Just in case you weren't inundated with music streaming choices already, soon you're going to have yet another few to pick from, now that one half of the most powerful couple in the music business is getting in on the action.
Project Panther, a company that is owned by Jay-Z’s S. Carter Enterprises, has made bid of 464 Swedish Krona (equivalent to a little over $56 million in U.S. dollars) to buy Swedish company Aspiro, it was revealed in a press release on Friday. Aspiro is the company behind two music-streaming services: WiMP and Tidal.
S. Carter, by the way, refers to Shawn Carter, a.k.a. Jay-Z's real name.
The deal is not done yet, and has to be approved by Aspiro's board of directors. It seems like pretty much a done deal, though, as the board has decided to already "unanimously recommend" that all shareholders accept the offer.
You may not have heard of WiMP, as it has only been made available in European markets so far, having launched in countries including Denmark, Germany, Norway, Poland and Sweden. Tidal, on the other hand is more well known, though still not a household name, having launched in the U.S. and the U.K. in 2014. Something tells me that you will be hearing a lot more about both services very soon.
Shareholders in Aspiro seem very happy with this turn of events, as the company's stock rose over 59% in trading on Friday.
By getting into the music streaming businesses, Jay-Z is following in the footsteps of his fellow music mogul Dr. Dre. He, along with record producer Jimmy Iovine, together launched Beats Electronics, which made headphones and featured its own music streaming service. They sold the company to Apple for $3 billion last year.
In addition to the two streaming companies, Aspiro also operates RADR Music News, a video content platform for publishers.
With Jay-Z's name behind them, it's likely that WiMP and Tidal might both see some traction, but this is a really, really competitive space.
There are a lot of different streaming services out there that they will be going up against, and many heavy hitters. Not only the big dogs like Spotify and Pandora, but Apple with aforementioned Beats service, Deezer, Rdio and IHeartRadio. Google even has two separate music streaming services of its own: it unveiled Google Play Music All Access in 2013, then launched a YouTube streaming app in November.
Earlier this week Sony and Spotify teamed up to launch a new music streaming service on the PlayStation Network called PlayStation Music. And I'm sure there are plenty more that I'm forgetting to mention.
The point is, there really is no shortage of options in this space, and it will be interesting to watch how Jay-Z tries to differentiate his new acquisitions from the rest of the pack. Perhaps he might want to think about using them to release some exclusive content, perhaps from someone very close to him...
(Image source: abcnews.go.com)
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Pandora, the leading internet radio service, gives people music they love
anytime, anywhere, through a wide variety of connected devices: laptop and
desktop computers, smartphones, connected BluRay players, connected TVs,
etc. Personalized stations launch instantly with the input of a single “seed” –
a favorite artist, song or genre. The Music Genome Project®, a deeply
detailed, hand-built musical taxonomy, powers the personalization or
Pandora. Using this musicological “DNA” and constant listener feedback
Pandora crafts personalized stations from the more than 800,000 songs that
have been analyzed since the project began in January 2000.
More than 75 million people throughout the United States listen to
personalized radio stations for free on Pandora through their PCs, mobile
phones and devices such as the iPad, and connected in-house devices
ranging from TVs to set-top boxes to Blu-Ray players. Mobile technology has
been a significant factor in the growth and popularity of Pandora, starting
with the introduction of the Apple app store for the iPhone in the summer of
2008. Pandora instantly became one of the most top downloaded apps and
today, according to Nielsen, is one of the top five most popular apps across
all smartphone platforms.
Pandora is free, simple and, thanks to connectivity, available everywhere
consumers are – at the office, at home, in the car and all points in between.
In 2009 the Company announced that Pandora would be incorporated into
the dashboard in Ford cars via SYNC technology; GM has already followed in
announcing plans to integrate Pandora into its vehicles and Mercedes-Benz
introduced their Media Interface Plus device that works with the
free Pandora iPhone app to provide direct control of Pandora from in-dash
stereo controls. This was all great news for the millions of Pandora listeners
who had been plugging their smartphones into car dashboards to listen to
personalized stations while driving. More than 50 percent of radio listening
happens in the car, making it a crucial arena for Pandora.
Today tens of millions of people have a deeply personal connection with
Pandora based on the delight of personalized radio listening and discovery.
These highly engaged listeners reinforce the value Pandora provides to: 1)
musicians, who have found in Pandora a level playing field on which their
music has a greater chance of being played than ever before; 2) advertisers,
who benefit from the multi-platform reach of Pandora, as well as its best
practices in targeting consumers for specific campaigns; 3) the music
industry, which has found in Pandora a highly effective distribution channel;
and 4) automobile and consumer electronics device manufacturers, who have
noted that incorporating Pandora into their product makes it more valuable
to consumers.
Pandora continues to focus on its business in the United States. The radio
arena has never been hotter, thanks to technology that enables radio to be
personalized to the individual and more accessible than ever before. Right
now millions of people listen to Pandora in the United States and we hope
someday to bring Pandora to billions of people around the world.
Timeline:
• 2000 – Tim Westergren’s Music Genome Project begins.
• 2005 – Pandora launches on the web.
• 2008 – Pandora app becomes one of the most consistently downloaded
apps in the Apple store.
• 2009 – Ford announces Pandora will be incorporated into car
dashboard. Alpine and Pioneer begin selling aftermarket radios that
connect to consumers’ iPhones and puts the control and command of
Pandora into the car dashboard.
• 2010 – Pandora is present on more than 200 connected consumer
electronics devices ranging from smartphones to TVs to set-top boxes
to Blu-ray players and is able to stream visual, audio, and interactive
advertising to computers, smartphones, iPads, and in-home connected
devices.