Napster:Spotify's free streaming model isn't sustainable

The days of free streaming on Spotify might be numbered, according to old-school online music company Napster.

A spokesperson for the firm told TechRadar that there is no future in freemium streaming because the business model is not sustainable.

"In terms of Spotify, there is no evidence that their 'freemium' business model is sustainable, as their numbers for the last two years show," said Napster in a statement.

Napster, which has around three million premium customers, also took a thinly-veiled pop at Apple Music and its Zane Lowe-curated Beats 1 Radio service.

"We take a localised approach to music suggestions, tapping into the culture of every market to make sure we're surfacing the most relevant music for our members regardless of where they live," Napster added. "No one person in LA or London is telling Napster users what to think is cool."

Napster insists that it is free to focus "exclusively on music" because it is not under any pressure to "sell ads or hardware".

Previous reports suggest that the major record labels are pressuring Spotify to do away with its free tier, but it has so far resisted.