Spotify tipped in SoundCloud acquisition talks

Spotify, the music streaming service that just announced yet another big milestone, is in talks to acquire SoundCloud, the persistent but occasionally troubled audio platform, sources claim. Spotify's efforts to boost its paying subscribers number have largely been effective, with the company announcing earlier this month that it reached the 40 million paying subscribers milestone. Still, Apple Music and others represent a growing threat for the company, something this potential SoundCloud acquisition could help mitigate.

SoundCloud, which is based out of Berlin, is well known at this point in its life largely for its roster of indie musicians, though it has made some big changes in recent months. The most notable among those changes is the striking of a deal that brings official music streaming to the service, something that itself follows past threats of lawsuits over alleged royalty payment issues.

Whether the launch of that music streaming service made SoundCloud a more attractive potential buy — or if Spotify was already eyeing it before that — isn't clear. The sources don't have anything to say about the alleged talks aside from that they're taking place, and both Spotify and SoundCloud have declined commenting on the rumor.

It isn't clear how Spotify would utilize the service, which offers features beyond what is available from Spotify. While SoundCloud does offer audio available for listening, it is also a platform for easily uploading and sharing your own content, and may represent an expansion of Spotify's business model, assuming the acquisition talks are true and fruitful.

SOURCE: Financial Times