If you’ve been keeping your eyes on the news lately, you’ve probably seen that two of the industry’s biggest music streaming companies, Spotify and SoundCloud, have been in talks about coming together via Spotify acquiring SoundCloud.
It has now been made clear that any plan that was happening is off the table, as Spotify could possibly be going public on the stock market in the near future. Another potential problem they would face is all the licensing problems with SoundCloud and its endless database of remixes, which we have seen already cause issues with artists and record labels. Supposedly, Spotify has tried for this two times before, but a final price could not be negotiated. If they were to go public this year, the possibility of another deal could re-emerge.
The two merging would be a huge difference maker to not only us, the general public and consumers, but also DJs and record labels. The way musicians work and deliver products to their fans has changed dramatically over the past 10 or 20 years and this is another step forward in that. Whether it’s a step in the right or wrong direction is what will be determined.