Spotify said to be in advanced talks to buy SoundCloud

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Spotify is in advanced talks to acquire SoundCloud, reports the Financial Times. The streaming music service believes the buyout could help it better compete with competitors like Apple Music thanks to its large library of exclusive and user-created content.

Spotify, the music streaming service, is in advanced talks to acquire SoundCloud, as competition heats up with Apple for the future of digital music, according to people briefed on the discussions. 

SoundCloud’s investors include Twitter, which invested in the online music platform this summer to encourage more social media influencers to use the messaging site, write Matthew Garrahan and Madhumita Murgia in London and James Fontanella-Khan in New York.

At its September 7 iPhone event, Apple announced that Apple Music—its 1-year old streaming music service—had hit 17m subscribers. Shortly after, Spotify said it hit 40m paid subscribers. It’s believed SoundCloud has upwards of 200 million registered users.

Source: Financial Times