Online music platform Spotify has signed a deal with electronics giant Samsung to allow the South Korean firm’s Smart TV, Blu-ray player and home-theatre system owners to stream the service on their devices. Due to start next year, the tie-up is Spotify’s first foray into mainstream television hardware with a global presence, following previous agreements with national cable TV and internet providers Virgin Media in the UK and TeliaSonera in Sweden. However, the agreement is not exclusive, so this could well be the first of many partnerships for the Anglo-Swedish firm.

Samsung had previously launched its own music service – Samsung Music Hub – but appears to have now given up on that and, in the manner of Facebook’s business ventures, decided to simply partner with the best third-party provider to access a proven and popular service.

Consumers’ ability to easily access millions of songs will clearly be a valuable selling point for Samsung, while Spotify – which recently announced plans to become the operating system of the future – will expand its reach. Crucially, the service is only available for those who subscribe to Spotify’s premium service, a monthly fee for which removes adverts and enables offline listening, as the company seeks to wean users off the free version, which has suffered a decline in advertising revenue.

The move is a logical and sensible progression for both companies, with Samsung having recently made a similar deal with Microsoft’s Skype service. In addition, it makes huge sense in the ever-competitive electronics industry and the increasingly vibrant music-streaming environment, demonstrating sound leadership in both companies.