Spotify and Spark extend partnership

Spotify Premium is available for free on some Spark monthly plans. Photo / Getty

Spark customers on some monthly plans will be able to continue streaming music on Spotify Premium for free through to 2018.

The two companies have agreed to extend their exclusive partnership for a further two years.

The global music giant partnered with Spark in February 2014, offering customers on some Spark plans access to Spotify Premium for free.

Spark Home Mobile & Business General Manager of Marketing, Clive Ormerod said its partnership with Spotify was an example of how the company could offer something different for customers.

"Our partnership with Spotify truly reflects our ongoing transformation from a traditional telco to a provider of the digital services that make the lives of our customers a little easier and richer every day.

"Customers tell us they love music, that's why we're continuing to focus heavily in this space."

Ormerod said the deal with Spotify had helped the company offer customers extra value in a fiercely competitive market.

"Offering existing customers added value on their plans with Spotify Premium has helped us to differentiate ourselves in an incredibly competitive market and in just two years we've been able to increase our number of Pay Monthly mobile connections by over 120,000."

Daniel Ek, founder and chief executive of Spotify, said the partnership with Spark was globally one if its most successful.

"We love our partnership with Spark. It's helped produce some of the highest engagement we've seen worldwide from New Zealand music fans. I'm really glad we've renewed this partnership and we will keep working together to deliver for Kiwi fans and artists at the same time."

How Spark customers are using Spotify on mobile:

• In the last 12 months the number of customers using Spotify on their mobile devices increased by around 125 per cent.
• On an average day over 90,000 customers use Spotify on their mobile devices.
• People listen to Spotify most on a Monday and Friday.