Spotify moves away from delivering music through peer-to-peer networks
Spotify has always streamed at least some of its music over peer-to-peer listener networks, helping it deliver music quickly while saving some cash on bandwidth and servers. However, the service is now ready to leave that tradition behind. It tells TorrentFreak that it's phasing out peer-to-peer connections, with plans for everyone to use dedicated servers in the months ahead. As the firm explains, there's simply no need for peer links at this point -- Spotify's servers can deliver "best-in-class" performance all by themselves.
The move should reduce the amount of data you use when checking out hot tracks at home, which could help if you're on a basic or capped internet plan. We'd also note that the transition should be relatively inexpensive for Spotify itself. Music doesn't chew up as much bandwidth as video services like Netflix, so Spotify isn't very likely to find itself paying extra connection costs to price-sensitive internet providers.