5 things you need to know about Spotify for BlackBerry

Spotify, the most addictive social music sharing service yet, is finally coming to a BlackBerry near you — maybe even yours, if you know where to get it. Dust off your inner DJ and get ready to rock your RIM, minus Pandora or Slacker. Here's our fistful of things you need to know about the new Spotify app for BlackBerry (download Spotify for BlackBerry).

1. You can download it now. Cue the victory music! To install Spotify pronto, go to Spotify's "secret labs" preview website from your BlackBerry internet browser. Then scroll down to the headline that reads "Preview of Spotify for BlackBerry." Here you'll find the link to the official download. Go for it!  

Once you've downloaded and installed the app, you'll have instant access to 13 million streaming songs from every imaginable genre. And of course, you'll have the ability to share your favorite artists, tracks, playlists, and albums with all your friends via email, Facebook, and Twitter. Or if they're already on Spotify, send them songs directly and check out their playlists, too. That's sort of the whole idea, right? 

2. It'll cost you, but it's worth it. You can't get Spotify's BlackBerry app until you cough up for a Premium Spotify subscription. It'll set you back $9.99 per month, which isn't bad considering all you get — unlimited, commercial-free music streaming, plus the ability to download and store it directly on your BlackBerry (or laptop or desktop computer).

This means you can listen offline whenever you want, without wifi and without chewing up your precious (and expensive) data minutes. You'll have carte blanche access to more songs than you'll ever have time to listen to, all in crisp, 320kbps-quality sound. (Free streaming services typically only offer 96 or 128kbps; if we wanted to listen to transistor radio-quality audio, we'd still use transistor radios!)

3. It's still in beta. So far, Spotify for BlackBerry is only available in a preview version, but it's quite the loaded preview — one that (according to the good folks at Spotify) rocks "many of the great features available on other Spotify Mobile apps," including all the Last.fm listening you can handle. This may be a hurdle for many folks, since paying good money for a product that's still officially having the bugs worked out doesn't always sound copacetic.

4. The app only works on a few BlackBerry models. Unfortunately, it's only compatible with certain BlackBerry smartphones. ... And the winners are: 9780 Bold, 9700 Bold, 9300 Curve, 9000 Bold, and 8520 Curve. 

Sorry, Torch 9800 users. You're out of luck, at least for now. Until your own mobile slice of Spotify is baked to perfection, you'll have to listen to the popular Swedish-made music service on your laptop or tablet. (Trust me, that's anything but torture. In fact, I'm listening to the Tron soundtrack on Spotify from my MacBook as I write this.)

5. Spotify wants your feedback on the app. Because this is a preview release and still very much under the microscope, communicate away! Try the app (if you can), and do your good deed for the day. Report your feedback, good, bad, or ugly, on Spotify's official BlackBerry preview thread.

Bonus Question: Will Spotify nullify BBM Music?
We're surprised RIM jumped into bed with Spotify only a month after releasing BBM Music, the troubled corporate giant's first (and lackluster) stab at the mobile music-sharing market. Many experts seriously doubt BBM Music, also still in beta, can outplay Spotify. Maybe the suits at RIM do, too.

For more scoop on Spotify's brand new BlackBerry baby and all the fun audiophile candy it spins, check out Spotify's official release notes.

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