The morning's big news is the overdue U.S. launch of Spotify.  We've got details and the full Spotify launch press release. For deeper insights, I suggest this Businessweek profile of Spotify founder Daniel Ek.

• Royalty payments dog Pandora's Westergren (Reuters)
• Hitlantis has closed an “over-subscribed angel investment” of $1.5 million.  A Series “A” round of $4-7 million is planned for fall. The Finnish startup has seen its user base grow by 40% in recent weeks, according to RAIN.

MORE:

• "Billboard Apparently Unable To Hire Its Own Writers For Copycat Conference; So Just Copies Text From Others" (Techdirt)
• ReverbNation offers chance to win Ne-Yo opener on Mission One Voice military base concert broadcast on Jam House Live. Details here.
• eMusic members in the UK, Ireland and France now have access to Sub Pop Records releases, as they have in the US for some time..
• Q&A: Why Tim Vanderhook Paid $35 Million for MySpace (Hollywood Reporter)