthen the appeal of TiVo. Its doubtful that streaming music to TiVo should be an issue for the 10Mb of dedicated bandwidth, and if the pricing for access to the Spotify App is right, then Virgin could be onto a winner here.