Spotify makes a deal with Sony Music in latest step to go public
A licensing deal between digital music service Spotify and Sony Music may help pave the way for Spotify to go public. The deal, which was first reported by Billboard, comes about after months of negotiations, and comes after the company’s multi-year licensing deal with Universal Music Group was announced earlier this year.
Spotify and Sony Music Group reach a deal
The terms and details of Sony and Spotify’s deal has not been announced, but it could help the company finally go public, something it has been promising for a while. Pressure is mounting for Spotify, since the terms of its $1bn in debt raised last year grows the longer the company waits to go public. The company’s net loss doubled last year, according to the Billboard story, to roughly $568m on $3.1bn in revenue, from its latest filings. The service has over 50 million paid subscribers with more than 140 million total users.
Spotify is still in negotiations with Warner Music Group on licensing, but perhaps the deal with Sony may help their talks. Growth for streaming and digital services overall could help the music industry out in general, which has had a rocky road ever since the downfall of the compact disc.