[holmesworcester]

"Spotify" literally means "put ads on things".

It's not obvious to US English speakers but "spot" was ad industry jargon and became the word for "TV commercial" in several European languages. It's so gross that this ever slid through as a brand for a music app. We've descended so far...Music app branding started with Wesley Willis jokes!

[asveikau]

My first language is US English and I am familiar with that usage of the word "spot", but didn't make the connection to "Spotify" until reading your comment.

This reminds me of the phenomenon of imported words being used in another language, but using a less common definitions of the word. For example I'm told "Oldtimer" is a vintage car in German, but most Americans would say it was an older or experienced person. Maybe "Spotify" could also mean something giving you acne.

[crazygringo]

That's a fun theory but there's no evidence that was their intention with the name...

From what they've said, it's about "spotting" and "identifying" music and music trends. But it seems like mostly it was just a somewhat nonsense word that was easy to remember and whose domain name was available.

Especially since it's popular as a paid service without ads.

[rasjani]

In finnish, if you google for "spotti", first hit leads to "MTV SPOTTI". MTV is local tv channel and "spotti" is their advertisement portal to purchase their ad services. Second hit leads to "crossword puzzle" site that lists the word "spotti" with multiple explanations that refers to advertisement. Of course spotti has other meanings but its a term used for ads.. I do not know the etymology of that word in finnish but Finland and Sweden do share a lot of words , specifically when spoken.

So, while "spotify" meaning to add ads, might be fun theory, it does make a lot of sense from nordics point of view..

[bbor]

I love random folk etymologies, especially when they posit sinister conspiracies along the way -- thanks for the concise correction. Wikipedia confirms on both counts:

  According to Ek, the company's title was initially misheard from a name shouted by Lorentzon. Later they conceived a portmanteau of "spot" and "identify".

It also kinda blows my mind how common it is to listen to a ton of Spotify without paying, NGL! It just seems like such an absurd value proposition to me, even now as it matures from its growth days. All music??