According to the New York Times, Spotify is very close to getting a North American deal in place with EMI.

With everyone certain a similar deal has already been struck with Sony Music, that would mean the European streaming service is somewhere between a quarter and a half of the way (depending how you look at it) to its long desired US launch. That said, the Times also adds that a Universal deal is some way off, and many question whether Spotify could launch Stateside without the biggest of the record companies on board.

As much previously reported, Spotify’s launch Stateside has been hindered by paranoia among US label execs that licensing the streaming platform’s ad-funded free option could damage the revenues of other digital music businesses – including subscription-based streaming services like Rhapsody and MOG, and a la carte download stores like iTunes. Which is a problem if you are uncertain that the ad-funded model has longevity once Spotify’s venture capital funding runs out, which some label execs are.

But it seems that US bosses at both Sony and EMI have been placated. With neither the labels nor Spotify actually commenting on any of this, it is unclear whether that is by restricting the amount of freely available content, or by writing the majors very large cheques.