Germans will soon have to decide what article to assign “spotify,” when the new word enters their vernacular–and the web-based music streaming service enters their country–this Tuesday.

A representative for Spotify confirmed to WebProNews that the music service will be live in Germany Tuesday morning, under the leadership of Spotify’s Director for International Growth, Axel Bringeus. The launch will include a fully-functioning Spotify service, localized in German, consisting of over 16 million individual tracks, 10 new German app partners, and 2 exclusive advertising partners. The service will cost users €10 per month.

While the streaming service is currently available in 12 countries, including the United States and most of Western Europe, Tuesday marks its first foray into Europe’s largest economy. It’s unclear why exactly this launch has taken so long, but Germany’s strict licensing policies, under performance rights organization GEMA, are likely to blame (click here to read about new German legislation charging royalty fees to news aggregator sites). This is especially likely given Spotify’s recent royalty dispute with recording companies. Spotify attributes its patience in the German launch to a desire to hit the market at full capacity. “If you’re going to roll out a music service in a country like Germany, where the music fans rightfully demand excellence, you want to be sure everything is perfectly in place for launch,” said a representative. Spotify said does not comment on its commercial relationships.

Rival provider Grooveshark pulled out of Germany earlier this year, but Spotify will still have competition in the country from companies including the German Simfy, as well as international companies Rdio and Deezer.

German readers, I’m interested to hear if you’ll check out the new service. If you try it out, let us know what you think in the comments. Also, please tell me what genus “Spotify” will take. Bitte meldet euch!