Spotify Punk’d By TechCrunch For April Fools

The European TechCrunch pulled a clever, yet disturbingly truthful April Fool's joke on Spotify.

Long-time critic and writer Paul Carr somewhat convincingly broke news that Spotify had come to the conclusion that the only way it could fund a US launch – presumably, after the major labels get done fighting over every last penny – is if they shut down their entire UK operation.

In a fake email sent out to Spotify users, CEO Daniel Ek tells them that while he's sorry for the inconvenience, a US launch is simply more important than their continued use of his service. At this point, TechCrunch obviously gives the prank away. Amusingly, "Ek" goes on to offer paid subscribers a t-shirt and hat, as well as, the pride in knowing that they helped Spotify's US launch as a parting gift.

If, in the future, said users moved to the US, Ek "says" that he'd allow them to pick up their subscriptions where they left off. In the final paragraph, TechCrunch quotes Sean Parker saying, "Europe isn't cool. You know what's cool? America."