Spotify arrives for Windows Phone 8 to help Microsoft match iOS and Android

Music service Spotify has finally arrived on the Windows Phone 8 platform, marking a key moment in Microsoft's ongoing battle to increase the ecosystem's app offerings.

The beta version of the app launched late on Friday evening and is currently available from the Windows Store.

"The popular song streaming app Spotify is now available for Windows Phone 8," wrote Michael Stroh of Microsoft on a company blog.

"The app is just starting its roll out, so it might take a few more hours before it shows up in search or is available for download where you are."

V3 checked to see if we could find the app on the store but as of 5:20pm GMT it is not appearing.

Spotify was one of many key apps missing from the Windows Phone 8 ecosystem at its launch late in 2012. Other apps missing included popular photo sharing service Instagram.

While primarily consumer apps, their absence was seen as systematic of a general lack of interest by developers in the operating system.

The OS is still considered a fringe competitor with most analysts figures suggesting it still holds a less than a 10 percent share of the mobile market.

For this reason developers have continued to prefer peddling their wares on the more lucrative iOS and Android ecosystems.

Microsoft has since tried to counter this by pushing Windows Phone 8 to enterprise customers claiming it is an ideal answer to the ongoing bring-your-own-device culture.

The Spotify service is free for the first 30 days after download and will cost $9.99 a month after that as part of the premium offering.