Apple to Take Over Spotify?

Spotify has denied that is in talks with Apple over a takeover.

Back when I compared Spotify with Grooveshark last year, one of the main things I noticed about Spotify was its similarities with iTunes. This was one of Spotify's main advantages as it made it very user friendly for an existing iTunes user like myself.

Would it benefit music lovers if Spotify was taken over?
Yes and no. I feel the Spotify experience would go global if Apple were to take over. Currently, Spotify is available in some parts of Europe, but the rest of the world is unable to access the service. This was one of the main disadvantages I found with Spotify. Giving Spotify the ability to reach more people can only be good.
However, I feel Apple would change Spotify a bit too much. I feel there would be more pressure to buy the tracks you stream, and I think the days of Spotify free would be gone. This is purely my speculation, I don't know what their plans would be, but I really can't see them keeping Spotify as it currently is.

I was thinking of doing a new comparison between Spotify and Grooveshark, given the updates that both services have implemented since last year, but I think I will wait to see how this story pans out before revisiting that one.

The news article about the denied takeover is from the BBC and can be found here.