Rumors saying Spotify will charge premium rates in the US are being picked up in the music industry. Spotify has already informed its US clients that the accounts they created and used for free, limiting the hours users can listen to music, will begin being charged at a premium rate in the following months.

In Europe, for example, the account costs about $13.50 per month; the service has grown in popularity, aimed at serving both computers and mobile phones by offering an unlimited selection of streaming music from several major record labels, including EMI, Sony and Warner Music Group. According to reports, Spotify paid €45 million to labels in seven countries and this year the sum is expected to reach €100 million. Some regard Spotify’s approach as somewhat disrupting to Apple’s music streaming service, but however appreciated Spotify might be, there are several contenders in line to compete with Apple in this regard.

The premium charge offerings are starting to become pretty common in the music industry, as we mentioned Last.fm’s now taking a similar approach. Starting February 15, mobile apps and home devices supporting Last.fm will be subscription-based, currently charging $3 per month, yet users will still be able to access the same free content from Last.fm’s web portal as they have until now.

Regarding the use of additional services, the company officially announced that Xbox Live subscribers in the US and UK will not be affected by this change, whereas German users of the Windows Phone 7 will continue to stream Last.fm for free until the end of 2011. Last.fm might as well be considered one of the industry’s bests, taking into consideration the increasing crowded market in the music services area, encompassing sound names like Spotufy, Rdio or Nokia.