Shihad, Scribe named as Aussies

Scribe has been included in a playlist of Australian musicians. Photo / Dean Purcell

Spotify only launched its Australasian services yesterday, but it's already getting New Zealand musicians mixed up with Australian ones.

The music streaming service kicked off in New Zealand and Australia with great fanfare, with customers promised access to a library of 16 million songs and up to 20,000 new ones added each day.

But a Spotify playlist, created specifically for Australians for its launch day and dedicated to Australian music, includes songs by several New Zealand artists.

The site's G'Day Australia playlist includes Shihad's Home Again and Scribe's Not Many among artists like Tina Arena and Cold Chisel.

Kimbra is also included, but as a guest on Perth resident Gotye's hit Somebody That I Use To Know.

Scribe was born in Christchurch and has spent most of his life here, while Shihad are from Wellington with several members based themselves in Australia.

Kimbra is from Hamilton.

Spotify seems to have got its New Zealand playlist Kia Ora! right, with no Australian artists featuring on the roster.

At least one Twitter user was outraged at New Zealand artists being called Australians.

Hadyn Green tweeted: "What the SHIT!? Spotify's "G'day Australia" playlist of Aussie music includes Shihad! (and Scribe & Savage) This aggression will not stand!"

Since its 2008 launch in Sweden, Spotify has gained more than 10 million active users and three million paying subscribers.

Spotify offers three services, ranging from free to paid subscriptions.

The free service is subject to advertising, Spotify Unlimited costs $7.49 a month and is ad-free, and Spotify Premium is $12.99 a month and gives access to music online or offline on a range of devices.

- Herald online