Somewhere Else You Can't Get Spotify

Spotify, the best music service you can’t listen to in the U.S.*, released an update to its iPhone app today. So if that’s relevant to you, go check it out–the tweaks seem to be fairly minor.

But the update is a good time to point out that U.S. users aren’t the only ones who can’t get the streaming music service. iPad users everywhere are also out of luck.

Mobile is supposed to be the key to Spotify’s success–full access to the service on the iPhone is the key selling point for the service’s paid version. So why not offer access for Apple’s (AAPL) tablet?

Spotify is officially mum on the subject. But people I’ve talked to who understand the company’s thinking say the reason is simple: For now, music apps aren’t great on the iPad.

That’s because the device doesn’t allow multitasking, which means any music that’s not played via iTunes becomes an all-or-nothing experience on the iPad. The Spotify folks aren’t the only ones who feel that way–in June, Pandora CTO Tom Conrad described the tablet as a “pound-and-a-half paperweight.”

Then again, Conrad previously expressed distaste for Google’s (GOOG) Android platform, and now Android is a very big deal for his music service. And people seem to like Pandora on the iPad, anyway–it’s currently the 10th-most-popular free app at iTunes.

In any case, it’s reasonable to assume that Apple will eventually port its latest OS 4 operating system, which does allow multitasking, from the iPhone to the iPad. Which should give the Spotify folks a whole lot of incentive to work with the device.

And then we can go back to griping about not getting Spotify in the States.

*Of course, lots of people in the U.S. can listen to Spotify–that’s why the Web is full of U.S. residents going on and on about how great it is. The Spotify folks have been very clever about making sure that plenty of writers, bloggers and early-adopting digerati get some trial accounts in this country.