Apple Music may not have been as threatening as its competitors had feared, but that doesn’t mean that Apple’s entry into the music streaming industry is something to take lightly. The service will undoubtedly take a big bite out of the market, and its competitors have already started to take precautions and ramp up their own offerings. Spotify in particular has been trying to diversify and expand ahead of Apple Music’s launch, and now the company has another $526 million in funding to help do so.
Spotify has closed a massive new round of funding from a wide range of global investors who are betting it can fend off a new threat from Apple. The music-streaming company closed a $526 million round of funding valuing it at $8.53 billion, said a person familiar with the matter. The financing, which The Wall Street Journal first reported on in April, closed on Tuesday. Spotify is investing in expansion and new forms of content as it faces a growing set of challengers that now includes Apple Music, a subscription-based streaming-music service and a 24-hour global Internet radio station unveiled by the tech giant on Monday. Investors in Spotify’s new round include British asset managers Baillie Gifford, Landsdowne Partners and Rinkelberg Capital; Canadian hedge funds Senvest Capital and Discovery Capital Management, the person familiar with the matter said. Nordic Telecom operator TeliaSonera AB also participated in the fundraising, investing $115 million, and said in a statement that the two companies would work together on areas such as media distribution, customer insights, data analytics and advertising.
