Premium deal, half the outlay.

Spotify has announced that it is introducing a 50% discount for college students in the United States.

All the benefits of Spotify Premium – no ads, offline playlists and better sound quality – will be available to them for $4.99 per month.

Students in the UK have benefited from an identical offer since 2012 (although it’s not exactly widely advertised, so hook yourself up now if you’ve been missing out). Rival service Rdio also launched a similar offer in the US last year.

US students can claim the discount for up to four years, but have re-apply each year – find out how to sign up here.

The offer is in line with Spotify’s plans to grow to 40 million paid subscribers and thereby dish out far more in streaming royalties to even the smallest indie artists, as the company recently explained.

Meanwhile the UK has thoroughly embarrassed itself today with the revelation that Spotify users up and down the country are almost exclusively listening to Imagine Dragons. We don’t even deserve Spotify. [via CMU]