Spotify, a digital music service already popular in Europe, is now available in the United States.

When it comes to Nas it's hard not to gaze back longingly to his stunning 1994 debut Illmatic; it can be hard to keep up the pace when you come out of the blocks so fast.

We7, the music streaming service backed by former Genesis frontman Peter Gabriel, has secured a new round of funding which will kick-start its expansion into Europe.

like every internet sensation, from Google to Facebook to Virtual DJ Home (download it now, you'll thank us for it later), the best thing about Spotify was that news of its arrival travelled by word of mouth. With no ads, no masterplan and no hype, it was hard not to love an application which allowed you to stream any music you wanted without costing you a bean – just as the friend who told you about the service said it would.

The creative industries make a big contribution to our economic success. They represent more than 6 per cent of GDP, employ well over 2 million people, and export more than £17bn every year.

Label samplers, signposts of an imprint's taste, philosophy and aesthetic, have fallen by the wayside in recent years. Nowadays, punters use Spotify to discover new acts, so hats off to Communion, who have come up with a novel take with The Flowerpot Sessions.

The music streaming website Spotify, which offers listeners unlimited free access, is to restrict the amount of songs that users can play without paying. From 1 May the service, which has six million users in Britain and Europe, will reduce the amount of free listening available from 20 hours a month to 10.

Music: I'm digging Laura Marling, Nocturne The Blonde, Hurts, Sister Crayon, Chairlift and, of course, the gorgeous Adele who has a touch of Dusty Springfield about her. My Spotify playlist goes from Glasvegas to Jimmy Scott, lots of David Bowie from all decades and even a dash of Julio Iglesias and Goran Bregovic! Oh, and Timi Yuro, who seems to have been forgotten but what a voice!