Rdio, the ad-free music streaming service launched by Skype founders Niklas Zennström and Janus Friis in 2010, has just gone live in Sweden and Finland. Originally only available in the US, Canada and Brazil, Rdio has been expanding into other territories over the course of this year — the company now has most of Western Europe covered, with Norway, Italy, Belgium and the Netherlands being the major holdouts.

Speaking in March, Rdio's partnerships and internationalization VP Scott Bagby admitted that "we are a couple of years behind others in terms of expansion," with the company facing significant competition from more established competitors such as Spotify. But he also revealed that Rdio already has "a guy on the ground in Asia," suggesting a route for further expansion beyond Europe.