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Ubuntu Tips: 10 - Install Spotify with Wine

If you are a user of the Spotify and wish to run the application on your Linux machine unfortunately you are out of luck. Currently there is not a native version application on Linux which is unfortunate. I expect this is because Spotify are currently focused on mobile platforms such as Android, iPhone and Symbian for streaming over WiFi or 2.5/3G. As there is currently no intention to create and maintain a Linux version you must undertake a little jiggery pokery.

For a while I have been using Spotify on my MacBook and Windows XP as virtual machine on my Ubuntu machine with VirtualBox. I have however recently setup my Ubuntu computer to run Spotify with Wine. Wine lets you run Windows software on other operating systems. In my case Ubuntu. Wine is a recursive acronym of; Wine Is Not an Emulator.

Step 1 - Download

To install Spotify on your Linux computer start by downloading the Windows installation executable.

Step 2 - Installing Wine

Now it is time to start installing the new software. Start by opening a new terminal window and type the following to install Wine using apt-get. To complete this you will be asked to enter the administrator password and confirm you wish to install the new packages. All rather straight forward so far.

$ sudo apt-get install wine

Once Wine has been installed you should configure the audio drives for Wine. Do this my first entering the following command into the terminal window to launch the Wine configuration tool.

$ winecfg

I then checked the tick box for ALSA Driver, applied the change and run the test sounds function. You may have to restart Wine. If so, was the restart is complete you may continue by installing Spotify with Wine.

Step 3 - Installing Spotify

Now that you are ready to install the Spotify change directory in your terminal window to find the installation file you download earlier. In my case I saved the file in the Downloads directory. When you invoke the installation of Spotify you will get the options and dialogue windows you would expect when installing Spotify on any Microsoft Windows based computer.

$ cd Downloads/
$ wine "Spotify Installer.exe"

Step 4 - Running Spotify

Once the installation is complete you will be ready to run Spotify. Use the command below in your terminal or click the icon under the new Wine below below Applications menu on the Gnome desktop environment.

$ wine "C:\Program Files\Spotify\spotify.exe"

Links

1. http://www.spotify.com
2. http://www.spotify.com/en/help/faq/wine/
3. http://www.spotify.com/en/mobile/overview/
4. http://www.winehq.org
5. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wine_(software)

This work is licenced under a Creative Commons Licence